Ma Dong-seok

Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee and born as Lee Dong-seok on March 1, 1971, is a South Korean and American actor and film producer based in South Korea. Known for his distinctive action roles and tough screen persona, he has become one of the most bankable and prominent figures in the South Korean film industry.

Born in South Korea, Ma held South Korean citizenship until 1989, when he forfeited it at age eighteen to become a citizen of the United States. Prior to pursuing acting, he worked as a personal trainer for mixed martial artists Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman under his Westernized name, Don Lee. He returned to South Korea at age thirty to launch his acting career.

Ma gained initial attention through supporting performances in feature films such as The Unjust, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, and The Neighbor. He subsequently took on main roles in productions including Norigae, Murderer, and One on One. On television, he earned recognition for his appearances in the popular OCN series Bad Guys and Squad 38.

His global breakthrough arrived with his performance as a compassionate survivor in the 2016 zombie movie Train to Busan. He further established his standing as a top action performer portraying detective Ma Seok-do in the 2017 hit The Outlaws. He reprised this character in the highly successful sequel series, including the 2022 release The Roundup, which became the highest-grossing movie of 2022 in South Korea with over twelve million ticket sales.

Ma made his Hollywood debut portraying Gilgamesh in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals. His subsequent leading projects include Start-Up, The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos, Ashfall, and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days. In 2022, he signed with the Japanese agency LDH Japan. He later starred in the 2024 Netflix dystopian film Badland Hunters and was cast in Toshihiro Nagoshi's 2025 crime video game Gang of Dragon.

In addition to acting, Ma operates the production company Team Gorilla, contributing to screenwriting and project planning for works such as Deep Trap and Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation. An amateur armwrestler since 2008, he became the president of the Korea Armwrestling Federation in 2018. Gallup Korea selected him as Film Actor of the Year in 2018, 2023, and 2024. In his personal life, Ma began dating media personality Ye Jung-hwa in 2016, and the couple officially registered their marriage in 2021.