Lee Min-jung

Lee Min-jung (born February 16, 1982) is a South Korean actress. She began her career in Jang Jin's stage plays, and for a few years appeared in supporting roles on film and television. She became known after her appearance in Boys Over Flowers (2009), and landed her first lead role in family drama Smile, You (2009). Lee achieved widespread recognition for her leading role in the romantic comedy Cyrano Agency (2010). She also starred in Wonderful Radio (2012), Big (2012), Cunning Single Lady (2014) and Come Back Mister (2016).

This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Min-jung
Lee Min-jung in 2019
Born (1982-02-16) February 16, 1982
Seoul, South Korea
EducationSungkyunkwan University - Theater
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present
AgentMS Team Entertainment
(2008–present)
Spouse(s)
Lee Byung-hun (m. 2013)
Children1
Korean name
Hangul
Revised RomanizationI Min-jeong
McCune–ReischauerI Minjŏng

Career

Lee began her career in playwright/filmmaker Jang Jin's stage plays, then appeared in the Christian-themed indie Pruning the Grapevine,[1] while doing minor roles on film and television. She became a household name in 2009 through her supporting role in the popular high school series Boys Over Flowers, which then landed her first leading role in the weekend drama Smile, You.[2][3] The same year, she won the Best New Actress award at the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards for her performance in the mystery thriller White Night.[4]

Lee's breakout role was in romantic comedy Cyrano Agency in 2010, where she swept Best New Actress awards at various local award-giving bodies.[5][6][7][8][9]

Commercials and endorsements flooded in, and Lee gained a "goddess" label in the press.[10] One of the challenges of her next film Wonderful Radio, was to strip her of that image.[11] She successfully carried the film, with one review praising her as "expertly swinging from girly ditz, through self-centered pop diva (with memorable temper tantrums), to serious singer-songwriter."[12][13] Co-star Lee Jung-jin said her actual personality is similar to the character's - "really upbeat and outgoing."[11]

After playing a disillusioned fiancée to an ambitious fund manager in Midas,[14] Lee returned to the romantic comedy genre in the body-swapping TV series Big written by the Hong sisters.[15] In 2013 she starred in another rom-com series All About My Romance, about a secret relationship between two politicians of rival parties.[16] This was followed by Cunning Single Lady in 2014, in which she played the titular character who schemes to win her ex-husband back now that he's rich and successful.[17]

Lee made her acting comeback after three years in the SBS drama Come Back Mister with Rain. The series began airing in February 2016, and Lee won positive reviews for her performance.[18][19]

In 2018, Lee is scheduled to return with a SBS weekend drama Fates & Furies. She will re-unite with her former co-star Joo Sang-wook from Cunning Single Lady as main leads.[20][21]

Personal life

Her maternal grandfather was renowned painter Park No-soo, who led the first generation of modern traditional Korean ink painters who emerged after the country's liberation from Japanese rule. Park died on February 25, 2013, at the age of 86.[22]

Lee married actor Lee Byung-hun on August 10, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.[23][24][25][26] The couple had briefly dated in 2006, then resumed their relationship in 2012.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Lee gave birth to their first child, Lee Joon-hoo, a boy, on 31 March 2015.[37][38][39]

Filmography
Lee Min-jung at the LG Tromm Love Hands Talk Concert, on July 19, 2012

Film
Year Title Role
1999 The Gate of Destiny Icarus member
2003 Wishing Stairs Jin-sung's ballet dance double
2004 Someone Special Yi-yeon's friend
2005 Wet Dreams 2 Second year student #3
2006 Moodori Yoon-hee
2007 Pruning the Grapevine Yoon Soo-ah / Helena
2009 Searching for the Elephant Soo-yeon
White Night Lee Si-yeong
2010 Cyrano Agency Kim Hee-joong
2012 Wonderful Radio Shin Jin-ah

Television series
Year Title Role Network
2005 Love and Sympathy Kim Young-joo SBS
2006 Love Me When You Can Ha Jung-hwa MBC
2007 Kimcheed Radish Cubes Lee Min-do MBC
2008 Who Are You? Yang Ji-sook MBC
2009 Boys Over Flowers Ha Jae-kyung KBS2
Smile, You Seo Jung-in SBS
2010 Sunday Drama Theater "Lunch Box" Hee-young MBC
2011 Midas Lee Jung-yeon SBS
2012 Big Gil Da-ran KBS2
2013 All About My Romance Noh Min-young SBS
2014 Cunning Single Lady Na Ae-ra MBC
2016 Come Back Mister Shin Da-hye/Han Hong-nan SBS
2018-2019 Fates & Furies Goo Hae-ra SBS
2020 Once Again Song Na-hee KBS2

Music video appearances
Year Song title Artist Co-star
2005 "널 지켜줄게" Player
2006 "Like a Man" Fly to the Sky
2008 "Violin + Miss You" Zia Jung Kyung-ho
"Doll + A Man's Love"
2009 "Girls Like Bad Boys" December Kim Seung-woo
2009 "I Don't Care" 2NE1

Theater
Year Title Role
2004 Taxi Driver Hwa-yi
Clumsy People Yoo Hwa-yi
2007 The Game of Love and Chance Silvia

Discography
Year Artist Song title Album
2010 Lee Min-jung and Park Shin-hye "It Was You" Cyrano Agency OST
2012 Lee Min-jung "Again" Wonderful Radio OST
Lee Min-jung "Write the Truth"
Lee Min-jung, Seo Young and Ahn Mi-na "You're My Angel"

