Occupation Actor
Singer Revised Romanization I Hyeon-u Height 1.72 m Years active 2005–present McCune–Reischauer I Hyon-u Education Dongguk University | Hangul 이현우 Name Lee Hyun-woo Agent Keyeast Entertainment Hanja 李玹雨 Role Actor | |
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Born March 23, 1993 (age 31) ( 1993-03-23 ) Seoul, South Korea Nominations Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Actor Movies and TV shows To the Beautiful You, Secretly - Greatly, Master of Study, The Con Artists, Man from the Equator Similar People Kim Woo‑bin, Sulli, Minho, Kim Soo‑hyun, Yoo Seung‑ho Profiles | ||
Lee Hyun-woo (born March 23, 1993) is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor when he was nine, and later appeared in the television series The Return of Iljimae (2009) and Queen Seondeok (2009). He was also featured in Master of Study (2010) and To the Beautiful You (2012). Lee gained recognition with his role as a North Korean spy in the 2013 film Secretly, Greatly as well as a genius hacker in 2014's The Con Artists. In 2016, he landed his first leading role in KBS2's Moorim School. In 2017, he starred in his second leading role in tvN's The Liar and His Lover, alongside Red Velvet's Joy
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2005-2011: Beginnings as a child actor
Lee began his career as a child actor, building up his resume by playing roles in a number of large-scale productions, such as The Legend, King Sejong the Great, The Return of Iljimae, and Queen Seondeok.
He rose to fame for his role in Master of Study, a Korean screen adaptation of Japanese manga Dragon Zakura. The same year, Lee took to the stage for the 2010 musical production of Footloose, where he played the leading role of Ren.
In 2011, he and K-pop singer Yoon Doo-joon (from B2ST) began hosting the music program Music on Top for cable channel jTBC. He was then featured in IU's music video for the song "You and I". Lee further expanded his acting scope in historical drama Gyebaek, revenge thriller Man from the Equator, and made a guest appearance in medical drama Brain.
2012–present: Rising popularity
In 2012, Lee co-starred in To the Beautiful You, the Korean television adaptation of Japanese manga Hana-Kimi, with his role based on the character Shuichi Nakatsu. Despite low ratings during its domestic run, To the Beautiful You led to increased Korean Wave exposure for Lee in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and China. He and co-star Hwang Kwang-hee were later announced as the new hosts of live music show Inkigayo.
His breakthrough continued when he landed a major role in 2013 box office hit Secretly, Greatly, an action-comedy film in which he played a North Korean undercover spy disguised as a high school boy. Lee also sang "Ode to Youth" for the film's soundtrack. He became the first male celebrity to be appointed ambassador of the Puchon International Film Festival.
In 2014, he and real-life best friend Park Ji-bin (both were child actors and belong to the same agency) appeared in the travel/reality show Real Mate in Saipan. Lee next played a hacker in the heist movie The Con Artists.
He then starred in Northern Limit Line, a 2015 naval thriller about the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong. The film sold 6,024,894 tickets (grossing US$38,945,231), making it the most-watched Korean film in 2015.
In 2016, he starred in the fantasy youth drama Moorim School. Initially slated for 20 episodes, the drama was reduced to 16 episodes instead due to low ratings. He was then cast in the Chinese web drama The Most Beautiful First Meeting.
In 2017, Lee starred in the drama The Liar and His Lover, the Korean remake of the Japanese manga Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru alongside Red Velvet's Joy.