35 Facts About Lee Jung-jae

Lee Jung-jae is a South Korean actor, filmmaker, and businessman.

Lee Jung-jae owns several of his businesses with fellow actor and close friend Jung Woo-sung.

Lee Jung-jae won Best Supporting Actor at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in The Face Reader.

In 2021, Lee Jung-jae gained widespread international stardom and fame for his role as Seong Gi-hun, the main protagonist of Netflix's survival drama Squid Game.

Lee Jung-jae was born on December 15,1972, in Jung District, Seoul.

Lee Jung-jae was discovered by designer Ha Yong-soo while he was working at a cafe in Apgujeong-dong, then worked as a fashion model for a number of years.

Lee Jung-jae's acting breakthrough would come in late 1998 in the award-winning film An Affair by E J-yong.

Lee Jung-jae followed up with melodrama Last Present alongside Lee Jung-jae Young-ae and action mystery The Last Witness directed by Bae Chang-ho.

In 2002, Lee Jung-jae starred alongside Jang Jin-young in Over the Rainbow.

Lee Jung-jae's much-anticipated return to television a decade after his memorable turn in Sandglass was not successful ratings-wise; Air City and Triple.

Lee Jung-jae rejuvenated his career in the high-profile 2010 erotic thriller The Housemaid, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival.

Lee Jung-jae nabbed a Best Actor award at the Fantasporto Director's Week.

Lee Jung-jae played a police officer who goes undercover in a crime organization in the crime thriller New World.

Lee Jung-jae said he was grateful to co-star Choi Min-sik, who suggested casting him to the director.

Lee Jung-jae later signed on to be exclusively managed by C-JeS Entertainment, reportedly choosing the agency after he worked with Song Ji-hyo in New World.

Lee Jung-jae then portrayed Prince Suyang opposite Song Kang-ho in the period film The Face Reader, for which he won Best Supporting Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards.

Lee Jung-jae won a Best Actor award at the 24th Buil Film Awards and was named Actor of the Year at the 3rd Marie Claire Asia Star Awards.

Lee Jung-jae then starred in his first Chinese film, the crime drama Tik Tok.

Lee Jung-jae returned to the Korean screen with the box office hit, Operation Chromite, playing a South Korean lieutenant in the navy, the man responsible for reversing the tide of the Korean War.

In 2019, Lee Jung-jae starred in Svaha: The Sixth Finger, an occult film.

In 2020, Lee Jung-jae starred in the action film Deliver Us from Evil alongside Hwang Jung-min and Park Jeong-min.

In September 2021, Lee Jung-jae starred as Seong Gi-hun, the main protagonist of Netflix's hit survival drama Squid Game.

Lee Jung-jae was nominated along with his costars for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Lee Jung-jae won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 for his performance in Squid Game, making him the first person to win that award for a non-English-speaking role, and the first Asian man to win that award.

Lee Jung-jae is set to reprise the role a final time in the show's third season in June 2025.

On November 11,2021, it was announced Lee Jung-jae was selected as a global ambassador for luxury brand Gucci.

In 2022, Lee Jung-jae made his directorial debut with the spy action film Hunt, in which he stars alongside Jung Woo-sung.

On February 26,2022, Lee Jung-jae signed with Creative Artists Agency.

On September 8,2022, Lee Jung-jae was cast as the male lead in the Star Wars series The Acolyte, released on Disney+.

Lee Jung-jae received the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit from President Yoon Suk-yeol, which is the highest decoration awarded to those who have contributed to culture and arts.

In December 2024, Lee Jung-jae was invited to be a guest with Jimmy Fallon in Midtown Manhattan.

Apart from acting, Lee Jung-jae is known for launching a chain of upscale Italian restaurants in Seoul named after his film Il Mare.

In 1999, Lee Jung-jae was charged with driving under the influence after crashing his BMW into a car in the adjacent lane.

Lee Jung-jae got another DUI in 2002 that led to his license being revoked again.

In January 2015, Lee Jung-jae confirmed that he was dating Im Se-ryung.