LEE JONG SUK

Lee Jong-suk (Hangul: 이종석, born 14 September 1989) is a South Korean actor and model. He debuted in 2005 as a runway model,and is well known to be the youngest male model ever of the Seoul Collection program for Seoul Fashion Week.In 2013, Lee ranked respectively in fifth place according to a survey entitled 'Actors Who Lit Up 2013' by Gallup Korea, one of the most recognized awards in Korea for the entertainment industry.

Jong-suk debuted as an actor in the 2005 Short Film Sympathy. He is best known for his leading roles in School 2013 (2012), I Can Hear Your Voice (2013) — in which he was nominated for Most Popular Actor and Best Actor in the category of television at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards, Doctor Stranger (2014) and Pinocchio (2014), which garnered him another nomination for Most Popular Actor at the 51th Baeksang Arts Awards. Also he is the youngest actor in history to be awarded the Grimae Award for "Best Male Actor" for his performance in Pinocchio.

Early life

At the young age of 15, Lee Jong-suk began his modelling career at the Seoul Collection walkway in 2005, making him the youngest and most talked-about male model to debut at Seoul Collection program for Seoul Fashion Week.Since then he has walked in a number of fashion shows hosted by many of the top brands in Korea, boasting an extensive modeling portfolio. Having participated in some of the biggest fashion runaway shows, Lee was praised by many as "a model who had the image of a boy and a grown man coexisting inside him".

Lee then trained as an idol group member for three months, and had signed on with the agency for debut. However, he quit after the agency broke their promise of debuting Lee as an actor. He then took part in a selection for actors at SBS TV station when he was in middle school.

2010–2012: Acting career beginnings

In 2010, Lee made his official acting debut in the South Korean TV series titled Prosecutor Princess. The same year he had a supporting role in the popular drama Secret Garden where he played a talented young composer with a surly attitude and a forbidden crush on the second male lead, Oska played by Yoon Sang-hyun. Lee also made his big-screen debut in the horror movie Ghost.

In 2011, Lee appeared in MBC's sitcom High Kick Season 3 in which he portrayed the character An Jong Seok, who is involved in a complicated love square with the characters portrayed by Baek Jin-hee, Yoon Kye-sang and Kim Ji-won.

In 2012, Lee starred in the film R2B: Return to Base, a loose remake of the critically acclaimed 1986 film Top Gun. This was Lee's first flight movie, and he plays an important role as part of a team of F-15Kpilots.

2012-2013: Rising popularity

2013 became Lee's breakout year thanks to his first lead role as a high school student Go Nam-soon, in the teen drama School 2013. He received his first acting award for the role at the 2012 KBS Drama Awardsunder the category Best New Actor.

Following the success of School 2013, Lee starred in the popular and acclaimed drama I Can Hear Your Voice with Lee Bo-young, where he played Park Soo Ha, an intelligent young man who could read minds. According to the related personnel from the drama:

“Sooha lives in a world that is a little more chaotic/noisy than ours, surrounded by his impactful past and his special first love. We intend to explore how he uses his special abilities among the complicated web of character relationships.”

Originally slated for 16 episodes, the drama was extended by 2 episodes due to its successful ratings. I Can Hear Your Voice gave Lee outstanding recognition, and became his most well-known work to date. He received the Excellence Award in the male category at the Korea Drama Awards for his acting performance in the drama as well as the Best Couple Award together with his co-star Lee Bo-young.

Lee also became the lead actor in the movie No Breathing with Seo In-guk and Kwon Yuri from Girls' Generation. He portrayed the character Woo Sang, an ambitious young swimmer who always strives to be #1. He also had a supporting role as Nae-gyeong (played by Song Kang-ho)'s son in box office hit The Face Reader.

2014 – present: Rising popularity in China and International fame

In 2014, he starred in the movie Hot Young Bloods with Park Bo-young — which garnered him a nomination for Most Popular Actor in the category of film at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards. The movie is set in an agricultural town in Chungcheong back in the 1980s and focuses on the lives and loves of several high school students. It's Lee's second film as the lead actor as well as his role as a high school student.

