South Korean television and film actor, singer-songwriter, and model Byung-hun Lee made his acting debut with the 1995 South Korean romantic comedy Who Drives Me Crazy co-starring Choi Jin-sil. He is best known for his work in the 2000 movie Joint Security Area, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing film in Korean film history. His other notable works, which are also on South Koreas list of highest-grossing movies, include Masquerade, Inside Men, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird. He is internationally known for his portrayal of Storm Shadow in the 2009 military sci-fi action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
EARLY LIFE
Born in Seoul, South Korea on the 13th of August, 1970, Lee has a younger sister named Lee Eun-hee, who, in 1996, won the Miss Korea title. He studied at the Hanyang University from where he graduated with a major in French Literature, and also attended the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University from where he graduated with a major in Theater and Cinematography.
PERSONAL LIFE
Lee met Song Hye-kyo while shooting for the South Korean television drama series All In in 2003. However, the couple broke up the following year since Song Hye-kyo wanted to focus on her career while Lee wanted to get married. Although there were rumors that it was Lees abusive nature that led to their split, however, nothing was confirmed. The actor then briefly dated actress Lee Min-jung in 2006 but the two reignited their romance in 2012, following which they got married on the 10th of August, 2013. The couple has a son Lee Joon-hoo, who was born two years after their wedding in 2015.
TELEVISION CAREER
Coming from an extremely well-to-do family, Lee hadnt planned on taking up acting as a career. However, after one his friends mother insisted that he try his luck in the field of acting, he auditioned for a KBS talent audition. He made his acting debut in 1991 with the television drama Asphalt My Hometown, which, unfortunately, was a short-lived project. The same year, he appeared in other series such as Family, and Flower That Never Wilt. He continued to appear in several television series, gaining immense popularity. He played the role of a Korean Central Intelligence agent and former Air Force first lieutenant in the show White Nights 3.98, which was first aired in 1998. He went on to play the role of Seo Tae-poong, a man in search of his siblings who were separated from one another after the tragic death of their parents, in the drama series Happy Together, which aired in 1999. He was then seen playing the role of a soldier with the South Korean Special Forces in the South Korean espionage television drama series Iris. Lee was also seen in the drama series All In for which he won the Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Actor in TV.
MOVIE CAREER
Soon after making his television debut, Lee made his movie career in 1995 with the South Korean romantic comedy Who Drives Me Mad, for which he won the Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best New Actor the same year. He went on to win the Grand Bell Awards for Best New Actor for the year 1996 for the movie Runaway. He worked simultaneously in television and movies, with some of his movies being Kill the Love, Elegy of the Earth, and The Harmonium in My Memory. However, he got his first big break in 2000 with Park Chan-wooks Joint Security Area, which went on to become the highest-grossing Korean film up till that year. His performance as a border-guard soldier in the movie won him the Busan Film Critics Awards for Best Actor. His next movie, Bungee Jumping of Their Own, which released in 2001, won him a couple of nominations for Best Actor.
He appeared in movies like My Beautiful Girl, Mari, Addicted, and Everybody Has Secrets before starring in the 2005 action movie A Bittersweet Life, which won him immense critical acclaim for his performance. The actor won three awards out of the five nominations that he received under the category of Best Actor. He donned a negative shade in Kim Jee-woons action western film The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which went on to become South Koreas second highest-grossing film of 2008. The following year, he co-starred with Josh Hartnett and Japanese actor Takuya Kimura in the neo-noir atmospheric thriller I Come with the Rain. The same year, he made his Hollywood debut with the military science fiction action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, where he played the role of Storm Shadow.
Teaming up for the third time with director Kim Jee-woon, Lee starred in the 2010 psychological horror-action thriller I Saw the Devil, where his performance won him two nominations under the Best Actor category. Reprising his role as Storm Shadow, Lee was seen in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobras 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. He then starred in the 2013 sequel of the 2010 action-comedy RED titled RED 2, co-starring Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Considered to be an emerging Hollywood star, Lee was then seen cast alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2015 sci-fi film Terminator Genisys, playing the role of T-1000, Skynet's first shapeshifting prototype. The same year, he was seen in the South Korean political thriller Inside Men for which he received several nominations, winning the Asian Film Award, Baeksang Arts Award, and Director's Cut Award for Best Actor. Among his 2016 movies are Misconduct, Master, and The Magnificent Seven co-starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, and Peter Sarsgaard.