Lee Na-young
Lee Na-Young at the Romance Is a Bonus Book site conference in 2019.
Born	(1979-02-22) February 22, 1979 (age 45) Hapjeong-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea
Education	Shingu University (Majoring in Business)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present
Agent	Eden 9
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Spouse	Won Bin ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	1
Korean name
Hangul	이나영
Revised Romanization	Yi Nayeong
McCune–Reischauer	I Nayŏng
Website	Official website

Lee Na-young (born February 22, 1979) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as Ruler of Your Own World (2002), Ireland (2004) and Romance Is a Bonus Book (2019), as well as the films Someone Special (2004) and Maundy Thursday (2006). Aside from acting, Lee is also known for appearing in numerous commercials.^[1]

Career

Lee Na-young began her modeling career in a Jambangee Jeans TV commercial in 1998, then made her acting debut that same year.^[2] Following supporting roles in 1999 television dramas Did We Really Love?, KAIST,^[3] and Queen,^[4] Lee starred in the tepidly received 2001 Hong Kong sci-fi action film Dream of A Warrior starring Leon Lai.^[5] She also appeared in the 2001 music video for "Catherine's Wheel" by Britpop band Rialto.^[6][7]

But Lee rose to fame in 2002 with the critically acclaimed series Ruler of Your Own World.^[8] She played an indie rock musician who unexpectedly falls for a terminally ill grifter, and Lee and her fellow cast members were praised for their realistic, nuanced acting.^[9] She later reunited with Ruler of Your Own World screenwriter In Jung-ok for Ireland, a 2004 drama about a Korean adoptee who journeys to her homeland, but its reception was less positive.^[10]

During this time, Lee had become one of the top-ranked and highest-paid commercial models, endorsing diverse products such as cosmetics (notably Laneige and Lancôme), electronics, clothing lines, beverages, food, telecommunications, and construction companies.^[11][12][13] She is considered to have one of the most beautiful and idealized faces in Korea.^[14] Lee later became the first Korean to appear on the cover of fashion magazine W Korea, for its November 2009 issue.^[15]

But unlike her graceful and glamorous public persona in advertisements, her image in film has been the opposite, with Lee choosing to portray women who are awkward and eccentric.^[16] In 2002, she starred in the cyber romance Who R. U.? as an introverted character similar to her role in Ruler of Your Own World.^[17][18][19] Lee then played a quirky, English-challenged civil servant in Kim Sung-su's comedy film Please Teach Me English (2003) and the harmless stalker of a struggling baseball player in Jang Jin's romantic comedy Someone Special (2004).^[20][21] She won several Best Actress prizes for Someone Special, notably from the prestigious Blue Dragon Film Awards.^[22]

Lee again drew praise in 2006, this time for her dramatic chops in Maundy Thursday, Song Hae-sung's film adaptation of Gong Ji-young's novel Our Happy Time about a suicidal rape victim who develops a close bond with a death row inmate.^[23] She next played an emotionally tormented sleepwalker in Kim Ki-duk's Dream (2008), and nearly died while filming a scene where her character hangs herself.^[24]

In 2010, Lee headlined Lady Daddy, playing a trans woman photographer whose life is disrupted with the sudden arrival of a young boy who claims that she's his biological father.^[25][26][27] To promote the film, she made a guest appearance in the sitcom High Kick Through the Roof.^[28][29] Lee then returned to television with the big-budget action-mystery series The Fugitive: Plan B, in which she performed her own action scenes without a stunt double.^[30][31]

When Lee's contract with talent agency KeyEast expired in 2011 (she had signed with KeyEast in 2006, and with the William Morris Agency in 2009), she joined Eden 9 Entertainment.^[32][33][34] In 2012, she starred in Yoo Ha's suspense thriller Howling, about a veteran detective (played by Song Kang-ho) who teams up with a female rookie (Lee) to solve a series of murders involving a mysterious wolfdog.^[35][36][37]

In 2013, Lee appeared in a minor role in the two-part Japanese film SPEC: Close. She then played an actress having a secret romance with a boom operator in Sad Scene; it was among the three short films in the omnibus Woman, Man commissioned by W Korea for its 10th anniversary in 2015.^[38]

In 2018, Lee returned to the silver screen with the North Korean refugee drama Beautiful Days,^[39] which premiered at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival.^[40][41][42]

In 2019, Lee returned to the small screen after nine years by starring in the romance comedy drama Romance Is a Bonus Book alongside Lee Jong-suk.^[43][44][45] She played a main character named Kang Dan-yi who is a new temporary worker of book publishing company.

Personal life

Marriage and children

Lee married actor Won Bin on May 30, 2015, in a small, private ceremony in a wheat field near an inn in Won's hometown, Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, South Korea.^{[46][47][48][49][50]} The couple belong to the same talent agency Eden 9, and reportedly began dating in August 2012 (though Eden 9 only confirmed the relationship in July 2013).^{[51][52][53][54]} A press release from Eden 9 on December 19, 2015, announced that Lee had given birth to the couple's first child, a son.^{[55][56][57][58]}

Filmography

Film

Television series

Web series

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

Listicles