Athletes to Entertainers: What's the Appeal?
A talented actor with multiple decades worth of acting experience. Whilst the ‘mainstream’ audience will most likely recognise this man as ‘that guy from Squid Game’, Lee Jung Jae has actually been a very popular actor for a very long time!
I became a fan of Lee Jung Jae through first watching him in one of his many movies (more on that coming below!). After being really impressed with his performance there, I decided to watch some more movies of his, and then became an Ultra Fan of his through this method!
Below, you will find general information about Lee Jung Jae’s life alongside a selection of his dramas (and future drama), movies, and fun facts.
Basic Info
Birthday: December 15, 1972
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
Height: 1.81m (5’11)
Awards Won: 45
State Honors: Prime Minister’s Commendation, Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit
Dramas
1995: Sandglass
When I decided to do this Ultra Fan Guide, I knew I wanted to watch this drama before anything else! I had heard so many good things about Sandglass and how ‘legendary’ it was. All in all, I enjoyed Sandglass, although I do think the quality was definitely greater at the start rather than the end! In this drama, Lee Jung Jae plays a very ‘strong and silent’ type of bodyguard, known as Baek Jae Hee. Even though he is one of the main characters and a vital point to the story, don’t expect him to be the person with the most screen time, or dialogue, either! However, I did like his character. I liked his acting even more. His character was very mysterious in some ways, even though his vision and goals were never to be misunderstood. Whilst I would have preferred him to speak a little more, I totally understand why he didn’t in the perspective of the story.
2007: Air City
Air City was one of those dramas that did lack logic (also a better camera + SFX team may have helped!). A snippet of my review for this drama: "Air City has an interesting premise: a drama based in an airport setting with characters that have different personalities (the story is confusing so it's best not to explain too much, but although the story is confusing at times, at other times it is very fun and enjoyable - I would say the story is stronger in the first half than the second half of the drama). I was a fan of the stunts and perhaps this played a part in me giving the re-watch value a higher score than I predicted?"
Lee Jung Jae played the male lead named Kim Ji Sung, a not-so-secret Secret Agent who seems to cause more harm than good most of the time. However, what was good was his acting, specifically his facial expressions and tone of voice which made me get goosebumps from this great performance.
2009: Triple
Now, this, this is… unique, to say the least? In Triple, Lee Jung Jae plays the male lead known as Shin Hwal. Now, I almost dropped this drama because of how much I hated this character (I also thought these first few episodes were terribly boring!), but thankfully I preserved, and I’m glad I did. I can totally understand why people didn’t, however. The drama currently holds a very low overall rating of 6.2/10!
Anyways, back onto Lee Jung Jae! When I despise a character so much, it is almost guaranteed for me that I will end up despising that character no matter what. So for Lee Jung Jae to actually make me like Shin Hwal is seriously impressive. While I wouldn’t say I loved the character in the end, I don’t think that’s the point. The point here is that Lee Jung Jae’s phenomenal acting skills can really captivate the emotions of the viewer.
2019: Chief of Staff & Chief of Staff Season 2
2021: Squid Game
Future Drama
Squid Game Season 2
With a predicted release date of around October 2024 and an unknown number of episodes, there is still a mysterious intrigue of what Squid Game Season 2 will entail. What is known, however, is that Lee Jung Jae will be returning for the second season (probably not that difficult to predict if you've watched the first season already).
All I personally hope for with this is a great second season. As with most forms of media, the original is usually the best, but not always. I personally enjoyed the first season, so I hope for that to continue.
Movies
Lee Jung Jae has been in a total of 34 movies. Listed below are some of the movies he has starred in (starting from oldest to newest). The list will also include the genres the movie falls under, a few other cast members (excluding Lee Jung Jae - this is his Ultra Fan Guide after all), and a brief synopsis.
