Lee Sang-woo

For other people named Lee Sang-woo, see Lee Sang-woo (disambiguation).

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Sang-woo (born February 13, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He rose to fame in the 2007 television drama First Wives' Club, and has since played leading roles on The Road Home (2009), Don't Hesitate (2009), Life Is Beautiful (2010), and Feast of the Gods (2012).

Lee Sang-woo
Lee in July 2019
Born	(1980-02-13) February 13, 1980 (age 45) Seoul, South Korea
Education	Korea University – Department of Food Science and Biotechnology
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present
Agent	Alomalo Humane Entertainment[1]
Spouse	Kim So-yeon ​ (m. 2017)​
Korean name
Hangul	이상우
Hanja	李尚禹
Revised Romanization	I Sang-u
McCune–Reischauer	Ri Sang-u

Career

Lee Sang-woo launched his acting career in 2005, starring in a Drama City episode and a minor role in the television drama 18 vs. 29. This was followed by more supporting roles on television, including his big screen debut in Almost Love, a romantic comedy film headlined by Kwon Sang-woo and Kim Ha-neul. During this time, he also starred as one of the three leading actors of the independent film Don't Look Back (2006), which was the closing film of that year's Jeonju International Film Festival,^[2] and won a critic's prize at the Locarno International Film Festival.^[3]

Lee began his rise to fame with a supporting role in First Wives' Club, a popular drama which aired from 2007 to 2008 with a peak viewership rating of 41.3%.^[4][5] For his performance, he received a New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards.

It was not until 2009 that Lee was cast in his first mainstream leading role, in The Road Home, followed soon after by another daily drama Don't Hesitate. In the same year, he also appeared as one of the leading actors in Searching for the Elephant, an erotic-psychological thriller about three thirty-something men struggling with schizophrenia, sex addiction and infidelity.^[6]

In 2010, Lee starred with Song Chang-eui in Life Is Beautiful as a gay couple. The drama is one of the few Korean dramas about an openly gay couple in Korean society, which have conservative views on sexuality.^[7] Despite the controversy, the show was successful in the ratings,^[8] and Lee would later work again with renowned screenwriter Kim Soo-hyun on A Thousand Days' Promise (2011) and Childless Comfort (2012).^[9]

After a supporting role in Believe in Love (also known as My Love, My Family, 2011), Lee was once again cast in the leading role in Feast of the Gods (2012).^[10][11] He later won the Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama at the MBC Drama Awards for Feast of the Gods and his supporting role in the period drama The King's Doctor.^[12]

In 2013, Lee joined the ensemble cast of Goddess of Marriage, followed by the adultery drama One Warm Word.^[13][14] Unlike his previous calm and quiet roles, in 2014 he was cast as the leading man in Glorious Day, a peculiar character which Lee said he looked forward to playing since it most resembles his real-life personality.^[15]

Lee then starred in two weekend dramas, All About My Mom and Happy Home.^[16][17] He returned to prime-time television, starring in romantic comedy drama 20th Century Boy and Girl.^[18]

In 2018, Lee was cast in the KBS2 weekend drama Marry Me Now as a doctor and was partnered with Han Ji-hye.^[19][20]

In 2019, Lee starred in the legal romantic comedy drama Touch Your Heart as an elite prosecutor.^[21][22] In the same year, Lee made a special appearance in the KBS drama Mother of Mine. Lee later appeared in the MBC drama The Golden Garden.

In 2020, Lee made a special appearance in the drama. Lovestruck in the City ^[23]

In 2021, Lee made a special appearance in the SBS drama The Penthouse: War in Life 2. Later, Lee participated in the variety golf show King of Golf aired on TV Chosun along with Yang Se-hyung, Lee Dong-gook, and Jang Min-ho,^[24] and Lee was confirmed to participate in the TV Chosun drama Uncle.^[25]

