Lee Wan (born Kim Hyung-soo on January 3, 1984) is a South Korean actor.

Career

Born as Kim Hyung-soo, he began his career in entertainment after starring in a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

alongside older sister, actress

Kim Tae-hee Kim Tae-hee (; born 29 March 1980) is a South Korean actress. Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful actresses, she is best known for her roles in Korean dramas such as ''Stairway to Heaven'' (2003), ''Love Story in Harvard'' (2004), '' ...

. Using the stage name Lee Wan, he made his acting debut in 2003. He first drew notice in a supporting role in the

television drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

'' Stairway to Heaven'', followed by leading roles in romantic comedies ''Snow White: Taste Sweet Love'' and ''Let's Go to the Beach''. He reunited with ''Stairway to Heaven'' costar

Park Shin-hye Park Shin-hye (, born February 18, 1990) is a South Korean actress and singer. She gained recognition as a child on TV shows such as ''Stairway to Heaven'' (2003), and ''Tree of Heaven'' (2006). Later on, she would achieve further success when ...

in 2006 in the melodrama ''

Tree of Heaven ''Ailanthus altissima'' , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, varnish tree, or in Chinese as ''chouchun'' (), is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other memb ...

'' which was a joint Korean-Japanese production. Lee also contributed the song "Where Farewells Don't Exist" to the drama's

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

. Lee's increased Korean Wave popularity led to him being cast in as the leading man in the Japanese film ''Veronika Decides to Die'' (based on the same-titled novel by

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more book ...

), which screened at the 2005

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

. He also played the leading role opposite

Ami Suzuki is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Having been discovered at the talent TV show ''Asayan'', she was one of the most popular female teen Japanese idol, idols in the late 1990s. However, in 2000, Suzuki fac ...

in the 2007

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

''Magnolia no Hana no Shita de'' ("Under the Magnolia"), which portrayed a romance between a Korean man and a Japanese woman who meet while studying in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Afterwards, he returned to Korean television with a supporting role in ''In-soon Is Pretty'', as the protagonist's younger brother. In 2008, Lee starred in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

film '' Once Upon a Time in Seoul''. He next played a villain in the gambling-themed series '' Swallow the Sun'' in 2009. Lee enlisted for mandatory military service on 12 July 2010, and was part of the entertainment soldiers unit of the Defense Media Agency under the

Ministry of National Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He was discharged on 23 April 2012. As his first post-army project, Lee appeared in the 2013 online drama ''It's Not Over Yet''; it aired in 6-part 10-minute installments on social networking sites. In 2015, he starred in ''

Northern Limit Line The Northern Limit Line or North Limit Line (NLL) – 북방한계선 (in ROK) – is a disputed maritime demarcation line in the Yellow (West) Sea between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the north, and the Republic of Ko ...

'', a naval thriller about the

Second Battle of Yeonpyeong The Battle of Yeongpyeong (or Second Battle of Yeonpyeong) (Korean: 제2 연평해전, ''Je I(2) Yeonpyeong Haejeon'') was a confrontation at sea between North Korean and South Korean patrol boats along a disputed maritime boundary near Yeonpyeon ...

Personal life

On 27 November 2018 his agency confirmed he is dating pro-golfer

Lee Bo-mee Lee Bo-mee (; born 21 August 1988), also known as Bo-mee Lee, is a South Korean professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA of Japan Tour. Lee played on the LPGA of Korea Tour, winning four events from 2009 to 2010. She has won 19 events o ...

. The couple officially tied the knot at a Catholic church with their family and friends in a private wedding on 28 December 2019.

Filmography

Television series

*''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' (SBS, 2003) *''Nursery Story'' (MBC, 2003) *'' Stairway to Heaven'' (SBS, 2003) *''Snow White: Taste Sweet Love'' (KBS2, 2004) *''Little Women'' (SBS, 2004) *''Let's Go to the Beach'' (SBS, 2005) *''

'' (SBS, 2006) *''Magnolia no Hana no Shita de'' (Fuji TV, 2007) *''In-soon Is Pretty'' (KBS2, 2007) *'' Ryokiteki na Kanojo'' (TBS, 2008) ( cameo) *'' Swallow the Sun'' (SBS, 2009) *''It's Not Over Yet'' (SNS, 2013) *''

Our Gap-soon ''Our Gap-soon'' () is a 2016–2017 South Korean television series starring Kim So-eun and Song Jae-rim. This is the first time that a virtual couple from MBC's ''We Got Married'' co-stars as main cast in a serial drama on a national Korean t ...

'' (SBS, 2016–2017)

Film

*''Veronika Decides to Die'' (2005) *'' Once Upon a Time in Seoul'' (2008) *''

'' (2015) * ''Street of Movies'' (2021) – Do-young * ''Blood is thicker than water'' (2022) – Young Min

Variety show

*'' Cool Kiz on the Block'' (

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

, 2014) *''Match Made in Heaven Return'' (2015) *''

Law of the Jungle "The law of the jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the Law of the Jungle as "''the code of survival in jungle life'', now usual ...

'' (2017)

Music video

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

– "While Looking at the Picture" *Vintage Blue – "Love Is" *Position – "You Just Being in This World" * Tei – "Same Pillow" * Tei – "Locked Up in Tears"

Awards

*2004 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (''Little Women'') *2004

KBS Drama Awards The KBS Drama Awards () is an awards ceremony presented by the Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean te ...

: Best New Actor (''Snow White: Taste Sweet Love'')

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Wan 1984 births Living people People from Ulsan South Korean male television actors South Korean male film actors South Korean Roman Catholics