Lee Sun-kyun

Acting

Lee Sun-kyun

Born 1975-03-02 · Seoul, South Korea

Lee Sun-kyun (March 2, 1975 – December 27, 2023) was a South Korean actor. He was best known for his roles in the films, Helpless (2012), romantic comedy All About My Wife (2012), and crime/black comedy A Hard Day (2014). He was also known for his role in the Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning black comedy film Parasite for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award along with his castmates. He received several other awards including nomination for an International Emmy Award. After beginning his career in musical theatre, for many years Lee was relegated to minor and supporting roles onscreen, only getting to play lead characters in one-act dramas on KBS Drama City and MBC Best Theater. In one such Best Theater project, he worked with TV director Lee Yoon-jung on Taereung National Village (2005), which led to him being cast in her later series Coffee Prince in 2007. Coffee Prince, along with medical drama White Tower brought Lee mainstream popularity, which he followed with Pasta (2010), Golden Time (2012) and My Mister (2018). Meanwhile, on the big screen, he received a Best Actor award from the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival for his role in Paju (2009), followed by critical acclaim for mystery thriller Helpless (2012), romantic comedy All About My Wife (2012), and crime/black comedy A Hard Day (2014). Lee also continues to collaborate with auteur Hong Sang-soo, and his arthouse films with Hong include Night and Day (2008), Oki's Movie (2010), and Nobody's Daughter Haewon (2013). In 2019, he starred in Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning black comedy film Parasite.

Acting credits

Parasite poster
8.5

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Parasite

2019

Project Silence poster
6.9

Due to sudden deteriorating weather conditions, visibility on the Airport Bridge is severely impaired, leaving people stranded and at risk of the bridge collapsing due to a series of chain collisions and explosions. Amidst the chaos, the canine subjects "Echo" from the military experiment "Project Silence," who were being transported in secret, break free, and all human survivors become targets of relentless attacks.

Project Silence

2024

A Hard Day poster
7.1

After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.

A Hard Day

2014

Sleep poster
6.7

A pregnant wife who becomes worried about her husband’s sleeping habits. What starts out as some light sleep-talking soon escalates to unexpectedly grotesque behaviour. They consult a sleep clinic without success and as his nightmarish behaviour escalates, they desperately seek help from a shaman.

Sleep

2023

Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage poster
6.1

On the run from a dogged internal affairs agent, a corrupt cop reluctantly teams up with a defiant teen to unravel a conspiracy before it's too late.

Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage

2019

Take Point poster
6.9

On the day of the U.S. presidential election in 2024, a team of elite mercenaries embark on a secret CIA mission to abduct North Korea's politician in an underground bunker below the Korean Demilitarized Zone. However, they get caught in the crossfire which causes tensions to escalate to the brink of World War III.

Take Point

2018

R-Point poster
6.6

On 07 January 1972, the South Korean base in Nha-Trang, Vietnam, receives a radio transmission from a missing platoon presumed dead.

R-Point

2004

Paju poster
5.8

A young woman living in the South Korean town of Paju recalls the last 8 years of her life, since a young man on the lam escaped to it from Seoul and married her older sister.

Paju

2009

Killing Romance poster
6.4

Hwang Yeo-rae, a once-popular actress, faces a turbulent marriage and yearns for her old career. When she moves in next to Kim Beom-woo, her biggest fan, a desperate plan to regain her freedom and revive her career unfolds.

Killing Romance

2023

Kingmaker poster
7.1

Seo Chang-dae, an ambitious political campaign strategist who ends up having ideological differences with his present client, receives a lucrative offer that will put his loyalty under the microscope.

Kingmaker

2022

Romantic Island poster
6.4

Three Korean couples travel separately to the Philippines. A middle aged couple first time abroad, a convenience store clerk bumps into an incognito pop star and the runaway Soo-jin meets a businessman who is there for his father's death.

Romantic Island

2008

The King's Case Note poster
6.8

A clever king of Joseon and his brilliant chronicler hunt for the truth behind a crime that threatens the throne and the stability of the country.

The King's Case Note

2017

Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP poster
7.0

A zoophobic national security agent suddenly receives the ability to talk to animals after a freak accident.

Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP

2020

Our Town poster
5.4

A writer kills his landlady and stages the body to look like the work of an active serial killer. Anxious that the police might figure out the truth, he decides to insert himself into the investigation using his detective friend.

Our Town

2007

Helpless poster
7.0

A woman suddenly disappears. Her fiance then sets out to find her and, in the process, uncovers layers of dark hidden secrets.

Helpless

2012

The Advocate: A Missing Body poster
7.2

When his client suddenly confesses to murder in open court, a hotshot attorney embarks on a search for truth to redeem his ruined reputation.

The Advocate: A Missing Body

2015

All About My Wife poster
6.6

A man asks a womanizer to seduce his wife in order to catalyze a divorce.

All About My Wife

2012

Our Sunhi poster
6.5

Sunhi, a film major graduate, visits her school to ask her Professor Choi for a recommendation letter to study in U.S. Knowing the professor favors her, she expects a good recommendation from him. Out from her shell after a long time, Sunhi also ends up meeting two men from her past: Munsu, her ex-boy friend, and Jaehak, a director who graduated from the same film school. Through the encounters between Sunhi and the three men, they give each other an 'advice on life' with good intentions. The three men who all have strong interests in her are led to guess and define her, unable to tell how she really feels inside. Strangely, the mentioned advices and traits of her are similar and seem to pass from one person to the next. The words of 'advice on life' seem doubtable and slip away as the three men's thoughts on Sunhi become more and more irrelevant.

Our Sunhi

2013

Nobody's Daughter Haewon poster
6.5

Facing her mother’s departure and the weight of a secret affair with her professor, college student Haewon drifts through a series of encounters and dreams, blurring the lines between her desires and reality.

Nobody's Daughter Haewon

2013

Scent of Love poster
6.6

In-ha and Hee-jae were together in college and meet again after years. Their love is being tested when Hee-jae finds out she is ill.

Scent of Love

2003

Land of Happiness poster
6.4

October 26, 1979, a presidential assassination shakes the nation. Taking on the defense of Park Tae-joo, the secretary involved in the presidential assassination, lawyer Jung In-hoo enters what would be South Korea's most notorious political trial. Despite Park Tae-joo facing a predetermined sentence due to his military status, Jung In-hoo fights tirelessly to ensure a fair trial, enraged by the trial's unfair proceedings.

Land of Happiness

2024

A Special Lady poster
6.0

A corrupt prosecutor plans for revenge against Hyun-jung's crime organization by using her loyal partner, Sang-hoon.

A Special Lady

2017

The Customer Is Always Right poster
5.2

In a peaceful barbershop, a timid barber confronts a stranger who has started to send blackmail notes. Whenever the stranger comes to the barbershop, the amount of money he demands becomes greater and greater. Driven to desperation, the barber hires a detective, who discovers a shocking truth about the blackmailer.

The Customer Is Always Right

2006

A Single Spark poster
7.1

Activist and law school graduate Kim is being persecuted by the mid-’70s Park regime for trying to write a book about Jeon Tae-il, a union activist who immolated himself at age 22 to protest government hypocrisy.

A Single Spark

1995