Personal life

Lee and Kim in 2022

Lee married actress Kim So-yeon in June 2017.^[26] Their romantic relationship started in 2016.^[27]The pair met on the set of MBC's weekend drama Happy Home.^[28]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	Almost Love	Moon Young-hoon
	Don't Look Back	Geun-woo
2008	Black Heart (Beyond All Magic)	Jun
2009	Searching for the Elephant	Jin-hyuk
TBA	The Hotel	Mr. Yoon		[29]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2005	Drama City No One Loves Me	Jo Seung-joo
	18 vs. 29	Kang Bong-kyu
	Can Love Be Refilled?	Lee Sang-woo
2007	Two Outs in the Ninth Inning	Lee Joon-mo
	First Wives' Club	Koo Se-joo
2009	The Road Home	Yoo Hyun-soo
	Don't Hesitate	Han Tae-woo
2010	Life Is Beautiful	Kim Kyung-soo
2011	Believe in Love	Han Seung-woo
	A Thousand Days' Promise	Jang Jae-min
2012	Feast of the Gods	Kim Do-yoon
	The King's Doctor	Lee Sung-ha
	My Kids Give Me a Headache	Ha In-chul	Cameo
2013	Goddess of Marriage	Kim Hyun-woo
	One Warm Word	Kim Sung-soo
2014	Let's Eat	Kim Sung-soo	Cameo (Episode 8)
	Glorious Day	Seo Jae-woo
2015	High Society	Jang Kyung-joon	Cameo (Episode 1–4, 15–16)
	All About My Mom	Kang Hoon-jae
2016	Happy Home	Seo Ji-geon
2017	Children of the 20th Century	Anthony / Lee Chul-min
2018	Marry Me Now	Jung Eun-tae
2019	Touch Your Heart	Kim Se-won
	Mother of Mine	Mi-ri's blinddate	Cameo (Episode 1)
	The Golden Garden	Cha Pil-seung
2021	The Penthouse: War in Life 2	Reporter Son Hyung-jin	Cameo (Episode 2 & 4)	[30]
2021–2022	Uncle	Joo Kyung-il		[25]
2022	Shooting Stars	Han Seung-Il	Cameo (Episode 4)	[31]
2022–2023	Red Balloon	Go Ji-won		[32]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2020	Lovestruck in the City	Bin	Cameo (Episode 1,3–4,12)	[23]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2017	It's Dangerous Beyond the Blankets	Main cast
2021	King of Golf		Season 1	[24]
2022		Special trainee	Season 3; Episode Dubai Special	[33]

Music video

Year	Song title	Artist
2004	"Nitpicking"	Kim Gun-mo
2007	"Loving One Person"	Oh Hyun-ran
	"My Angel"	Fly to the Sky
	"Pretty Today Too"	Fly to the Sky

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.
Andre Kim Best Star Awards	2008	Male Star Award	First Wives' Club	Won	[34]
APAN Star Awards	2015	Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	All About My Mom	Nominated
	2018	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Marry Me Now	Won	[35]
	2021		The Golden Garden	Nominated	[36]
Baeksang Arts Awards	2009	Best New Actor – Television	First Wives' Club	Nominated
KBS Drama Awards	2009	Excellence Award, Actor in a Daily Drama	The Road Home	Nominated
	2015	Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	All About My Mom	Nominated
		Netizen Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Lee Sang-woo (with Eugene) All About My Mom	Nominated
	2018	Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Marry Me Now	Won	[37]
		Netizen Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Lee Sang-woo (with Han Ji-hye) Marry Me Now	Nominated
Korea Drama Awards	2018	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Marry Me Now	Nominated	[38]
MBC Drama Awards	2012	Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama	Feast of the Gods, The King's Doctor	Won
	2016	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Happy Home	Won
		Best Couple Award	Lee Sang-woo (with Kim So-yeon) Happy Home	Nominated	[39]
	2017	Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Drama	Children of the 20th Century	Nominated
	2019	Grand Prize (Daesang)	The Golden Garden	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend Drama		Won
SBS Drama Awards	2008	New Star Award	First Wives' Club	Won
	2011	Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Planning Drama	A Thousand Days' Promise	Nominated
	2013	Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend/Daily Drama	Goddess of Marriage	Nominated
	2014	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Glorious Day	Nominated