Lee Sun-kyun

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.