Lee Hyung-Hun life and biography

Lee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He achieved wider fame after starring in the television dramas Iris (2009), All In (2003) and Beautiful Days (2001). He is also known for his starring roles in Joint Security Area (2000), A Bittersweet Life (2005), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) and I Saw the Devil (2010). He has received multiple awards and nominations throughout his career.

Lee's career began in 1991 when he auditioned in the KBS Super Talent Audition and was accepted, making his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown. His breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Joint Security Area with Song Kang-ho and Lee Young Ae where he played a border-guard soldier who crossed to North Korea nightly and forged a friendship with a soldier on the opposing side. Directed by Park Chan-wook, it was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest grossing film in Korean history at the time. He received Best Actor jointly with Song Kang-ho at the Pusan Film Critics Awards. After the success of Joint Security Area he filmed Bungee Jumping of Their Own, about a man who's girlfriend dies and is later reincarnated.

He rose to further fame in 2001 with Beautiful Days in which he played Lee Min-chul, a charismatic and arrogant businessman, who falls for an innocent and caring orphan, played by Choi Ji-woo. He was then cast in Addicted as a man who falls into a coma and wakes up believing he is his dead brother. In 2003 he took the leading role in All In opposite Song Hye-kyo, where he played a man who becomes a millionaire through his amazing skills in playing poker. For his performance, he won the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Paeksang Arts Awards. In 2004, Lee appeared as a playboy in Everybody Has Secrets, a romantic comedy about three sisters who fall in love with Lee Soo-hyon. It reached a very high bid of US$5.5 million in Japan.

In 2005, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Kim Sun-woo in A Bittersweet Life which was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. For his performance Lee received Best Actor nominations from the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards, and won at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, Paeksang Arts Awards and the Critics Choice Awards. His next role was in the romantic Once in a Summer opposite Soo Ae. His first villain role was as "The Bad" in the Korean western The Good, the Bad, the Weird directed by Kim Ji-woon and also starring Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung. The film revolves around three men in a race to acquire a treasure map and was also screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.[8] In 2009 he costarred with Josh Hartnett and Takuya Kimura in the film I Come with the Rain. He then appeared as Storm Shadow in the American film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum. Miller described him as "not only incredibly talented and handsome, but also incredibly funny and silly".
In late 2009, Lee starred in the espionage action thriller Iris with Kim Tae-hee playing secret agents caught in a dangerous game of love, betrayal, and national security. It was one of the most expensive shows ever produced with filming locations in Hungary, Japan as well as South Korea. It was one of the most highest rated and acclaimed dramas of 2009 and for his performance Lee received the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Acting Awards and Best Actor at the Paeksang Arts Awards.

In 2010, Lee costarred with Choi Min-sik in I Saw the Devil, his third collaboration with director Kim Ji-woon, in which he plays Soo-hyun, an intelligence agent who tracks a serial killer who murdered his fiance. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2011, he will reprise his role as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe 2 directed by Jon Chu which will be released on August 10, 2012.

In June 2006, Lee formed his own management company BH Entertainment which manages many actors including Han Hyo-joo, Go Soo, and Han Chae-young. He owns a shop BHNC which sells hats, scarfs, wallets and sundries and is involved in designing the products that are sold. On October 15, 2008 he released a single in Japan called "Itsuka" (Someday) which was sung in Japanese and composed by renowned songwriter and producer Yasushi Akimoto which rose to claim the third slot in Japan's music charts. He served as the body model for the main character, Wayne Holden, in the Capcom video game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which was released on January 12, 2007.

In 2009, he collaborated with fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld in an ad campaign for Japanese beauty site yamanohada.com. Lagerfeld also hosted a photo exhibition in Japan with Lee as his main model which opened for two days starting on September 9, held at Space O in Tokyo under the title "Lee Byung-hun x Karl Lagerfeld". In 2011 he donated 7 hundred million won (approximately $617,700 USD) towards the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

He has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who was Miss Korea in 1996. His father, Lee In-chul, died in 1997. His English name is Brian but prefers being called Byung-hun. He graduated from Hanyang University with a major in French Literature and the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University with a major in Theater and Cinematography.
Lee and Song Hye-kyo became a couple after starring in the TV series All In. They broke up in 2004.

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