MeeWha Alana Lee

MeeWha Alana Lee (born December 31, 1958) is a Korean American actor and visual artist. She is best known for her roles in The Chair (2021 TV series)^[1] and Umma (2022 film).^[2]

MeeWha Alana Lee
Lee at home in New York City
Born	이미화 (MeeWha Lee) (1958-12-31) December 31, 1958 (age 66) Masan, South Korea
Alma mater	Seoul National University University of Iowa
Occupation(s)	Actor, designer, painter
Years active	2017–present

Early life

Lee was born in Masan, South Korea. She received her BFA degree from Seoul National University. She moved to the United States in 1982, receiving her MFA degree in Design and Drawing from the University of Iowa.^[3]

Art and design

Lee was a college graphic design professor^[4] and a brand design strategy executive for three global corporations.^[5] Her background in industrial and graphic design allowed her to participate in product and packaging development, which led to many US and global patents.^[6]

During and after her time in these careers, she has exhibited her design and studio art internationally. She curated an exhibition of Korean poster design that brought the works of 19 of Korea's leading graphic designers to a global audience^[4][7] and also exhibited and lectured on her own work in brand design.^[5][8] Her paintings have been shown in solo and group exhibitions around the United States and abroad.^[9][10][11] In 2021, she won the Butler Institute of American Art Award for her oil painting.^[12]

Acting career

Lee came to acting late, as a way to honor the memory of her younger son, Alan, a film student who died in 2014.^[13][14]

She gained attention in movies such as Five Stars^[15] and on the stage.^[16] Her performance as a loving but stern grandmother in Parked in America garnered praise for her portrayal of a "wise advisor" to the main character.^[17]

In 2021, she appeared in the Netflix series, The Chair with Sandra Oh, harkening back to her academic career. According to Lee, she was cast in part because Oh wanted her to help "tell the story of academia, immigrants, women and especially women of color.”^[1]

In 2022, she played the title role in the Sam Raimi film, Umma opposite Sandra Oh and Fivel Stewart.^[2] While her performance was lauded,^[18][19] the film was met with mixed reviews, many of which criticized the use of Korean imagery as "other".^[20][21]

Personal life

Having lived in Iowa and Wisconsin for many years, she now resides in New York with her husband, Richard Masters, a coin designer for the US Mint.^{[14][22][23][24]}

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Twelve Angry Women	Juror #8/Lead	Off-Broadway
2018	Casual Carpool	Grace/Lead	2018 Take Ten Short Play Festival NYC (world premiere)
2020	Shared Ignorance	Sign Changer Bill
2021	Miguk Saram	HeeWon Kang

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Queering	Angela	Episode 2x03: Long Night
2019	Tips	Susan	Television pilot
2019	Awkwafina is Nora from Queens	Korean Grandma #1	Episode 1x02: Atlantic City[25]
2019	The Blessing	Auntie Ruby	Episode 2: "The Aunties"
2020	Ramy	New citizen #2	Episode 2x05: "They"
2020	Parked in America	Halmoni	Television film[17]
2021	The Chair	Grandma 1	Episode 5: "The Last Bus in Town"[1]
2023	A Murder at the End of the World	Ethel	Episode 1x02: "The Silver Doe"

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Nettles	Hannah	Lead
2018	Don't Kill My Babies!	Acting class patron
2018	Equal Standard	Officer Lee
2018	The Butcher[26]	Landlady
2018	Five Stars	The Korean Woman	Lead[15]
2019	Mirror[27]	Mrs. Cho
2020	Project Pay Day[28]	Restaurant owner	as MeeWha Lee
2021	Good Egg	Card dealer #2
2022	All I Want Is Everything	Mrs. Kim
2022	Umma	Umma	Title character
2021	Good Egg	Card dealer #2
2023	A Great Divide	Grandma Shim (Halmoni)
2025	G20	TBA	Post-production
TBA	The Truth in Advertising	Shirley Lin	Post-production

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Artist
2017	Got Damn	MeeWha	Yyou
2019	Old Mama[29]	Old Mama	Morgane Rondot
2024	Please, Please, Please[30]	Arcade Boss	Sabrina Carpenter