Lee Hee-jun

The Actor Who Ran Away from Engineering

Lee Hee-jun never planned to end up on stage. He was studying Chemical Engineering at Yeungnam University, but a car accident weeks before he was due to start mandatory military service forced him to rethink his future. That knee injury kept him out of the army and pushed him toward theater in his hometown of Daegu.

He moved to Seoul with little money and a huge hunger for acting. He joined the Chaimu theater company, where he learned that his physique was his best working tool. For years he piled up supporting roles in plays where gritty realism was the norm. But the paycheck wasn't enough to cover the bills in the capital.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2012, his life took a turn thanks to television. He played a supporting character in the series My Husband Got a Family, which connected with audiences on a massive scale. The production reached audience shares of 45% in South Korea. Suddenly, that stage actor with an everyday face was on billboards all over the country.

The Mask of the Luxury Supporting Actor

Many actors would have stayed comfortable in romantic comedies after a hit like that. Lee Hee-jun chose instead to pursue roles that demanded a real physical transformation. In 2018, he appeared in Miss Baek, playing a detective carrying a heavy emotional burden. That role let him move away from his friendly television image.

Lost weight drastically to shoot The Drug King in 2018. In that film, he shared the screen with Song Kang-ho and proved he could hold his own against the biggest stars of Asian cinema. His method is based on directly observing real people before stepping onto the set.

For his role in the film The Man Standing Next in 2020, he had to gain 25 kilograms of fat and muscle. He played the president's chief of security and needed an imposing, raw physical presence. That effort earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at the Baeksang Arts Awards in 2021.

He takes on roles that others turn down for being too dark.

In the film Oh! My Gran in 2020, he completely changed direction. He played a desperate son who must rely on the memory of his mother, who has Alzheimer's, to solve a hit-and-run. The movie blended rural comedy with family drama and earned more than two million dollars in its first days of release.

The International Expansion of 2024

The global market came knocking through streaming platforms. In 2024, he premiered Badland Hunters on Netflix, playing a deranged scientist in a post-apocalyptic world. It was his first major foray into pure action cinema with high-budget digital effects.

That same year, he appeared in the series A Killer Paradox, playing Song Chon. His character was a former detective turned killer who chases the lead across the country. International critics praised his ability to create terror without the need for long dialogue.

Because Lee Hee-jun prefers silence over unnecessary exposure. They rarely appear on variety shows or air their private life on social media. Their contract for the series Blood Free in 2024 made them one of the best-paid actors of their generation in episodic formats.

In 2024, the production of the film Handsome Guys confirmed that the actor was returning to black comedy after several years focused on thrillers. The film was shot mainly in rural locations in Gangwon Province on a mid-sized production budget.