 City of the Rising Sun (1998) |
# of Watchers: 543 | Jung Woo Sung Lee Bum Soo Han Go Eun | Do Chul, a tough boxer with a boyish face, dreams of jumping in the ring again for the local title, but his dizzy spells take the best of him with every fight. Hong Gi, his long-time companion, who’s a slick lady killer and con artist, dreams of becoming rich but gets Do Chul into trouble all the time, as he habitually steals and chases after women. |
 Il Mare (2000) |
# of Watchers: 5,664 | Jun Ji Hyun Jo Seung Yun Kim Moo Saeng | Sung Hyun, who just moved into 'Il mare', receives a strange letter. The letter is from a young woman in the year 1999, two years from the present. Her predictions about the past are amazingly accurate. Her warning about a flurry of snow on a certain day in January of 1998 and the ensuing flu virus turns out to be true. |
 Over the Rainbow (2002) |
# of Watchers: 256 | Jang Jin Young Uhm Ji Won Kim Seo Hyung | Jin Soo works at a local weather channel as an anchorman. His life is pretty simple until the day he got into a car accident. Trying to get back to his normal life, he finds clues about a woman that he seemed to have had a lot of feeling for in the pass. With only a few hints, Jin Soo decides to search out the identity of this woman. His investigation will lead him to Yeon Hee, a girl friend he knew since high school. |
 The Thieves (2012) |
# of Watchers: 14,954 | Kim Yoon Seok Kim Hye Soo Kim Soo Hyun | A gang of South Korean thieves teams up with a Hong Kong crew to steal a diamond necklace from a heavily-guarded casino safe in Macau. As the cops close in, old betrayals — and misunderstandings — resurface. |
 New World (2013) |
# of Watchers: 4,387 | Choi Min Sik Hwang Jung Min Park Sung Woong | An undercover cop Lee Ja Sung infiltrates South Korea’s largest crime organization and spends ten years rising in the ranks. When the head of the organization, Goldmoon, is killed, a conflict of power rise between the successors over the head position. The police interfere too with its plan. Jung Chung, Ja Sung's boss considers him a brother and trusts him a lot. Ja Sung will be torn between his duty as a police officer and fidelity to Jung Chung. |
 Assassination (2015) |
# of Watchers: 4,704 | Ha Jung Woo Oh Dal Soo Jo Jin Woong | During the Japanese occupation, an agent was tasked to assemble a group to assassinate a Japanese commander and a Korean collaborator by extricating three prisoners from Shanghai. However, the Japanese are tipped off, and a notorious hired gun is sent to take out the assassins first. |
 Warriors of the Dawn (2017) |
# of Watchers: 1,429 | Yeo Jin Goo Kim Mu Yeol Bae Soo Bin | To avoid invading Japanese forces, King Seon Jo leaves for the Ming Dynasty and abandons his people in the process. In his place, Prince Gwang Hae leads the royal court. Meanwhile, To Woo leads the Daerip forces that consist of those who are paid to serve in the military on behalf of others. |
 Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017) |
# of Watchers: 26,526 | Cha Tae Hyun Ju Ji Hoon Kim Dong Wook | After a heroic death, Kim Ja Hong navigates the afterlife with the help of three guardians Kang Rim, Hae Won Maek, and Deok Choon. All deceased must meet the gods of hell and face trials of murder, indolence, deceit, injustice, betrayal, violence, and filial impiety over a period of 49 days. |
 Deliver Us From Evil (2020) |
# of Watchers: 2,154 | Hwang Jung Min Park Jung Min Park So Yi | An action movie about the desperate struggle of a man who is about to lose everything he wants to keep safe from the last contract killing. |
 Hunt (2022) |
# of Watchers: 2,748 | Heo Sung Tae Go Youn Jung Kim Jong Soo | A spy movie based on the 1980s National Security Planning. Park Pyeong Ho and Kim Jung Do are agents for the National Security Agency. They are both elite at their jobs and rivals. The two men chase after a North Korean spy director sent to South Korea. They soon uncover a hidden truth. |
Four Fun Facts
- He launched a bunch of Italian-cuisine-themed restaurants named after his movie II Mare.
- Excluding his performance in Squid Game, according to a recent poll, fans believe his role in the 1998 film City of the Rising Sun is his best.
- He has always said that he doesn’t want to be an actor who always takes on similar roles.
- He studied at Dongguk University.
I hope you enjoyed reading this Ultra Fan Guide to Lee Jung Jae!
Let me know your favourite drama and/or movie which Lee Jung Jae starred in!
Edited by: devitto (1st editor)