Awards and nominations
Lee Min-jung at the 2010 Director's Cut Awards
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2009 SBS Drama Awards[40] New Star Award Smile, You Won
2010 Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actress (TV) Nominated
Korean Association of Film Critics Awards[4] Best New Actress White Night Won
Grand Bell Awards[41] Best New Actress Cyrano Agency Won
Popularity Award, Actress Won
Style Icon Awards Style Icon - Movie Actress Won
Blue Dragon Film Awards[42] Best New Actress Won
Korea Jewelry Awards Ruby Award N/A Won
University Film Festival of Korea Best New Actress Cyrano Agency Won
Director's Cut Awards[43] Best New Actress Won
2011 Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actress Nominated
InStyle Fashionista Award[44] N/A Won
SBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Planning Drama Midas Nominated
2012 5th Herald Donga TV Lifestyle Awards[45] Style Icon Award N/A Won
KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Big Nominated
Netizen Award, Actress Nominated
Best Couple Award with Gong Yoo Nominated
2013 Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Actress Nominated
2014 MBC Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Cunning Single Lady Nominated
2019 SBS Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama Fates & Furies Nominated

References
  1. Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Pruning the Grapevine". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  2. Oh, Jean (25 September 2009). "New SBS series enters ratings race". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  3. Choi, Ji-eun (25 February 2010). "Smile, You shoots outdoor wedding scene in the cold". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  4. '충무로 신성' 이민정, 생애 첫 신인여우상 '수상'. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean).
  5. "Lee Min Jung: 'I Want to Become Actress whom People Can Trust'". KBS Global. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  6. Wee, Geun-woo (29 September 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actress Lee Min-jung - Part 1". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  7. Wee, Geun-woo (29 September 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actress Lee Min-jung - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  8. Wee, Geun-woo (29 September 2010). "INTERVIEW: Actress Lee Min-jung - Part 3". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  9. "Late Starter Lee Min-jung Is the Talk of the Town". The Chosun Ilbo. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  10. Lee, Jin-ho (14 December 2011). "Interview: The Goddess Lee Min Jung". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  11. Lee, Hyo-won (12 August 2011). "Director aims to 'de-deify' Lee Min-jung". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  12. "Lee Min-jung Expands Her Acting Repertoire with 'Wonderful Radio'". The Chosun Ilbo. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  13. Elley, Derek (5 March 2012). "Love On-Air". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  14. Oh, Jean (21 February 2011). "Will Jang score another success with Midas?". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  15. Oh, Jean (29 May 2012). "Lee Min-jung says Gong Yoo is a riot in new drama". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  16. Sunwoo, Carla (19 February 2013). "Lee Min-jung to replace Han Hye-jin". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
  17. Lee, Cory (7 January 2014). "Joo Sang-wook, Rhee Min-jung to Pair Up in New TV Romcom". 10Asia. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-21.
  18. "Lee Min-jung, Rain to star in new TV series". The Korea Herald. 2015-12-28.
  19. "Actor couple makes 'double headlines'". The Korea Times. 2016-03-18.
  20. "Rhee Min Jung to Make Her Small Screen Comeback with Joo Sang-wook". SBS News. 4 July 2018.
  21. "Lee Min-jung to Star in 1st TV Series in 2 Years". The Chosun Ilbo. 21 July 2018.
  22. Moon, So-young (27 February 2013). "Lee Min-jung's grandfather dies at 86". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  23. Lee, Eun-ah (10 August 2013). "Lee Byung-hun, Rhee Min-jung Walk Down the Aisle Today". 10Asia. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  24. Park, Si-soo (11 August 2013). "Movie star Lee Byung-hun is now taken!". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  25. Moon, Gwang-lip (12 August 2013). "Lee Byung-hun, Lee Min-jung wed". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  26. "Lee Byung-hun, Lee Min-jung to Honeymoon in Maldives". The Chosun Ilbo. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  27. Cho Chung-un, Lee Woo-young (19 August 2012). "Top actors say they are dating". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  28. Hong, Lucia (20 August 2012). "Lee Byung-hun, Lee Min-jung admit romantic relationship". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  29. "Lee Byung-hun and Lee Min-jung Admit They're Going Steady". The Chosun Ilbo. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  30. Moon, Gwang-lip (20 August 2012). "Lee Min-jung confirms dating rumor". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  31. Lee, Sun-min (6 June 2013). "Lee Byung-hun will marry Lee Min-jung". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  32. Suh, Hye-rim (5 June 2013). "Wedding of Lee Byung-hun, Lee Min-jung set for August". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  33. Kang, Jung-yeon (5 June 2013). "Lee Byung-hun, Rhee Min-jung to Marry August 10". 10Asia. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  34. "Lee Byung-hun and Lee Min-jung to Wed in August". The Chosun Ilbo. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  35. Cho, Suyoun (5 June 2013). "K-wave stars Lee Byung hun-Lee Min jung announce wedding in August". BNTNews. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  36. "Lee Byung-hun, Lee Min-jung Unveil Pre-Wedding Pics". The Chosun Ilbo. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  37. "Actor Lee Byung-hun and wife welcome new son". The Korea Times. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  38. "Lee Byung-hyun's Wife Announces Pregnancy". The Chosun Ilbo. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  39. Sung, So-young (20 January 2015). "Lee Min-jeong reveals she is pregnant". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  40. Ko Jae-wan (4 January 2010). "Jang Seo-hee wins grand prize at SBS Drama Awards". 10Asia. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  41. "Poetry sweeps 47th Daejong Film Awards". The Korea Times. 2010-10-31.
  42. ""Secret Reunion" wins best picture at Blue Dragon awards". 10Asia. 29 November 2010.
  43. [포토]'디렉터스컷' 이민정-서영희 '즐거운 시상식'. Star Daily (in Korean). 2010-12-22.
  44. "47th Annual Baeksang Arts Awards Ceremony". KBS World. 27 May 2011.
  45. "Herald Donga TV Lifestyle Awards presented". The Korea Herald. 6 December 2012.
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