1. Lee Joon-gi is a South Korean actor, singer, and dancer.
43 Facts About Lee Joon-gi
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Lee Joon-gi rose to fame on his first leading role playing a clown in the critically acclaimed film The King and the Clown and gained further recognition in the romantic comedy My Girl.
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Lee Joon-gi is known for his roles in Iljimae, Two Weeks, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Lawless Lawyer, and Flower of Evil.
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Lee Joon-gi was born in Daeyeon-dong, Nam District, Busan, South Korea but spent his schooling years in nearby Changwon.
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Lee Joon-gi first became interested in the performing arts as a high school student after watching a performance of Hamlet.
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Lee Joon-gi was accepted into the Seoul Arts College on a scholarship and graduated in 2007.
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Apart from winning numerous Best Newcomer recognition at the Korean Film Awards, Grand Bell Awards and Baeksang Art Awards, Lee Joon-gi won the Best Actor Award at the Max Movie Awards.
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Lee Joon-gi was against the halving of screen quotas in South Korea that allows foreign films to be shown in theaters on certain days, while domestic films are allotted another number of days.
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Lee Joon-gi believed that without the screen quotas, The King and the Clown would not have been as successful in competing against foreign films.
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In 2007, Lee Joon-gi filmed a joint Korea-Japan movie entitled Virgin Snow with Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki, in which he plays a Korean exchange student.
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Lee Joon-gi later received the Rising Star Award at the 27th Hawaii International Film Festival.
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Lee Joon-gi took on his first drama leading role in MBC action drama, Time Between Dog and Wolf, as in which his character portrays a vengeful NIS agent with a violent streak, planning to infiltrate a drug gang to avenge the death of his mother.
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From April to July 2008, Lee Joon-gi played the titular role in SBS's Iljimae, a period-action drama based on Chinese folklore from the Ming dynasty about a masked Robin Hood-esque character during the Joseon era.
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On 29 July 2008, Lee Joon-gi was chosen as the Ambassador for the 2008 Seoul Hallyu Festival.
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Lee Joon-gi was appointed the first Honorary Legal System Officer since the constitution of the Government Legislation Agency to commemorate their 60th anniversary.
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In September 2008, Lee Joon-gi had a contractual dispute with his agency Mentor Entertainment, whom he was signed to since March 2004 in an exclusive contract for five years.
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On 5 August 2009, Lee Joon-gi was appointed promotional ambassador of the Korea Tourism Organization.
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On 3 May 2010, Lee Joon-gi enlisted in the Republic of Korea Army to serve his mandatory military service.
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Lee Joon-gi first underwent five weeks of basic training at Nonsan military training camp, earning top scores in marksmanship, and was later drafted into active duty.
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Lee Joon-gi was assigned to the public relations department of the Ministry of National Defense Lee Joon-gi initially applied for a postponement because he was in the midst of shooting Grand Prix with actress Kim Tae-hee, and was cast to star in television drama Faith.
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Lee Joon-gi was chosen to represent Korea as a goodwill ambassador at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
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In May 2012, Lee Joon-gi co-starred with Shin Min-a in MBC's period horror-romance Arang and the Magistrate, his first project after being discharged.
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Lee Joon-gi was later recognized at the Seoul International Drama Awards, winning the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor award.
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In 2013, Lee Joon-gi starred in the action thriller Two Weeks, playing a father struggling to save his daughter from leukemia while fighting a murder charge.
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Lee Joon-gi received Top Excellence Award in the male category at the 2nd APAN Star Awards.
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Lee Joon-gi then starred in the period drama Gunman in Joseon and won critical acclaim for his acting and action scenes, winning the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor for a second time at the Seoul International Drama Awards.
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In January 2016, Lee Joon-gi was cast in the lead role of 4th prince, Wang So, in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, a Korean remake of the Chinese television series, Scarlet Heart.
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In October 2016, Lee Joon-gi signed as a new model for Lotte Duty-Free Shop.
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Lee Joon-gi co-starred in a promotional web drama titled 7 First Kisses for the company.
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Lee Joon-gi made his expansion to Hollywood, when he made his debut with a small appearance in the sixth and final installment of the Resident Evil series titled, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter which was released worldwide in January 2017.
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In 2017, Lee Joon-gi starred in tvN's crime procedural drama Criminal Minds, based on the American series of the same name.
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Lee Joon-gi's convincing acting performance as a criminal profiler garnered him plaudits from critics and viewers.
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In 2018, Lee Joon-gi returned to tvN and was cast in Lawless Lawyer, his first legal drama and the first time he has portrayed a lawyer.
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Lee Joon-gi reunited with director Kim Jin-min, who previously worked with him in Time Between Dog and Wolf.
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In 2020, Lee Joon-gi was cast in the tvN thriller melodrama The Flower of Evil, reuniting him with Criminal Minds co-star Moon Chae-won.
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Lee Joon-gi was praised for his chemistry with Moon portraying a married couple.
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Lee Joon-gi's name was the most searched keyword on domestic search engines for three consecutive weeks, based on data compiled by Good Data Corporation.
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In 2022, Lee Joon-gi made a comeback to the small screen with SBS drama Again My Life, his return to terrestrial television in six years since 2016.
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In 2023, Lee Joon-gi starred in the second season of the tvN historical fantasy drama Arthdal Chronicles, where he portrayed a set of twins.
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Lee Joon-gi acting is characterized by his effective use of facial expressions and body language to convey the essence of each character he portrays.
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Lee Joon-gi is often praised for his versatile acting skills, which allow him to flawlessly transition between charismatic and tender portrayals, as well as his commitment to physically demanding roles.
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Lee Joon-gi enjoys learning and practicing different types of martial arts during his spare time.
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Lee Joon-gi's father had signed him up for martial arts lessons as a child to keep him out of trouble and he continued practicing into adulthood, mostly to prepare for specific roles.