Lee El

Kim Ji-hyun (Korean: 김지현; born June 26, 1982), known professionally as Lee El (Korean: 이엘) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the film Inside Men (2015), the television series It's Okay, That's Love (2014), Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016–2017), A Korean Odyssey (2017–2018), and Black (2017) as well as her leading roles in the film What a Man Wants (2018)^[1] and television series My Liberation Notes (2022).

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim. In the stage name or pen-name, the surname is Lee.

Lee El
Lee in May 2022
Born	Kim Ji-hyun (1982-06-26) June 26, 1982 (age 42) Seoul, South Korea
Alma mater	Sungkyunkwan University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2009–present
Agent	Artist Company
Korean name
Hangul	김지현
Revised Romanization	Gim Jihyeon
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Chihyŏn
Stage name
Hangul	이엘
Revised Romanization	I El
McCune–Reischauer	I El

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Secret	Young-sook
2010	The Yellow Sea	Joo-young
2012	Pacemaker	Choi Min-kyung
	Masquerade	Ahn Gae-shi
2014	One Thing She Doesn't Have	Se-ra
	Man on High Heels	Do Do
2015	Inside Men	Joo Eun-hye		[2]
2018	What a Man Wants	Jenny		[3]
2019	Scent of a Ghost	Ji-yun
2020	The Call	Sunwoo Ja-ok	Netflix film	[4]
2022	Love and Leashes	Hye-Mi
	Yaksha: Ruthless Operations	Hee-won		[5][6][7]
2024	Following	Oh Young-joo		[8]
TBA	Heaven: To the Land of Happiness

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Good Job, Good Job	Min-joo
2011	Drama Special Series: "White Christmas"	Oh Jung-hye
	Detectives in Trouble	Yoo Hye-min
	The Princess' Man	Mae-hyang
2012	Wild Romance	Mi-jin		[9]
2013	7th Grade Civil Servant	Park Soo-young		[10]
	Drama Festival: "Swine Escape"	Wol-hyang
2014	Mother's Garden	Kim Ja-kyung
	It's Okay, That's Love	Se-ra	Cameo (Ep 1–2)	[11]
	Liar Game	Oh Jung-ah (Jaime)		[12]
2015	More Than a Maid	Lady Kang
	Divorce Lawyer in Love	Han Mi-ri
	My Beautiful Bride	Son Hye-jung
	Hello Monster	Kang Sung-eun	Cameo (Ep 9–10)
	Imaginary Cat	Dokgo Soon
2016	Monster	Ok Chae-ryung		[13]
	Entourage	Herself	Cameo (Ep 13–16)
	Guardian: The Lonely and Great God	Samsin Halmeoni		[14]
2017	Black	Yoon Soo-wan		[15]
	A Korean Odyssey	Ma Ji-young		[16]
2018	Matrimonial Chaos	Jin Yoo-young		[17]
2019	When the Devil Calls Your Name	Ji Seo-young		[18]
2022	My Liberation Notes	Yeom Ki-jeong		[19][20]
2023	Battle for Happiness	Jang Mi-ho		[21]
2024	Mr. Plankton	Bong Ju-ri
2025	When the Stars Gossip	Kang Tae-hee
	The Mantis: Original Sin	Na-hee		[22]
TBA	Waiting for Kyungdo	Seo Ji-yeon		[23]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	Ambergris	AI	Voice

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2011–2012	Return to Hamlet	So-hee

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
APAN Star Awards	2022	Best Supporting Actress	My Liberation Notes	Nominated	[24]
Baeksang Arts Awards	2023	Best Supporting Actress – Television		Nominated	[25]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2021	Best Supporting Actress	The Call	Nominated	[26]
Grand Bell Awards	2016	Best Supporting Actress	Inside Men	Nominated
KBS Drama Awards	2018	Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Matrimonial Chaos	Nominated	[27]
MBC Drama Awards	2016	Golden Acting Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama	Monster	Nominated