LEE Young-ae, born in 1971, debuted as a model in 1990, appearing in commercials for chocolate. She later gained wide notice as the public face of cosmetics company Amorepacific (from 1991 to 1999), with the ad’s slogan, “A woman like oxygen”, becoming her new moniker. In 1993, she was cast by public broadcaster SBS in the drama series <How’s Your Husband?> and won Best New Actress at the SBS Drama Awards. Before long, she became one of the busiest actresses of ...
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LEE Young-ae, born in 1971, debuted as a model in 1990, appearing in commercials for chocolate. She later gained wide notice as the public face of cosmetics company Amorepacific (from 1991 to 1999), with the ad’s slogan, “A woman like oxygen”, becoming her new moniker. In 1993, she was cast by public broadcaster SBS in the drama series <How’s Your Husband?> and won Best New Actress at the SBS Drama Awards. Before long, she became one of the busiest actresses of the small screen. As she generated a great deal of interest among filmmakers, she eventually made a first foray into cinema in 1996 when she starred alongside CHOI Min-su in <Inch’Alla>. The paltry box office of the film deterred her from reiterating the experience for the next couple of years, but in 2000, PARK Chan-wook offered her the lead role of Swiss Army Major Sophie E. Jean in his now cult Korean Division-themed drama <Joint Security Area /JSA> (2000). The movie became the most watched film ever in Korea at the time with 2.5 million admissions, thus propelling LEE to stardom. After more leading roles in the films <Last Present> (2001) and <One Fine Spring Day> (2001), she became one of the most prominent names of the new Korean Wave with the hit TV series <Jewel in the Palace> (2003), which became a hit in many Asian countries including China, Taiwan and Japan. Her success in Japan was such that post stamps bearing her picture were issued. In the ensuing years, she would attract a lot of fans by following a path somewhat dissimilar to that of other female actresses her age. Reuniting with PARK, she played a character bent on revenge in <Sympathy for Lady Vengeance> (2005), the complete opposite of her previous role. Her malicious look in this role totally did away with her image from the previous TV series and won approval as people dubbed this turn in her career “The rediscovery of actress LEE Young-ae.” Her complete reinvention as an actor was acknowledged with a large number of awards, most notable among them Best Actress from the Blue Dragon Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as the Sitges Film Festival. Since then, she has not appeared in any films or TV series, arousing curiosity among fans. However, she took quite a long time to choose her next step, and became absent from screens for the rest of the decade and well into the 2010s, save for product endorsements on television. She eventually made her comeback in 2017 with the period drama TV series <Saimdang, Memoir of Colors>, playing the title role as the renowned poet and calligrapher of the Joseon era. She then starred in LEE Kyoung-mi’s <The Lady from 406> (2017), one of the several shorts made as part of the TV show <General Audience> which aims to follow the full process of making a movie. In 2019 saw LEE Young-ae back on the silver screen with a leading role in <Bring Me Home> (2019).
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