Lee Bo-young

She began her career in the industry with winning the Daejeon entry for the Miss Korea beauty pageant in 2000.[4] Having majored in Korean literature at Seoul Women's University, she originally dreamed of becoming a news presenter. She was one of 15 finalists in MBC's annual recruitment drive in 2002, but ended up not getting the job.[5] Instead, she turned to modeling, and was chosen as the exclusive advertising model for Asiana Airlines, considered a gateway to stardom.

Lee made her acting debut in 2003, and among her early roles were in People of the Water Flower Village (2004) opposite Song Il-gook,[6] and as the antagonist in Save the Last Dance for Me (2004).[7]

In 2005, Lee played her first leading role in the daily drama My Sweetheart, My Darling,[8] followed by the Silla-set historical epic Ballad of Seodong with Jo Hyun-jae.[9] She spent the next several years in television dramas — Mr. Goodbye with Ahn Jae-wook,[10] Queen of the Game with Joo Jin-mo,[11] and Becoming a Billionaire with Ji Hyun-woo[12] — but none struck a chord with audiences or critics.

Lee Bo-Young in 2012

After playing the love interest in My Brother (2004) and A Dirty Carnival (2006),[13][14] Lee was cast in her first major big screen role in Once Upon a Time (2008). The heist comedy is set during colonial rule in the 1940s, and she and Park Yong-woo played notorious swindlers out to steal a diamond from the Japanese army.[15]

Her two films released in 2009 were both melodramas. In More Than Blue, Lee plays the soulmate of a terminally ill man (Kwon Sang-woo), but their love ends in a tragedy undercut with a poetic sparseness.[16][17] While in I Am Happy, Lee played a nurse who falls for a patient in the psychiatric ward (Hyun Bin), and in each other they find consolation to see them through their harsh and miserable reality.[18]

Lee returned to television in 2010, playing a seductress in the quirky cable drama Golden House opposite Shin Ha-kyun.[19] She then had a guest arc as the president's daughter in spy series Athena: Goddess of War,[20] followed by post-divorce romance series Bravo, My Love! with Lee Tae-sung,[21] and revenge drama Man from the Equator (2012) with Uhm Tae-woong.[22]

She then played the titular character in My Daughter Seo-young, a career woman who is angry at her father (Chun Ho-jin), whose gambling addiction led to her mother's death, yet she struggles to keep the family together and make ends meet.[23] Lee said playing Seo-young required a greater depth of emotion than any of her previous roles, which left her drained but also feeling a greater sense of achievement.[5] The family drama was the biggest hit yet of Lee's career; it dominated the weekly ratings chart for 22 straight weeks, and recorded a series high of 47.6% on its last episode, the highest Korean drama rating in 2013.[24]

Her follow-up series I Can Hear Your Voice (2013) was also popular during its run.[25] In it, Lee played a materialistic public defender who testified on behalf of a boy with supernatural abilities (Lee Jong-suk) a decade ago after she witnessed the boy's father being murdered.[26] Critics said with her stubborn and argumentative character, Lee was able to break free of her previous calm and elegant image.[27] She won several awards for her performance, including the Daesang ("Grand Prize"), the highest honor at the SBS Drama Awards.[28][29] Lee was named Actress of the Year by Gallup due to the success of her works.[30]

In 2014, Lee played a mother who travels back in time two weeks before her daughter's kidnapping and murder in God's Gift - 14 Days.[31][32]

In 2017, Lee starred in SBS's legal thriller Whisper.[33] She took the role of a section chief of criminal division who gets dismissed from the police and later on disguise herself and work as an undercover at a law firm.[34]

In 2018, Lee starred in the Korean adaption of the Japanese drama Mother, playing the titular character.[35][36][37]

In 2020, Lee starred in the melodrama When My Love Blooms.[38]

Lee is active in environmental causes, including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.[39][40] She and husband Ji Sung also makes donations to charitable causes regularly.[41][42]

While on acting hiatus in 2015 during her pregnancy, she published the book Time of Love, a collection of essays on 23 books with themes of love, consolation and growth that have impacted Lee throughout her childhood and adulthood; they include The Little Prince, José Mauro de Vasconcelos's My Sweet Orange Tree, and Alain de Botton's Essays in Love.[43]

Lee was confirmed to host 2017 SBS Drama Awards together with Shin Dong-yup.[44] Previously, Lee has emceed the same award ceremony in 2013 together with Lee Hwi-jae and Kim Woo-bin.[45]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Bo-young.

• Lee Bo-young at Will Entertainment (in Korean)