Will Yun Lee
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William Yun Lee (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Danny Woo in the supernatural drama ''
Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers ...
'' and Jae Kim in the sci-fi series '' Bionic Woman''. He has also appeared in the films ''
Die Another Day ''Die Another Day'' is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori. The fourth and final film st ...
'' (2002), '' Elektra'' (2005) and '' The Wolverine'' (2013). He had a recurring role as Sang Min in ''
Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...
'', plays the original body of series protagonist Takeshi Kovacs in ''
Altered Carbon ''Altered Carbon'' is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by the English writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel and relative immortality is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies ("sleeves"), it follows t ...
'', plays Marvelous Man in ''
The Guardians of Justice ''The Guardians of Justice'' (a.k.a. ''Adi Shankar's The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!)'') is a Netflix Original live action/adult animated mixed media superhero television series created, directed, written, and executive produced by Adi S ...
'' (2022) and voiced Wei Shen in the game '' Sleeping Dogs'' (2012). , he is appearing on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
medical drama '' The Good Doctor'' playing Dr. Alex Park.


Early life

Lee was born in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
to
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
parents. His parents are mother Jung Ja Lee and father Soo Woong Lee, a
Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
grandmaster. He first began training at just three years old and spent a portion of his youth teaching at Lee's Tae Kwon Do training facility, his family's business in
Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...
. Lee spent his youth moving across the United States and has attended 23 schools. Lee attended
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
with a full athletic scholarship to study
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and
ethnic studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...
.


Career

Lee had supporting roles in high-profile films such as ''
Die Another Day ''Die Another Day'' is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori. The fourth and final film st ...
'', ''
Torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
'', ''
The King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of '' The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main p ...
'' and '' Elektra''. He has also acted on
FX Network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launch ...
's mini-series ''
Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' and ABC Family's TV movie Mini-series ''
Fallen Fallen may refer to: People * Carl Fredrik Fallén (1764–1830), Swedish botanist and entomologist * Gabriel Toledo (born 1991), known as FalleN, Brazilian ''Counter-Strike'' player Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Fallen ...
''. He recently guest starred in ''
Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...
'' as recurring character "Sang Min", and in ''
True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The ser ...
'' as "Mr. Gus". He also played
Kenuichio Harada Kenuichio Harada, also known as the original Silver Samurai, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A mutant with the power to charge his own katana, the character first appeared in '' Daredevil'' # ...
in
James Mangold James Allen Mangold (born December 16, 1963) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the films ''Cop Land'' (1997), ''Girl, Interrupted'' (1999), ''Walk the Line'' (2005), '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (2007), '' The Wolverine'' (2013) and ''Logan'' ( ...
's '' The Wolverine'' (2013). In 2018, Lee appeared in several episodes of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
science-fiction series ''
Altered Carbon ''Altered Carbon'' is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by the English writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel and relative immortality is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies ("sleeves"), it follows t ...
'' as the original body of protagonist Takeshi Kovacs (otherwise predominantly played by
Joel Kinnaman Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman (; born 25 November 1979) is a Swedish-American actor and model who first gained recognition for his roles in the Swedish film '' Easy Money'' and the ''Johan Falk'' crime series. Kinnaman is known international ...
in season one and
Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...
in season two). Lee provides the voice of the main protagonist in Square Enix's Hong Kong open-world crime game '' Sleeping Dogs'' as undercover cop Wei Shen. In 2002, he was named by ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' as one of their "50 Most Beautiful People", which quickly led to high-profile roles. In November 2007, he was again recognized by ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'', this time as one of the members of their list of the 15 "Sexiest Men Alive". Lee is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the 2006 documentary '' The Slanted Screen'' directed by
Jeff Adachi Jeffrey Gordon Adachi (August 29, 1959 – February 22, 2019) was an American attorney, pension reform advocate, and politician who served as the Public Defender of San Francisco from 2003 to 2019. Early life and education Adachi was the ...
, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood. He was featured in the music video of Mariah Carey's "
Boy (I Need You) "Boy (I Need You)" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey, taken from her ninth studio album, ''Charmbracelet'' (2002). It was written by Carey, Justin Smith, Norman Whitfield and Cameron Giles, and produced by the former and Just Blaze. T ...
" as well as Ice Cube's "
Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of ...
".


Personal life

In October 2010, Lee married actress Jennifer Birmingham in Shreveport, Louisiana. Their son, Cash, was born in June 2013. Cash was diagnosed with
Moyamoya disease Moyamoya disease is a disease in which certain arteries in the brain are constricted. Blood flow is blocked by constriction and blood clots (thrombosis). A collateral circulation develops around the blocked vessels to compensate for the blockage, ...
, a rare blood disorder, at the age of three.


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


References


External links

* * * Eichberger, Gaby; Schmidt, Christine (September 2011)
"Interview with Will Yun Lee"
mycoven.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Will Yun 1971 births American male actors of Korean descent Male actors from Virginia American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American male taekwondo practitioners Living people People from Arlington County, Virginia University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors