Lee Kwang-soo

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Kwang-soo (Korean: 이광수, born July 14, 1985)^{[3][unreliable source?]} is a South Korean actor, entertainer, and model. He made his acting debut in the sitcom Here He Comes (2008) and received further recognition for his roles in medical melodrama It's Okay, That's Love (2014), neo-noir film Confession (2014), black comedy film Collective Invention (2015), sitcom The Sound of Your Heart (2016), drama Live (2018), and human comedy film Inseparable Bros (2019).

Lee Kwang-soo
Lee at Blue Dragon Film Awards 2021
Born	(1985-07-14) July 14, 1985 (age 39) Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Education	Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts (Broadcasting)
Occupations	Actor entertainer model
Years active	2007–present
Agent	King Kong by Starship[1]
Height	192 cm (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)[2]
Korean name
Hangul	이광수
Hanja	李光洙
Revised Romanization	I Gwang-su
McCune–Reischauer	I Kwangsu
Website	starship-ent.com

Lee was a regular cast member of the South Korean variety show Running Man from June 2010 until May 2021, while his last appearance on the show was aired on June 13, 2021.

Early life and education

Lee was born on July 14, 1985, in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.^[4]

Career

Lee began his entertainment career as a model in 2007. He made his acting debut in the 2008 sitcom Here He Comes,^[5] which was followed by High Kick Through the Roof.^[6][7]

Lee's popularity increased after joining SBS' Good Sunday variety show Running Man, gaining the nickname "Prince of Asia" due to his large number of overseas fans.^[8][9] In 2010 and 2011, Lee won back-to-back awards at the SBS Entertainment Awards for "New Star Award" and "Best Newcomer in Variety", respectively.^[10]

In 2012, Lee played supporting roles in the romantic comedies Wonderful Radio and All About My Wife,^[11] and thriller The Scent.^[12][13] Later in the year, he reunited onscreen with his former Running Man co-star and real-life best friend Song Joong-ki in the TV melodrama The Innocent Man.^[14]

In 2013, after another supporting role in A Wonderful Moment,^[15] Lee voiced the lead character Marco in the animated movie Maritime Police Marco, opposite fellow Running Man regular Song Ji-hyo, who voiced for Lulu.^[16][17]

Lee had publicly stated that he wanted to play an antagonist in TV or film. He was then cast as Prince Imhae (villainous brother to King Gwanghae) in the 2013 period drama Goddess of Fire.^[18][19] While filming Goddess of Fire, he participated in an energy conservation campaign alongside child actress Kim Yoo-bin.^[20]

On August 17, 2013, Lee held his first solo fan meeting of his career in Singapore. Attended by 2,000 fans, it was considered a success.^[21] He held another one in Malaysia on January 4, 2014, attended by almost 3,000 fans.^[22]

Lee in November 2014

In 2014, Lee played his first major role on the big screen in Confession. The neo-noir film is about three friends (played by Ji Sung, Ju Ji-hoon, and Lee) whose friendship gets destroyed after getting involved in a murder case.^[23][24][25] He then returned to television with the medical melodrama It's Okay, That's Love, playing a patient suffering from Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.^[26] Lee then starred in the film A Dynamite Family, about five bickering brothers living in the village of Deoksu.^[27]

In 2015, Lee played the protagonist in Collective Invention, whose condition is caused by side effects from a newly introduced drug.^[28] Collective Invention was screened in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, marking Lee's first red carpet appearance at an international film festival.^[29] He also starred in the two-episode drama Puck!, where he played a loan shark who joins a college ice hockey club. The one-act play was aired on January 1, 2016.^[30] The same year, he was appointed ambassador of the "2015 Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo" and received commendation from the trade minister for boosting the Korean Wave industry.^[31]

In 2016, Lee starred in tvN's Entourage, a South Korean remake of the American series.^[32] He was then cast in the KBS sitcom The Sound of Your Heart, based on the webtoon of the same name.^[33] The web drama was a success in both South Korea and China, gaining 100 million on Sohu TV and ranked No. 1 among Korean dramas on the site.^[34]

In September 2017, it was confirmed that Lee would be a fixed cast member in Netflix's variety show Busted!.^[35]

In 2018, Lee starred in Noh Hee-kyung's slice-of-life Live playing a police officer who tries to uphold values in everyday life and maintain justice.^[36] The drama was a success and Lee received rave reviews for his performance.^[37] He then played a Mensa genius in crime comedy The Accidental Detective 2: In Action, a sequel to the 2015 film.^[38]

In 2019, Lee starred in human comedy Inseparable Bros and gambling film Tazza: One Eyed Jack.^[39][40] He won his first Baeksang Arts Awards award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for his outstanding portrayal of Park Dong-goo who suffers from severe intellectual disabilities in Inseparable Bros, with critics citing "it was like seeing Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man".^[41][42]

On February 15, 2020, Lee was involved in a car accident which put all of his activities on pause until his recovery from ankle injury.^[43] Later in June, it was confirmed that he would be starring in The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, a sequel to the 2014 film.^[44] The film was released in January 2022.

