Lee Jung-jae
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Lee Jung-jae (Korean: 이정재; born December 15, 1972) is a South Korean actor, filmmaker, and businessman. Considered one of South Korea's most successful actors, he has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, six Baeksang Arts Awards, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Gotham Award. Aside from his acting career, Lee is also a businessman, having launched a chain of restaurants in Seoul, as well as founding several businesses including the development company Seorim C&D. He owns several of his businesses with fellow actor and close friend Jung Woo-sung. Born in Seoul, Lee debuted as a fashion model, then began his acting career on television, notably in the drama Sandglass (1995). After his acting breakthrough in An Affair (1998), Lee's film career took off. He has starred in a variety of film genres, among them dramas such as City of the Rising Sun (1999), romantic films Il Mare (2000) and Last Present (2001), well-known comedies such as Oh! Brothers (2003), action films Typhoon (2005) and Deliver Us from Evil (2020), thrillers The Housemaid (2010) and New World (2013), heist film The Thieves (2012), and espionage films Assassination (2015), Operation Chromite (2016) and Hunt (2022). He won Best Supporting Actor at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in The Face Reader (2013). In 2021, Lee gained widespread international fame for his role as Seong Gi-hun, the main protagonist of Netflix's survival drama Squid Game. For his performance in the show's first season, he was nominated for numerous accolades, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, making him the first male actor from Asia and Korea to receive individual nominations in those categories across all four awards shows, with his win for the latter two also making history. His season 2 and 3 portrayals were more mixed, with critics feeling his character's actions were frustrating and made little sense. Despite these criticisms, Lee has been praised for his ability to shift from a lighthearted character to a darker one in the second and third seasons. In December 2021, he was selected as Gallup Korea's Film Actor of the Year. In 2024, he is listed among the most impactful Asians A100 list by Gold House.