Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (born August 16, 1972) is a

Korean-Canadian Korean Canadians (french: Coréo-Canadiens) are Canadian citizens of full or partial Korean ancestry, as well with immigrants from North and South Korea. As of 2016, Korean Canadians are the 8th largest group of Asian Canadians. Korean immigrat ...

actor and television host. He is best known for his roles as Randy Ko in the soap opera ''

Train 48 ''Train 48'' was a Canadian improvised soap opera, broadcast on Global Television Network and CH from 2003 until 2005. ''Train 48'' was based on the format of an Australian television program called '' Going Home''. History The show was broadc ...

'' (2003–2005) and as family patriarch Appa in the play ''

Kim's Convenience ''Kim's Convenience'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "Appa ...

'' (2011) and its television adaptation (2016–2021). Lee has won the

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

for Best Actor in a Comedy Series four times for his role as Mr. Kim in ''Kim's Convenience'', and has been nominated twice for the

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for ''The Monster Under the Bed'' in 2010 and the stage version of ''Kim's Convenience'' in 2012.

Early life

When Lee was three months old, his parents

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Daejeon, South Korea Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology an ...

to Canada, living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. In 1990, he moved back to Toronto to attend the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, where he attended the drama program at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

Career

He had a supporting role in the film ''

Ice Princess ''Ice Princess'' is a 2005 American teen sports comedy-drama film directed by Tim Fywell, written by Hadley Davis from a story by Meg Cabot and Davis, and starring Joan Cusack, Michelle Trachtenberg, Kim Cattrall and Hayden Panettiere. The film ...

'' (2005) playing Tiffany's father. Lee appeared in the horror film '' P2'' and the thriller '' The Echo''. In 2006, he took the role of Jung Park in the video game '' Rainbow Six: Vegas'' and its 2008 sequel '' Rainbow Six: Vegas 2''. Lee was part of the main cast of the

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

nightly improvised soap opera ''

'' in the role of Randy Ko for the entire run of the series from 2003 to 2005. In 2012, Lee won the Best Actor citation from the Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards for his portrayal of Kim Sang-il in ''

''. He played the role of Appa on stage in several Toronto productions of ''Kim's Convenience'' and on a national tour with the

Soulpepper Soulpepper is a theater company based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest non-profit theater in the city. History Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists aiming to produce lesser-known theatrical classics. Soulpepper has sinc ...

theatre company, as well as at an

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

staging of the play. He brought the role of Appa to television in 2016 when the show was adapted as a television series."Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, a former U of T drama student, stars in the CBC comedy 'Kim's Convenience'"
'' U of T News'', October 24, 2016. In 2016, Lee played Zhang Lin in the

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Royal MTC) is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country. It was founded in 1958 by Joh ...

Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is a non-profit contemporary performance arts company based in Toronto, Ontario, ''Canada''. About Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is one of Canada's largest not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, based in Toronto, Ontari ...

production of ''

Chimerica Chimerica is a neologism and portmanteau coined by Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick describing the symbiotic relationship between China and the United States, with incidental reference to the legendary chimera. Though the term is largely ...

''. On January 11, 2017, he guest starred on an episode of ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

''. Lee has been nominated twice for the

for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for ''The Monster Under the Bed'' in 2010 and ''Kim's Convenience'' in 2012."Women on top; Crash, Penelopiad top Dora nominations". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', June 6, 2012. In the 5th, 6th, and

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...

, he won the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Appa in the ''Kim's Convenience'' television series. Lee was selected to host the fourth season of the reality competition show ''

Canada's Smartest Person ''Canada's Smartest Person'' is a Canadian reality television competition series. Contestants compete in a series of different challenges based on American psychologist Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences to earn the title of "Canada ...

'', entitled ''Canada's Smartest Person Junior'' and featuring children as contestants. Lee is also a playwright, with his own play ''Dangling'' premiering at Toronto's fu-GEN theatre festival in 2010. In 2021 he appeared as a panelist on ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'', championing Natalie Zina Walschots's novel '' Hench''. In the same year, Lee's five seasons on ''Kim's Convenience'' came to an abrupt end when the two show runners left the project. In 2022 he was announced as the host of ''Fandemonium'', a factual series which will profile the internal cultures of various pop culture

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

s. He also appeared on the 2022 revival of ''

The Kids in the Hall The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995, on CBC, in C ...

''. He is set to play

Uncle Iroh Uncle Iroh (), also referred to as General Iroh and credited simply as Uncle, is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''. Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the charac ...

in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

live action version of ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

*
BitterAsianDude.com Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Paul Sun Hyung 1972 births Living people 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male writers Best Actor in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian male actors of Korean descent Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male video game actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian television hosts Canadian writers of Asian descent Male actors from Alberta People from Daejeon South Korean emigrants to Canada University of Toronto alumni