LIST: Lee Sun Kyun's most memorable film and K-drama roles

The passing of South Korean actor Lee Sun Kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, stunned the world amid his drug probe.

Lee, who has been going through police questioning on suspicions of drug use, was discovered lifeless in a Seoul park on Dec. 27.

Many of his colleagues and co-stars mourned his passing, with some paying their respects at the funeral.

To his fans, he will be remembered for his many dramas and films, where he portrayed various iconic roles such as a cool producer, a rising chef, a rich out-of-touch dad, and a timid husband.

As we look back at his incredible body of work, here are some of his best roles that we’ll remember:

Coffee Prince

A blockbuster hit series in 2007, Coffee Prince tells the story of an unlikely romance between a woman who pretended to be a man to get a job in a cafe. Lee Sun Kyun plays the role of Choi Han-sung, a talented producer and cousin of the lead character, Han-gyeol (Gong Yoo).

The romantic comedy series aired from July 2 to August 28, 2007, consisting of 17 episodes.  

My Mister  

Also known as My Ahjussi, My Mister is a psychological drama tragedy starring Lee Sun-kyun who played Park Dong-hoon, a man in his 40s who withstands the weight of life, and IU as Lee Ji-an, a woman in her 20s who is going through different life experiences and struggles. It tells the story of an impoverished and debt-laden young woman who is struggling to stay afloat as she nurses her deaf, sick grandmother and works in a temporary job. They came together, formed new relationships and kept a low profile until they ultimately healed past scars.

The drama consists of 16 episodes, aired from March 21 to May 17, 2018. 

Pasta  

A romcom drama series revolves around an unconventional love story about Seo Yoo-kyung (Gong Hyo-jin) who started a career as a kitchen assistant at La Sfera for 3 years, with dreams of being an Italian cuisine chef. One day, a newly hired chef, Choi Hyun-wook (Lee Sun-kyun), arrives and becomes a threat to her dream.

The series aired from January 4 to March 9, 2010, consisting of 20 episodes.

Golden Time 

Lee Sun-kyun played Min-woo in Golden Time, a K-drama that tells a story about a doctor who experiences uncertainties as he completes his residency.

The story is inspired by the character of the trauma specialist based on real-life doctor Lee Guk-jong during the rescue mission from Somali pirates.

The series aired from July 9 to September 25, 2012, composed of 23 episodes.

Dr. Brain  

Dr. Brain, directed by Kim Jae-woon, is a South Korean web and sci-fi thriller series based on the Korean webtoon by Hongjacga, where Lee Su-kyun stars in the lead role as a brain scientist trying to solve the mysterious death of his family by hacking into the brains of the deceased.

The series is the first Korean-language show produced for Apple TV+. It released its first season composed of six episodes in Nov. 4, 2021.  

Diary of a Prosecutor 

Also known as Prosecutor Civil War, produced by JTBC, is a South Korean 2019 legal drama series about the ambitious prosecutor Cha Myung-joo (Jung Ryeo-won) and Lee Sun-woong (Lee) who seems relaxed and does not have the desire to succeed as he was transferred to a small branch office in a provincial town of Jinyoung.

It tells about the inside stories of prosecutors, which depicts the everyday lives of prosecutors who work like salarymen.

The legal drama was aired from December 16 to February 11, 2020, consisting of 16 episodes.   

Payback: Money and Power

Also known as Law Money, produced by SBS Network, tells the story of Eun Yong (Lee Sun-kyun), who is a business titan and an affluent financial specialist who has been living his life od a recluse in the pastures of Mongolia. As soon as she returned to Korea, he enlisted his nephew to wage a war against corruption to protect his family.

Lee Sun-kyun played the role of a money trader, fighting against a money cartel, which had collusion with the law. If you are a fan of politics, crime, and law, you need to watch this.

The series aired from January 6 to February 11, 2023, consisting of 12 episodes.

Paju (2009)

Paju is a film about a 15-year-old teenage schoolgirl Choi Eun-mo (Seo Woo) who falls in love with her teacher Joong-shik (Lee Sun-kyun)—a mysterious man who arrives in the town of Paju. She later finds out that her sister Choi Eun-soo (Shim Lee Yeong) is dating the man. The two later get married and move in together, but an unfortunate gas explosion in their home causes the death of Eun-soo.

Years later, Eun-mo digs further into the truth about her sister's death and becomes torn between the facts and her feelings for Joong-shik.

Helpless (2012)

Helpless, or Hwacha (“freight train bed” or "wagon"), is a South Korean psychological thriller film based on the best-selling Japanese novel All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe. It follows the story of a man who searches for his fiancee, who vanished without a trace, only to discover dark and shocking truths about the wife.

All About My Wife (2012)

The romantic-comedy movie tells a story about a timid husband Doo Hyun (Lee) who hires a professional Cassanova named Sung-Ki (Ryoo Seung-Ryong) to seduce his perfect but fearsome wife Jung In (Lim Soo-jung), hoping that it will make her divorce him.

It is a remake of the Argentinian film Un novio para mi mujer (“A Boyfriend for My Wife”).

Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (2013)

A 2013 South Korean drama film that tells the story narrative about the diary format and chronicles a few days in the life of a young woman (Jung Eun-chae) who falls into depression following the departure of her mother to Canada and falls back on a troubled affair with a professor (Lee Sun-kyun), who offers to whisk her away.

Parasite (2019)

The 2019 black comedy thriller film is about a poor family who schemes to become employed by a wealthy family, infiltrating their household by posing as unrelated, highly qualified people. Lee played the role of the rich patriarch.

The movie earned an Oscar-winning award title for Best Picture and three other categories in 2020, and the first non-English-language film to win the title in the then 92-year history of the Academy Awards.   

Kingmaker (2022)

Kingmaker, a South Korean political drama film written and directed by Byun Sung-hyun, tells a story about a person’s dream of becoming the president of the country where Song Chang-dee (Lee Sun-kyun) is an excellent strategist who joins in an election campaign and is suspected of being the culprit during the fierce presidential election. He ended up having an ideological difference with his present client and received a lucrative offer that will put loyalty under the microscope.  

Sleep (2023)

A black comedy horror thriller film tells a story about the newlywed couple Soo-jin and Hyun-soo (Lee Sun-kyun) that turns into a nightmare, a sleepwalking strange behavior because Hyu-soo suddenly begins to behave abnormally during his sleep. Whenever the night falls every time, she becomes restless, for fear that her husband will harm their newborn.