Lee Bong-ryun

Lee Bong-ryun (Korean: 이봉련; Hanja: 李鳳輦; born Lee Jeong-eun, February 7, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She has appeared in supporting roles in various films and television dramas, and worked as a stage and musical actress.

Lee Bong-ryun was born as Lee Jeong-eun on February 7, 1981, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, where her father's workplace Pohang Steelworks is located, and lived there until age sixteen. Lee dropped out of high school in Pohang after only a month due to feeling bored. She then moved to Daegu and attended an academy for eight months before deciding to take the GED. At the age of 17, she enrolled in Daegu Arts University, where she studied photography. Later, she pursued a Master's Degree in Photography at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, which she completed at the age of 24. Her stage name was originally Zhuge Bong-ryeon, which she used for her photography exhibitions.

Around 2003, Lee watched a musical called 'Sing in the Rain' and was impressed by Park Dong-ha's performance. As a result, she applied to the musical department in a social education center at a university near her home and attended night classes for about two years. During this time, her stage director and instructor, Kim Dong-yeon, asked her to assist him as a director for his play Fantasy Fairy Tale.

In 2005, Lee made her acting debut in the musical Five Drawings of Love. Initially, she was an understudy, but when an actor was absent for a month, she took the stage. Since then, she has performed in a variety of plays and musicals. Since then, she has appeared in various plays and musicals.

In 2008, Lee saw Lee Jung-eun's portrayal of a grandmother in the musical Laundry and was inspired to audition for the same role in the following season. She successfully won the role and went on to perform in the musical for three years.

In 2012, Lee starred in a youth drama called "Red Bus," which was written and directed by Park Geun-hyung. Following this, she joined the Alleyway theater company led by director Park and appeared in several productions, including "Ode to Youth," "Manchurian Front," and "Press Guide." In the play "Ode to Youth," Lee played the role of a waitress at a coffee shop who suffered from epilepsy.

In 2017, Lee joined musical "Heavy Metal Girls". Followed by appearance as Katya in Korean premiere of play "Valentine's Day", a representative work released in 2009 by the Golden Mask Award-winning artist Ivan Vymilfayev, at Jayu Small Theater until January 14, 2018.

In 2017 Lee signed exclusive contract with C-JeS Entertainment.

In December 2018, Creative Table Quartz confirmed the appearance of actors Kim Jin-soo and Lee Bong-ryun in the Korean premiere of one-man play Everything Shines on Me. The play is Duncan McMillan's original work, that was participating in various overseas festivals, including Edinburgh and Perth in Australia, starting with the 2013 Lurdle Fringe Festival. It has been evaluated by The Guardian as “no more praise to say.”

Film career

Her cinematic debut was a minor role in film Late Blossom by Choo Chang-min in 2011. It was followed with another minor roles in Masquerade (2012), Confession of Murder (2012), A Matter of Interpretation (2015), Girl On the Edge (2015), Life is but an Empty (2015), Run Off (2016), and How to Break up with My Cat (2016).

In 2017, Lee played the role of a receptionist in the action-adventure film Okja, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Director Bong was a fan of the theater troupe 'Alleyway' and had seen Lee perform in the play Manchurian Front. The assistant director on Okja stated that Bong remembered Lee from the play and after multiple meetings and conversations, she was cast in the film.

In the movie A Taxi Driver (2017) directed by Jang Hoon, Lee played the role of a full-term pregnant woman who received a free ride from Kim Man-seop (played by Song Kang-ho), a grumpy taxi driver. She also appeared in "Burning" (2018) directed by Lee Chang-dong, where she played the older sister who informed Jong-su (played by Yoo Ah-in) that Haemi (played by Jeon Jong-seo) was a liar when he was searching for her.

In 2022, Lee starred opposite Lee Han-seo in director Jang Seon-hee’s independent film Two Woman. The film depicted a chance encounter between little girl who delivers newspapers and a woman who puts up flyers to find her lost child. It was premiered at the 48th Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF).

There are stories that are difficult to share with close people. Isn't there a time when it seems that people who know me well don't know my heart anymore. This film depicts a magical moment in which you unknowingly tell a story to someone you met in an unexpected situation, so you can catch your breath for a while. When I first read the script, I felt fortunate. The conversation between the girl and the woman gave the two of them a chance to sit down and breathe for a while on their own arduous journey.

— Lee Bong-ryun, Marie Claire Korea

Baeksang

Lee has been a frequent cast member in productions staged by the National Theater Company of Korea. In 2020, Lee was cast as Princess Hamlet in the gender-blind production of Shakespeare's Hamlet of the National Theater Company's 70th anniversary. For this role she won the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Actress in a Play.

Television

In 2013, Lee began her acting career in television with minor roles. Her first role was Na-jung's (acted by Go Ara) college friend in tvN drama Reply 1994. Despite having a brief appearance, she made a lasting impression as a college student from Yeosu who participated in a dispute over which hometown was better against Hae-tae (played by Son Ho-jun) from Suncheon.

Lee landed her first supporting role in 2015 as Mi-ran in the JTBC drama Songgot: The Piercer, which starred Ji Hyun-woo and Ahn Nae-sang. The drama was based on the webtoon Awl by Choi Kyu-seok, which in turn was inspired by a true story that occurred in 2007.

In 2017, Lee costarred in Yoo Je-won's Tomorrow, with You. She acted as Oh So-ri, Ma-rin's (played by Shin Min-a) best friend who runs piano academy. Then she costarred in drama While You Were Sleeping. On October 12, 2017, Lee signed an exclusive contract with C-JeS Entertainment.

In 2018, Lee played in drama Life on Mars. In 2019, Lee did two drama When the Devil Calls Your Name and Melting Me Softly. In 2020 Lee starred in When the Weather Is Fine. In the end of 2020 Lee acted as Park May in JTBC drama Run On.

In 2021, Lee collaborated once again with director Yoo Je-won and Shin Min-a in the romantic-comedy TV series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. She portrayed the character of Yeo Hwa-jung, a native of Gongjin who owned a seafood restaurant and also served as Tong-jang (village chief). She co-parented her son Yi-jun with her ex-husband Jang Young-guk (played by In Gyo-jin) and was also the owner of the building that housed Hye-jin's dental clinic and home.

Followed by role Hwang Ma-jin in JTBC drama Only One Person. In November 2021, after the expiration of her contract with her former agency, Lee joined Shin Min-a's agency AM Entertainment.

In 2022, She acted as Deaconess Jung, Yo-hwan's church figure (acted by Hwang Jung-min) in Netflix Original Series Narco-Saints.

In 2023 Lee joined cast of Crash Course in Romance as Kim Young-joo, best friend of Nam Haeng-seon (acted by Jeon Do-yeon). She was praised for her acting that match Jeon.

Lee Bong-ryun married actor Lee Gyu-hee on March 11, 2019. They met as junior and senior in Alleyway Theater Company.

Film

Television series

Web series

Musical

Theater