In 2021, Lee returned to the Season 3 of Netflix variety show Busted!. Later in April 2021, Lee confirmed the film A Year-End Medley, which was released in the same year.^[45] On April 27, 2021, Lee's agency announced that he will be stepping down from Running Man to focus on treatment and recovery from the accident. His last recording took place on May 24, 2021.^[46] In 2022, Lee starred in the tvN drama The Killer's Shopping List, marking his return to the small screen after four years.^[47] His work also includes films Sinkhole and A Year-End Medley.^[48] He received his second nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for his work in Sinkhole.^[49]

Personal life

Relationship

On December 31, 2018, it was reported that Lee had been dating actress Lee Sun-bin, with King Kong by Starship stating that the couple had been dating "for 5 months" prior to the announcement of their relationship.^[50][51][52]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2011	Battlefield Heroes	Moon-di	[53]
2012	Wonderful Radio	Cha Dae-geun	[11]
	The Scent	Gi-poong	[12]
	All About My Wife	PD Choi	[54]
2013	A Wonderful Moment	Kim Jung-il	[15]
	Maritime Police Marco	Marco	[16][17]
	Walking with Dinosaurs 3D	Patchi	[55][56]
2014	Confession	Min-soo	[24]
	A Dynamite Family	Constable Park	[27]
2015	Collective Invention	Park Goo	[28]
2018	The Accidental Detective 2: In Action	Yeo Chi	[38]
2019	Inseparable Bros	Park Dong-goo	[39]
	Tazza: One Eyed Jack	Jo Kka-chi	[40]
2021	Sinkhole	Kim Seung-hyun	[48]
	A Year-End Medley	Sang-hoon	[45]
2022	The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure	Mak-yi	[44][57]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2008	The Scale of Providence	Oh Kwang-chul
2008–2009	Here He Comes	Oh Man-soo		[5]
2009–2010	High Kick Through the Roof	Lee Kwang-soo		[7]
2010	Dong Yi	Park Young-dal		[58]
2011	City Hunter	Go Ki-joon		[59]
2011–2012	Bachelor's Vegetable Store	Nam Yoo-bong		[60]
2012	The Innocent Man	Park Jae-gil		[14]
2013	Dating Agency: Cyrano	Choi Dal-in	Cameo (episode 6–8)	[61]
	Goddess of Fire	Prince Imhae		[18]
	Potato Star 2013QR3	Bo-young's first love	Cameo (episode 18)	[62]
2014	Secret Love	Lee Tae-yang	Episode 7–8: "A Seven Day Summer"	[63]
	It's Okay, That's Love	Park Soo-kwang		[64]
2015	A Girl Who Sees Smells	Himself	Cameo (episode 1) with Running Man members	[65]
2016	Puck!	Jo Joon-man		[30]
	Descendants of the Sun	Toy gun range shooting shop worker	Cameo (episode 1)	[66]
	Dear My Friends	Yoo Min-ho	Cameo	[67]
	Entourage	Cha Joon		[32]
2016–2017	The Sound of Your Heart	Jo Suk		[33]
	Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth	Mak-moon	Cameo (episode 1–3)	[68]
2017	Hit the Top	Yoon-ki	Cameo (episode 2)	[69]
2018	Live	Yeom Sang-soo		[36]
2022	The Killer's Shopping List	Ahn Dae-sung		[70]
2024	No Way Out: The Roulette	Yoon Chang-jae		[71]
2025	The Divorce Insurance	Ahn Jeon-man		[72]
	Karma	Hang Sang-hun		[73]
TBA	Hero			[74]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2022	X of Crisis	The man	Special appearance	[75]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010–2021	Running Man	Cast member	Episode 1–559	[76]
2015	Perhaps Love		with Lynn Hung	[77]
2021	House on Wheels: For Rent		with The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure actors	[78]
2023	GBRB: Reap What You Sow		with Kim Ki-bang, Kim Woo-bin and Doh Kyung-soo	[79]

Web shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018–2021	Busted!	Cast member	Season 1 and 3	[80][35][81]
2022–2023	The Zone: Survival Mission		Season 1–2	[82][83]
2022	Korea No. 1		with Yoo Jae-suk and Kim Yeon-koung	[84]

