Lee Sang-woo (; born February 13, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He rose to fame in the 2007
television drama
In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
''
First Wives' Club
''First Wives' Club'' () is a 2007 South Korean drama series starring Kim Hye-sun, Kim Hae-sook, Oh Hyun-kyung, Ahn Nae-sang, Lee Joon-hyuk and Son Hyun-joo. The weekend drama aired on SBS from September 29, 2007 to October 5, 2008 on Sat ...
'', and has since played leading roles on ''
The Road Home'' (2009), ''
Don't Hesitate'' (2009), ''
Life Is Beautiful'' (2010), and ''
Feast of the Gods'' (2012).
Career
Lee Sang-woo launched his acting career in 2005, starring in a ''
Drama City
Drama City () is an anthology television series that was broadcast by Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) via KBS2TV from 1984 to 2008.
1984's "Drama Game" lost its popularity several times since 1997, and the title, broadcast time was moved to ...
'' episode and a minor role in the
television drama
In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
''
18 vs. 29''. This was followed by more supporting roles on television, including his big screen debut in ''
Almost Love'', a
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film headlined by
Kwon Sang-woo and
Kim Ha-neul. During this time, he also starred as one of the three leading actors of the
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
''Don't Look Back'' (2006), which was the closing film of that year's
Jeonju International Film Festival, and won a critic's prize at the
Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
.
Lee began his rise to fame with a supporting role in ''
First Wives' Club
''First Wives' Club'' () is a 2007 South Korean drama series starring Kim Hye-sun, Kim Hae-sook, Oh Hyun-kyung, Ahn Nae-sang, Lee Joon-hyuk and Son Hyun-joo. The weekend drama aired on SBS from September 29, 2007 to October 5, 2008 on Sat ...
'', a popular drama which aired from 2007 to 2008 with a peak viewership rating of 41.3%. For his performance, he received a New Star Award at the
SBS Drama Awards.
It was not until 2009 that Lee was cast in his first mainstream leading role, in ''
The Road Home'', followed soon after by another daily drama ''
Don't Hesitate''. In the same year, he also appeared as one of the leading actors in ''
Searching for the Elephant'', an
erotic-
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...
about three thirty-something men struggling with
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
,
sex addiction
Sexual addiction is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The concept is contentious; sexual addiction is not a clinical diagnosis in ...
and infidelity.
In 2010, Lee starred with
Song Chang-eui in ''
Life Is Beautiful'' as a gay couple. The drama is one of the few Korean dramas about an openly
gay couple in Korean society, which have conservative views on sexuality. Despite the controversy, the show was successful in the ratings, and Lee would later work again with renowned screenwriter
Kim Soo-hyun on ''
A Thousand Days' Promise'' (2011) and ''
Childless Comfort'' (2012).
After a supporting role in ''Believe in Love'' (also known as ''My Love, My Family'', 2011), Lee was once again cast in the leading role in ''
Feast of the Gods'' (2012). He later won the Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama at the
MBC Drama Awards for ''Feast of the Gods'' and his supporting role in the
period drama
A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...
''
The King's Doctor''.
In 2013, Lee joined the
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to the po ...
of ''
Goddess of Marriage'', followed by the adultery drama ''
One Warm Word''. Unlike his previous calm and quiet roles, in 2014 he was cast as the leading man in ''
Glorious Day'', a peculiar character which Lee said he looked forward to playing since it most resembles his real-life personality.
Lee then starred in two weekend dramas, ''
All About My Mom'' and ''
Happy Home''. He returned to prime-time television, starring in romantic comedy drama ''
20th Century Boy and Girl''.
In 2018, Lee was cast in the
KBS2
KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...
weekend drama ''
Marry Me Now'' as a doctor and was partnered with
Han Ji-hye.
In 2019, Lee starred in the legal romantic comedy drama ''
Touch Your Heart'' as an elite prosecutor. In the same year, Lee made a special appearance in the KBS drama ''
Mother of Mine''. Lee later appeared in the MBC drama ''
The Golden Garden
''The Golden Garden '' () is a 2019 Korean drama, South Korean television series starring Han Ji-hye, Lee Sang-woo, Oh Ji-eun and Lee Tae-sung. It aired four episodes every Saturday on MBC TV (South Korean TV channel), MBC TV from 20:45 to 23:10 ...
''.
In 2020, Lee made a special appearance in the drama. ''
Lovestruck in the City''
[
In 2021, Lee made a special appearance in the SBS drama '' The Penthouse: War in Life 2''. Later, Lee participated in the variety golf show ''King of Golf'' aired on TV Chosun along with Yang Se-hyung, Lee Dong-gook, and Jang Min-ho,] and Lee was confirmed to participate in the TV Chosun drama ''Uncle
An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...
''.
Personal life
Lee married actress Kim So-yeon in June 2017. Their romantic relationship started in 2016.The pair met on the set of MBC's weekend drama '' Happy Home''.
Filmography
Film
Television series
Web series
Television shows
Music video
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Lee Sang-woo
at HM Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sang-woo
Male actors from Seoul
South Korean male film actors
South Korean male television actors
1980 births
Living people
South Korean male models
21st-century South Korean male actors
Korea University alumni