Childhood & Early Life
Lee Yeon-hee was born on 9th January, 1988 in the Haenam County, South Korea. She spent almost all her childhood in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Do, South Korea. She took intense lessons in singing, acting and modelling when she was young and had entered into a contract with SM Entertainment.
Lee studied at the Bun Dang High School, after which she went on to receive an acting degree from the Chung Ang University.
Her family includes her parents, two elder sisters and a younger brother. Her natural brown hair and typical Asian black eyes are her special features.
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Career
Lee signed her first contract at the age of 13 in the summer of 2001 with SM Entertainment. SM Entertainment signed her as she won the Best Feature Award in the SM Entertainment Best Youth Contest. She won the award after singing to Dana, The Grace’s ‘Until The End Of The World’. She had also acted in a monologue and had performed freestyle modelling poses.
As soon as she entered into the contract with SM Entertainment, she began training hard and soon started appearing in music videos. She debuted through ‘Alone’ by Moon Hee Joon in 2001. In the same year, she appeared in videos like ‘Our Story’ and ‘Thanks God’ by Moon Hee Joon, Oh Sang Eun and Kangta.
Until 2004, she kept appearing in music videos. Some of them were ‘Condition of My Heart’ by Fly To The Sky, ‘Hero’ by Shinhwa, ‘Memories’, ‘Pine Tree’ and ‘Propose’ by Kangta, and in videos like ‘My Little Princess’ and ‘The Way You Are’ by TVXQ. In 2004, she made her television debut by playing young Jung Hwa in the television drama series ‘Emperor of the Sea’.
She kept doing minor roles in TV Series like ‘My Lovely Family’ and ‘Resurrection’ until she received a big break in 2006. She was cast as the lead in the MBC series ‘One Fine Day’. Later, in the same year, she made her debut on the big screen through the film, ‘A Millionaire’s First Love’. She was cast in the romantic comedy alongside Hyun Bin.
In 2007, she was cast in 2 films namely, ‘M’ and ‘My Love’. She played Gook Young ran/ Grace in the 2008 TV series, ‘East of Eden’. In the same year, she appeared in movies like ‘U Turn’ and ‘Hello, Schoolgirl’. Until then, she had appeared in lots of music videos. Some of them were ‘Timeless’ by Zhang Liyin, ‘The Left Shore Of Happiness’ by Zhang Liyin and ‘M Net Love Song’.
Lee experienced a relatively low point in her career during the year 2009-2010 as she did not have a single film or TV series to her name. She just made 2 music video appearances in those two years, which were ‘Wizard of OZ’ by Zlazziquai and ‘Miss You’ by S. M. Ballad.
However, she came back with a bangin the acting industry in 2011, when she was cast in the SBS series ‘Paradise Ranch’. She returned to the big screen in the same year through the film, ‘My Way’. She became part of the mystery crime thriller TV series ‘Phantom’ along with So Ji Sub as the lead character.
Lee played a supporting role in the martial arts historical drama series, ‘Gu Family Book’. She was cast as the lead in the South Korean television series, ‘Miss Korea’. In 2013, she was also cast for a film, ‘Marriage Blue’, in which she was cast as So Mi, a nail artist.
In 2015, she played Hisako, the lead female character in the period comedy adventure film, ‘Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island’. In the same year, she was cast as Princess Jeongmyeong, the lead female character in the 50-episode MBS TV series, ‘Splendid Politics’.
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She was cast alongside Yeo Jin Goo in the TV series ‘Reunited Worlds’ in 2017. Later, she played Yoon So So, alongside Jung Yong Hwa in the television drama series, ‘The Package’.
Awards & Achievements
She won the Best New Actress award at the 5th Max Movie Awards and the 31st Golden Cinematography Awards for her work in 'M' in 2008.
She won the Best Couple Award with Song Seung-heon, Popularity Award, Actress and the Best New Actress award at the MBC Drama Awards for her role in ‘East of Eden’. She also won the Best New Actress (TV) award at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards for the same.
She won the Popularity Award at the Korean Film Actors' Guild Awards for her role in ‘Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island’ in 2015.
Other than these, she has also won the Fashionista Award at the 7th Asia Model Festival Awards in 2012 and the Grand Prize in the 2nd SM Best Youth Contest in 2001.
Personal Life
According to her co-star Yeo Jin Goo, Lee is a reliable woman and a great co-actor. He says that they talk a lot about everything and that he can depend on her on the sets or anywhere else.
Lee stated that according to her friends, her role in the series, ‘Into the New World’ suited her very well and that all of her female friends were jealous of her being cast alongside co-star Yeo Jin Goo. She revealed that if she hadn’t been successful as an actress, she would’ve joined Girls’ Generation as she had trained along with its members.
Her hobbies include watching movies, reading books, singing and listening to music. She also loves swimming.
