Lee Byung-hun (Korean: 이병헌; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably Joint Security Area (2000); A Bittersweet Life (2005); The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008); I Saw the Devil (2010); Masquerade (2012); and the television series All In (2003), Iris (2009), Mr. Sunshine (2018), and Our Blues (2022). His other notable South Korean films include Inside Men (2015), Master (2016), Ashfall (2019), The Man Standing Next (2020), and No Other Choice (2025), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.
In the United States, he is known for portraying Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and its sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and starring alongside Bruce Willis in Red 2 (2013). He portrayed T-1000 in Terminator Genisys (2015), Billy Rocks in The Magnificent Seven (2016) and voiced Gwi-Ma in KPop Demon Hunters (2025). He appeared in a recurring role as the Front Man in season 1 and as part of the main cast of seasons 2 and 3 of the Netflix hit survival series Squid Game (2021–2025).
Lee has been named Gallup Korea's Film Actor of the Year in 2012 and Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year in 2018. He was also the first South Korean actor to present an Oscar at the annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Lee and Ahn Sung-ki were the first South Korean actors to imprint their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea. He has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who won the Miss Korea in 1996. He graduated from Hanyang University with a major in French Literature and the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University with a major in Theater and Cinematography.
1991–2000: Beginnings and breakthrough
Lee's career began in 1991 after a KBS talent audition and making his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown. Lee drew attention with the action drama Asphalt Man and romantic film The Harmonium in My Memory, but it was only in 2000 that he made his big breakthrough with Park Chan-wook's Joint Security Area. The film broke the box office record and became the highest grossing Korean film at the time. Lee's role as a border-guard soldier won him the Best Actor award at the Busan Film Critics Awards.
In 2001, Lee's popularity continued to climb when he starred in melodramas Beautiful Days and Bungee Jumping of Their Own. In 2003, he received the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in the poker drama All In. Due to his film and television roles, Lee experienced a rise in popularity across Asia, particularly Japan.
From 2005, Lee focused on film, earning praise for his performance in A Bittersweet Life directed by Kim Jee-woon, which was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Lee was nominated for Best Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards, and won at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.
Lee reunited with director Kim Jee-woon in the "kimchi western" The Good, the Bad, the Weird, taking on his first villain role. The film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Lee's eye-catching performance in the film led to increased global recognition for him. This led to Lee's debut in Hollywood, where he played Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, also starring Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller.
Back in Korea, Lee appeared in I Come with the Rain opposite American actor Josh Hartnett and Japanese actor Takuya Kimura.
Lee returned to television in late 2009 in the espionage action thriller Iris as a secret agent who finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy. He reportedly received over 100 million won per episode for his role, the third highest in the country's drama history. Iris was one of the most expensive shows ever produced, and was a smash hit across Asia. Lee's performance earned him the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
2010–2017: Acclaim and Hollywood roles
In 2010, Lee starred in I Saw the Devil with Choi Min-sik, his third collaboration with Kim Jee-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His portrayal of the intelligence agent won him the Grand Prize at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
Lee was praised for his portrayal of dual roles in the lavish period drama Masquerade. The film was a box office hit, becoming the 7th film in Korean history to surpass 10 million admissions. Lee won Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his performance. On June 23, 2012, Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, became the first Korean actors to leave their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was recognized 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 2013, Lee reprised his role as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. He then co-starred 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.
Following his sex-chat scandal, Lee returned with the martial arts film Memories of the Sword in 2015. The film was shot in late 2013 and scheduled for release in 2014, but was postponed due to Lee's scandal. He received praise for his "scene-stealing" role as a young and ambitious warrior with a lowly status, but the film failed to do well and was criticized for its plot. The same year, Lee played a T-1000 in Terminator Genisys opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. He then starred in Woo Min-ho's political crime thriller Inside Men, which became the top grossing R-rated movie of all-time at the Korean Box Office. Touted as the "star" of the film, Lee won Best Actor awards at various film awards ceremonies.
In 2016, Lee featured in the American crime thriller Misconduct. On February 28, 2016, Lee attended the 88th Academy Awards and presented the Best Foreign Language Film award with actress Sofia Vergara. He was the first Korean actor to present an award at the Oscars. The same year, Lee co-starred as knife-wielding gunslinger Billy Rocks in The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke.
Returning to Korea, Lee starred in the crime thriller Master, followed by mystery drama Single Rider.