Music video appearances

Year	Song Title	Artist	Ref.
2011	"격산타우 (Kyuksantawoo)"	LeeSsang	[citation needed]
2012	"Oh Fresh Men" (The Bachelor's Vegetable Store OST)	VF6DOLE (with Ji Chang-wook, Kim Young-kwang, Shin Won-ho and Sung Ha)
	"Busan Vacance"	Skull and HaHa
2013	"You Are the Best" teaser	Byul
	"Runaway"	KARA
2015	"Again"	Turbo	[85]
2016	"MOMOMO"	Cosmic Girls	[86]
2021	"GAP"	HaHa	[87]

Discography

Title	Year	Album
"Oh-Sing-Sing-Men Oh Sing Sing Men" (with Ji Chang-wook ,Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Young-kwang, Shin Won-ho, Sung-je, and Ji-hyuk)	2011	Bachelor's Vegetable Store OST - Japanese release[88]
"Pink Nose Light (핑코빛)" (with Lee Kwang-soo, Ji Suk-jin and Apink)	2019	Running Man Fan Meeting: Project Running 9
"I Like It" (with Running Man cast members)

Ambassadorship

• Korea-Mekong Ambassador (2021)^[89]

Accolades

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	2014	Popular Star Award, Actor	It's Okay, That's Love	Won	[90]
Asia Artist Awards	2019	Scene Stealer Award	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[91]
		Best K-Culture (Actor)		Won	[92]
Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards	2024	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated	[93]
Asia Model Awards	2009	CF Model Award		Won	[94]
Baeksang Arts Awards	2012	Best New Actor – Film	Wonderful Radio	Nominated
	2020	Best Supporting Actor – Film	Inseparable Bros	Won	[95]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2012	Best New Actor	All About My Wife	Nominated
	2019	Best Supporting Actor	Inseparable Bros	Nominated	[96][97]
		Popular Star Award		Won
	2021	Best Supporting Actor	Sinkhole	Nominated	[49]
Blue Dragon Series Awards	2023	Best Male Entertainer	The Zone: Survival Mission	Nominated	[98]
		TIRTIR Popularity Award		Won	[99]
Fashionista Awards	2015	Best Male Fashionista	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[100]
Golden Cinema Film Festival	2021	Best Supporting Actor	Inseparable Bros	Won
Hong Kong's YouTube Ads Leaderboard	2015	2015 Season One Best Commercial Award	Nestle's Fruitips Ad	Won	[101]
Jumei Awards Ceremony	2016	Variety Influence	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[102]
KBS Drama Awards	2012	Best Supporting Actor	The Innocent Man	Nominated
KBS Entertainment Awards	2016	Hot Issue Variety Award	The Sound of Your Heart	Won	[103]
		Best Couple Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Jung So-min) The Sound of Your Heart	Won
Korea Best Star Awards	2018	Best Popular Star Award	The Accidental Detective 2: In Action	Won	[104]
Korea Drama Awards	2014	Excellence Award, Actor	It's Okay, That's Love	Won	[105]
Korea Film Actors Association Awards	2017	Top Entertainer Award	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[106][107]
MBC Entertainment Awards	2008	Best Newcomer in Comedy / Sitcom	Here He Comes	Nominated
Mnet 20's Choice Awards	2008	Hot CF Star	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[108]
SBS Drama Awards	2014	Special Award, Actor in a Miniseries	It's Okay, That's Love	Won	[109]
SBS Entertainment Awards	2010	New Star Award	Running Man	Won	[110]
	2011	Best Newcomer in Variety		Won	[10]
		Netizen Popularity Award		Nominated	[111]
	2013	Friendship Award		Won	[112]
		Viewer's Most Popular Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Running Man members)	Won
		Best Couple Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Ji Suk-jin) Running Man	Nominated
	2014	Excellence Award in Variety	Running Man	Won	[113]
	2016	Top Excellence Award in Variety Show		Won	[114]
		Annoying Guy Award		Won
	2017	Best Couple Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Jeon So-min) Running Man	Won	[115]
		Global Star Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Running Man members)	Won
	2018	Popularity Award	Running Man	Won	[116][117]
		Best Couple Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Jeon So-min) Running Man	Nominated
	2019	SNS Star Award	Running Man	Won	[118]
	2020	Golden Content Award	Lee Kwang-soo (with Running Man members)	Won	[119]
Sina Weibo Night Awards	2016	Asia Popularity Award	Lee Kwang-soo	Won	[120]

State honors

Name of country, year given, and name of honor

Country Or Organization	Year	Honor Or Award	Ref.
South Korea[note 1]	2016	Prime Minister's Commendation	[124]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
Forbes	2013	Korea Power Celebrity 40	39th	[125]
	2016		30th	[126]

Notes

1. Honors are given at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards, arranged by the Korea Creative Content Agency and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.^[121][122] They are awarded to those who have contributed to the arts and South Korea's pop culture.^[123]