Lee also took on the lead role in popular medical drama, Doctor Stranger in the same year. He plays Park Hoon, an intelligent doctor who came from North Korea, but who gets shunned because of his background. Thanks to Lee's popularity, the online streaming rights for drama were sold for $80,000 per episode in China. Furthermore, the drama was made available for online streaming on both Youku andTudou where it received 330 million and 50 million views, respectively. Due to the drama's success in China it was planned to edit the drama into a film and release it theatrically exclusively in China with an alternate ending. Lee's previous drama, I Can Hear Your Voice, has also surpassed 350 million views on YouKu as of July 2014 in China.

On September 11, Lee was confirmed to star in Pinocchio opposite actress Park Shin-hye. The drama portrayed the passionate pursuit of justice by young news reporters on the social affairs desk. Lee plays the protagonist Choi Dal-po, a first year reporter at a broadcasting company who struggles with the idea of justice and truth in a world where everyone wants to hide the facts. Pinocchio proved to be Lee's biggest project in his career, garnering 6.2 billion won (US$5.62 million) in just one year, with the export price paid for one episode being $280,000. Because of its record-breaking price, "Pinocchio" became the most widely searched word on Chinese search portals.

Lee's performance and hard work throughout the year in the dramas Doctor Stranger and Pinocchio earned him several acting accolades, including the Top Excellence Award in the male category at the 8th Korea Drama Awards, and the SBS Special Award at the 2014 SBS Drama Awards. His acting performance in Pinocchio was also recognized at the 27th Grimae Awards, a honorable award chosen by directors in every broadcasting station in Korea. Lee became the youngest actor to be named the Best Actor at the Grimae Awards. Lee also won the Most Popular Actor award at the 51st Baeksang Arts Awards due to his rising popularity.

Lee later released a photobook titled 2014-2015 Asia Tour Story ~With~. It was put on sale at online shopping malls of 29 countries around the world. The book comprises photos taken of Lee's meetings with fans in seven Asian cities, including Seoul, Beijing and Bangkok, during a nine-month tour.

In December 2015, Lee left his previous agency Wellmade Yedang and signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment on May 10, 2016.

Due to Lee's success in China, a wax figure of the him went on display in Hong Kong's Madame Tussauds, which the actor unveiled himself in a ceremony. He is the fourth Korean whose wax figure was installed at the museum after actors Bae Yong-joon, Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun. Lee was also cast in a Korean-Chinese TV drama titled Jade Lovers along with actress Zheng Shuang. The drama is filmed in Shanghai and described as a fantasy romance series which is set in the 1930s.

On July 2016, Lee returned to the Korean small screen with MBC's fantasy thriller drama series W - Two Worlds alongside Han Hyo-joo as Kang Cheol, a fictional character and the lead character of the popular comic series. It can be described as a suspense love story which happens between the reality and the virtual universe. The drama is directed by Jung Dae-yoon who is known for She Was Pretty and writer Song Jae-jung whose previous works include Nine: Nine Time Travels and Queen In-hyun's Man.

In August 2016, Lee Jong-suk was confirmed for the movie VIP, which will be released in 2017. Lee is playing the son of a high-ranking North Korean official, Gwang-Il, who is suspected of committing serial murders around the globe — it marks Lee's first role as a villain.

Personal life

Lee Jong-suk majored in Professional Motion Pictures Art at South Korean Konkuk University and graduated from the university in 2016.

Jong-suk's best known friend in the media is Kim Woo-bin, whom he has known since their modeling days. According to him, both of them have known each other for years but through the work for the teen dramaSchool 2013, their relationship deepened. He also stated that Woo-bin is the only friend that he can depend on when he has something he's worried about. Due to the increased popularity of both actors sinceSchool 2013, which was the breakout work for both of them, the media displays the two friends as rivals but Kim Woo-bin denies these statements and clarifies that he sees Jong-suk as his "loving friend" who he can learn from as Lee started modeling and acting before him.