Lee Jong-suk

The model who didn't want to be one

Lee Jong-suk never planned for his face to plaster half of Seoul. In 2005, he became the youngest male model to walk at Seoul Fashion Week, at just 16 years old. He had incredibly long legs and a melancholy air that fit the aesthetic of the era. But he only thought about taekwondo until a ligament injury forced him to look toward the stage.

His entry into acting was anything but smooth. He went through several agencies and even tried to join a pop music group before giving up. In 2010, he landed a supporting role in Prosecutor Princess, and that same year he caught attention in Secret Garden. He didn't need many lines for the camera to fall for his face.

Television soon took him in.

In 2012, he starred in School 2013, where he changed the industry's perception of his dramatic ability. He was no longer just a handsome guy who knew how to walk a fashion runway. His performance as a tormented student earned him his first serious awards. Then the offers came in that changed everything.

The Weight of Other People's Gaze

Between 2013 and 2016, he put together a run of hits rarely seen in the Korean industry. With I Can Hear Your Voice in 2013, he reached audience shares above 20 percent in South Korea. But it was with Pinocchio in 2014 that he proved he could carry the weight of a complex production about journalism and ethics.

He works in an almost obsessive way. Lee Jong-suk often films his own scenes and watches them over and over on the monitor to correct even the smallest gestures. In 2016, he starred in W (Two Worlds), playing a comic book character who comes to life. It was a risky bet given the fantastical tone of the story, but he won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at MBC that same year.

Risk is her currency.

Before enlisting for mandatory military service in 2019, he starred in Romance is a Bonus Book. It was his first pure romantic comedy and a temporary farewell to his fans. For two years he worked as a public service official due to an old knee injury. The break did not affect his earnings or his relevance in international streaming markets.

The maturity of a survivor

In 2021, he finished his military service and came back with a different hunger. He was no longer looking for the youthful romantic lead role that made him famous in the previous decade. In 2022, he premiered the action film Decibel, in which he played a navy captain with antagonist undertones. It was a smart move to move away from the clean-cut image he projected early in his career.

That same 2022, he returned to television with Big Mouth, playing a third-rate lawyer who ends up in prison. The series was a ratings phenomenon and earned him his second Daesang award at the MBC Drama Awards. The actor proved that his physical maturity allowed him to take on much darker and more physically demanding roles.

In 2023, he focused on his international fan meeting tour, which took him to cities such as Hong Kong, Taipei, and Seoul. He also managed his own talent agency (A-Man Project) before signing a strategic partnership with Ace Factory in 2024. He has complete control over his career and chooses projects with a calm that drives producers crazy.

He is scheduled to shoot the series Seochodong in 2025, directed by Park Seung-woo. He will play a veteran lawyer in a legal drama that promises to move away from the visual flourishes of his previous work. The contract was finalized after months of negotiations over the technical approach to the script and the production schedule at Seoul's courthouses.

His salary per episode exceeds 200 million won.