Lee Min-ho (, born June 22, 1987) is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He gained widespread fame with his role as Gu Jun-pyo in Boys Over Flowers (2009), which also earned him the Best New Actor Award for Television at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards. His other notable works are television series City Hunter (2011), The Heirs (2013), The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), and The King: Eternal Monarch (2020), and films Gangnam Blues (2015) and Bounty Hunters (2016). In 2022, he starred in the Apple TV+ period drama Pachinko based on the novel of the same name.
The success of Lee's television career established him as a top Hallyu star; he is the most followed South Korean actor on social media. Lee became the first Korean celebrity to have a wax figure made in his image at Madame Tussauds, with figures being unveiled in Shanghai in 2013, and Hong Kong in 2014.
Early life and education
Lee Min-ho was born on June 22, 1987, in Heukseok-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul. Raised by Buddhist parents, he is the younger one of two children. During childhood, Lee initially hoped to become a professional football player.
While attending Namseong Elementary School, he was selected for the junior football class of manager and ex-professional player Cha Bum-kun. However, an injury during fifth grade put an end to his aspiration. In a 2009 interview with the Asia Business Daily, he recalled that during elementary school other pupils nicknamed him kkamdungi () in reference to his tan skin. Other nicknames were 'skeleton' from his time at Banpo Middle School and 'demon' in high school—the former stemmed from the thought that he was "too skinny" whereas the latter nickname was what his "playful" personality earned him.
By his first year at Danggok High School, Lee had already turned his interests to acting and modeling. After he posed for a few magazines, he met the future president of Starhaus Entertainment by chance. His professional acting career began after the encounter, and he would ultimately sign with the agency in 2005.
In 2006, Lee enrolled at Konkuk University's College of Art and Design; he has since obtained a bachelor's degree after majoring in Film Arts. He is currently pursuing his master's degree in Film at Kookmin University Graduate School.
Career
2002–2008: Beginnings
Lee started auditioning and landed minor roles in several television shows such as Romance (2002), Nonstop (2000–2006) and Recipe of Love (2005). His official debut (main) role was in the EBS series Secret Campus (2006). Early in his career, Lee went by the stage name Lee Min because his agency thought his birth name was too ordinary. However, as his stage name was pronounced and written in the same way as the Korean word "imin", which means "immigration", he later said it was difficult to find himself in internet search results. He eventually went back to using his original name.
In 2006, his acting career was put on hold for a year following a serious car wreck, which occurred while riding in the back of a car with fellow actor Jung Il-woo. Their two friends riding in the front seat were killed instantly. Lee was severely injured and spent several months bedridden. Upon recovery, Lee received his first leading role in the high-school drama Mackerel Run (2007), but the series was reduced to only eight episodes due to low viewership ratings. In 2008, he appeared in television dramas Get Up and I Am Sam, as well as movies Public Enemy Returns and Our School's E.T.. During the filming of the latter, he became good friends with actor Kim Su-ro. Kim later gave him praise on a variety show: "I recognize a star when I see one. When I was doing Our School's E.T., I knew that Lee Min-ho would become one of the top actors in the country".
2009–2010: Breakthrough
Lee's breakthrough came in 2009 with the lead role of Gu Jun-pyo in KBS2' Boys Over Flowers, the Korean adaptation of the popular shōjo manga of the same name. Competition for the role was intense and Lee only found out that he had been cast through newspaper articles. The series attracted high viewership ratings and buzz in South Korea during its broadcast. Lee's new-found popularity gained him many endorsement deals; Boys Over Flowers also created another Korean Wave throughout Asia and made Lee a Hallyu star.