Lee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor. He is best known for starring in Joint Security Area (2000), A Bittersweet Life (2005), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) and I Saw the Devil (2010).
Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, are the first Korean actors to imprint their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Lee made his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown after auditioning in a KBS talent audition in 1991. He made his big breakthrough in 2000 with Joint Security Area directed by Park Chan-wook, which broke the box office record and became the highest grossing film of all time. His portrayal of the border-guard soldier won him Best Actor at the Pusan Film Critics Awards.
In 2010 Lee starred in I Saw the Devil with Choi Min-sik, his third collaboration with director Kim Ji-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His portrayal of the intelligence agent won him the Grand Prize at the Paeksang Arts Awards.
In 2012, he reprised his role as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. On 23 June 2012, Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, became the third Asians after Jackie Chan and director John Woo, and first Korean actors to leave their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was recognised as an emerging star in Hollywood for his role of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. In October, he won Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his dual role in the lavish period drama Gwanghae. The film was a box office hit, becoming the 7th film in Korean history to surpass 10 million admissions.
Lee was then cast in the American film RED 2, the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy hit RED, alongside Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich.