Lee Young-ae (b. January 31, 1971) first appeared on television in 1993, but it wasn’t until 1995 that she began acting in many TV dramas and gathering a large fan following. She won various television awards in the mid-1990s, and in 1996 she made her film debut in the poorly-received Inch’Allah. The negative reputation this film garnered may have pushed back her film career several years, but when she did return it was with a bang, in the record-breaking Joint Security Area by Park Chan-wook. At the time it became the best-selling Korean film ever, and it launched Lee Young-ae into undisputed stardom.
In 2001 Lee continued to build on her film career, starring in the popular melodrama Last Present opposite Lee Jung-jae, and also in the second feature by Hur Jin-ho, director of the acclaimed Christmas in August. This film was released in late September to great critical acclaim, and it landed Lee a Best Actress award from the local Blue Dragon awards.
Read the rest of this entry ?