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Who is Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae? A K-drama fan’s appreciation of his roles in City of the Rising Sun, Il Mare and The Housemaid, and his hot-bod look in Typhoon
- Lee Jung-jae starred alongside Jun Ji-hyun in Il Mare, and in the erotic thriller The Housemaid, which also starred the brilliant Jeon Do-yeon and Youn Yuh-jung
- The actor remains by and large unknown to international audiences, and Squid Game viewers may be more familiar with actors like Gong Yoo, of Train to Busan fame
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![Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae has been around for a lot longer than you think – here’s where else you might have seen the Korean actor and why he has been surprised by the surge in his popularity on social media. Photo: Netflix](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2021/09/30/3fd0d4cd-17ae-4951-bdbd-4ecd3f6c3c1b_d73d1c68.jpg?itok=dc4D0Om7&v=1632984016)
Back in the early 2000s, when I binged so hard on Korean dramas and films on VCDs (video compact discs) that my television set literally went up in smoke, Lee Jung-jae was already a familiar name to me and other hallyu (or Korean Wave) fans.
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Like his contemporaries Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, Bae Yong-joon and Jang Dong-gun, the now 48-year-old actor was a much sought after leading man, especially after his award-winning turn in City of the Rising Sun (1999).
He went on to star alongside Jun Ji-hyun in Il Mare (2000), which I enjoyed but which did quite poorly at the box office; he then fell off my radar until 2010 when he resurfaced in the erotic thriller The Housemaid, which also starred the brilliant Jeon Do-yeon and Youn Yuh-jung (who won best supporting actress at this year’s Academy Awards for her role in Minari).
I didn’t find this film particularly memorable, but Lee’s performance as the scheming husband was solid.
![Lee (left) and Jun Ji-hyun in a still from Il Mare (2000). Photo: Blue Cinema Lee (left) and Jun Ji-hyun in a still from Il Mare (2000). Photo: Blue Cinema](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2021/09/30/c8ed502a-a23d-4cf9-bf12-886a37e29516_3a65caea.jpg)
He then dropped off my radar again. Granted, these days I have not been following the K-drama/K-movie scene as closely and avidly as I used to.
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