Lee Byung-hun (, born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Lee began his career on television in 1991 and made his film debut in 1995 with Who Drives Me Crazy and Runaway, and subsequently appeared in Kill the Love (1996), Elegy of the Earth (1997) and The Harmonium in My Memory (1999). He gained wider recognition for playing South Korean sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok in Park Chan-wook's Joint Security Area (2000). He followed this with leading roles in Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2001), Addicted (2002), and Everybody Has Secrets (2004). On television, he starred in the series Beautiful Days (2001) and All In (2003).
In 2005, Lee starred as an enforcer in Kim Jee-woon's crime drama A Bittersweet Life. He later appeared in Once in a Summer (2006) and played the antagonist Park Chang-yi, known as "the Bad", in Kim Jee-woon's western action film The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008). In 2009, he starred as Kim Hyun-jun in the television series Iris and made his Hollywood film debut as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The following year, he played an NIS agent seeking revenge in Kim Jee-woon's thriller I Saw the Devil.
Lee portrayed the dual roles of King Gwanghae and the beggar Ha-sun in the historical drama Masquerade (2012). In 2013, he reprised his role as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and appeared in the action comedy Red 2. He continued his work in Hollywood with roles as the T-1000 in Terminator Genisys (2015) and Billy Rocks in The Magnificent Seven (2016). During this period, he also starred in the South Korean films Inside Men (2015) and Master (2016), and appeared in Memories of the Sword (2015), The Fortress (2017) and Keys to the Heart (2018).
In 2018, Lee returned to television as Eugene Choi in the period drama Mr. Sunshine. He subsequently starred in the disaster film Ashfall (2019), portrayed Kim Gyu-pyeong in the political drama The Man Standing Next (2020), and appeared in Emergency Declaration (2021). In 2021, he began portraying Hwang In-ho, also known as the Front Man, in the survival drama series Squid Game, initially in a special appearance before joining the main cast for its second and third seasons. He also starred in the television series Our Blues (2022) and in the film Concrete Utopia (2023). In 2025, he portrayed Go player Cho Hun-hyun in The Match, voiced Gwi-Ma in the animated film KPop Demon Hunters, and starred in Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice.
Film Year Title Role Notes 1995 Who Drives Me Crazy Lee Jong-du Runaway Lee Dong-ho 1996 Kill the Love Love 1997 Elegy of the Earth Park Jong-man 1999 The Harmonium in My Memory Kang Soo-ha 2000 Joint Security Area Lee Soo-hyeok 2001 Bungee Jumping of Their Own Seo In-woo 2002 My Beautiful Girl, Mari Adult Nam-woo VoiceAddicted Dae-jun 2004 Everybody Has Secrets Choi Su-hyeon Three Extremes Ryu Ji-ho Segment: "Cut" 2005 A Bittersweet Life Kim Sun-woo 2006 Once in a Summer Yun Suk-young 2007 Hero Kang Min-woo Cameo 2008 The Good, the Bad, the Weird Park Chang-yi, the Bad 2009 I Come with the Rain Su Dongpo G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Thomas Arashikage / Storm Shadow Hollywood debut 2010 I Saw the Devil Kim Soo-hyeon The Influence W Internet filmIris: The Movie Kim Hyun-jun 2012 Masquerade King Gwanghae / Beggar Ha-sun 2013 G.I. Joe: Retaliation Thomas Arashikage / Storm Shadow Red 2 Han Cho-bai 2015 Terminator Genisys Cop / T-1000 Memories of the Sword Deok-gi / Song Yoo-baek Inside Men Ahn Sang-goo 2016 Misconduct The Accountant The Age of Shadows Jeong Chae-san Special appearanceThe Magnificent Seven Billy Rocks MasterPresident Jin 2017 A Single Rider Kang Jae-hoon The Fortress Choe Myeong-gil 2018 Keys to the Heart Jo-ha 2019AshfallLee Joon-pyeong 2020The Man Standing Next Kim Gyu-pyeong 2021Emergency Declaration Jae-hyuk 2023 Concrete Utopia Young Tak 2025The MatchCho Hun-hyunKPop Demon HuntersGwi-Ma Voice No Other ChoiceYoo Man-soo K.O. Club
Television series Year Title RoleNotes 1991 Flower That Never Wilt Yoon Dal-hoon Asphalt My Hometown Jinwoo 1992 Days of Sunshine Choi Hyung-man Morning Without Parting Seok-woo / Byeong-ho Tomorrow Love Shin Bum-soo 1993 The Sorrow of the Survivor Yi Ja-myung Wild Chrysanthemum Gi-hoon Police Oh Hae-sung 1994 The Fragrance of LoveKim Jun-ho 1995 Asphalt Man Kang Dong-joon Son of Wind Chang Hong-pyo 1997 Beautiful My LadyHwang Jun-ho I Want One-act drama Wedding Dress Hyung Suk 1998 White Nights 3.98Min Gyeong-bin 1999 Happy Together Suh Tae-poong Love Story - Story 1: Sunflower Tae-sung Drama special Sally is Back Cafe CEO 2000 Road Choi Woo-sik 2001 Beautiful Days Lee Min-chul 2003 All In Kim In-ha 2009 Iris Kim Hyun-jun 2011 Diplomat Kosaku Kuroda John Special appearance 2018 Mr. Sunshine Eugene Choi 2021–2025Squid GameHwang In-hoSpecial appearance (season 1) Main role (season 2–3) 2022 Our Blues Lee Dong-seok TBA Koreans
Web shows Year Title Role Notes 2021 Saturday Night Live Korea Host Episodes 1
Documentary Year Title Role2013 SBS Special Himself
Narration Year Title Note 2012 The Final Empire Documentary
Music video appearances Year Song title Artist 1998 "To Heaven" Jo Sung-mo 1998 "Immortal Love" Jo Sung-mo 2017 "I Luv It" Psy
Other appearances Year Title Role 2006 Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Wayne Holden 2013 CGV 4DX trailer Himself
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