Lee Joon-gi
| Lee Joon-gi | |
|---|---|
In August 2016
|
|
| Born |
17 April 1982 Busan, South Korea |
| Other names | Lee Joon-ki |
| Education | Seoul Institute of the Arts |
| Occupation | Actor, singer, model |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Agent | Namoo Actors (2014-present) |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Website | www |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | I Jun-gi |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Chun-gi |
Lee Joon-gi (born April 17, 1982) is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He rose to fame playing supporting roles in the film The King and the Clown (2005) and drama My Girl (2005). Since then, he has starred in television series Iljimae (2008), Arang and the Magistrate (2012) Scholar Who Walks The Night (2015) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016).
Lee first became interested in the performing arts as a high school student after watching a performance of Hamlet. He moved to Seoul with a dream to work in the entertainment industry rather than getting into college. For the next couple of years, Lee worked at various part-time jobs before he got accepted into the Seoul Institute of the Arts. He debuted as a model in 2001.
Lee had his first major acting role in the 2005 film The King and the Clown, in which he played the historical figure Gong-gil, an effeminate clown in the Joseon Dynasty. The film, which achieved both critical and commercial success, propelled the then-unknown actor into Asia-wide stardom. Apart from winning numerous Best Newcomer recognition at the Korean Film Awards, Grand Bell Awards and Baeksang Art Awards, Lee also won the Best Actor Award at the Max Movie Awards.
Producer Lee Joon-ik revealed the story of how he chose Lee for The King and the Clown by just seeing him do handstands, saying, "Just because of handstands, Lee Joon-gi became the person he is today." After the film, Lee became "an icon" of the South Korean "pretty boy" trend. Lee has since tried to downplay this kkonminam image, saying that his character Gong-gil in the film felt like a foot chain for him so he wanted to escape from it: "After my performance in The King and the Clown, I found myself at the forefront of this ‘pretty boy’ trend, whether or not that was my intention. Suddenly, people were interested in me, and there was all this praise and criticism all at the same time. Everything was just so overwhelming. I felt like I was floating on air."
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