Who's That Actor? The "Other" Lee Min Ho

For our second round of "Who's That Actor?" I'm going to take a reader recommendation and highlight Lee Min Ho.

Source

Wait, nope, sorry--wrong Lee Min Ho there. Here's the one we're going to talk about today:

Source

That's right. There is more than one Lee Min Ho. *head explodes*


Because I feel bad that he's consistently known as "the other Lee Min Ho" or "Lee Min Ho born in 1993," I figured this guy deserved a moment on his own in the spotlight. I mean, in spite of being younger, this guy made his acting debut a full eight years before the other other Lee Min Ho (The more famous Lee Min Ho? This is getting complicated.), so you can imagine how he must have banged his head against a wall when Boys over Flowers and City Hunter happened and suddenly he was getting hate mail over his own freaking name. You've got to give the guy some credit for not caving and picking a stage name. Anti-fans are scary, scary people.

So props to you, Lee Min Ho!

Where you might have seen him:
His biggest role as a "child" actor was in The Moon the Embraces the Sun as the younger version of Jung Il Woo's character. He was also part of the Joseon entourage in Rooftop Prince, the helpful reporter buddy in The Prime Minister and I, and, although it rarely shows up on his credits, he was also the schoolyard thief kid in Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Source

My favorite role: I'm an unashamed sucker for buddy comedies, so it would have to be the genius scholar Song Man Bo in Rooftop Prince for me. Nerdery always wins brownie points over here!

Fun facts: After his child actor years (where, coincidentally, he worked alongside Yoo Seung Ho), he decided that he didn't want his parents to force him into acting anymore, and he focused on soccer instead. Apparently, he was a prodigy soccer player headed for the pros before he rediscovered acting in high school and decided he liked it for himself. That story makes me like him even more, and I kind of wish he would challenge the older Lee Min Ho to a celebrity soccer match to the death. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! (Kind of like Highlander--minus the head chopping parts.)

So the next time you're scrolling through a cast list and think, "I didn't know Lee Min Ho was in that," you don't have to be confused! Just remember our dear friend, the other Lee Min Ho.

Who's That Actor? Lee Sung Min

Back in high school, I used to have this skill where I could link any two actors--and I mean ANY two actors--based on the movies they shared.  It was like that "six steps to Kevin Bacon" game, except it didn't usually involve Kevin Bacon, and some of the more obscure ones took a little longer than six steps.

As someone who couldn't sing, dance, play the piano, or do anything else obviously impressive in front of a crowd, I was secretly a little bit proud of my random mini-talent, and so I cultivated it by reading all kinds of reviews for movies I never saw and memorizing the names of random bit actors.

The IMDB app on my phone has made my offhand ability to answer the question of "What else was that guy in?" somewhat obsolete, but I still have some affection for those side actors who appear in everything without anyone (ad by "anyone," I mostly just mean me) knowing anything about them.  I used to read the "Lawrence/Julie&Julia" blog from time to time, and he would occasionally spotlight random actors from Julie and Julia.  I've decided that I want to do the same thing here, but with kdrama actors who pop up frequently in side roles.  Because why should you have to Google things if I can Google them for you?

For the first kdrama edition of "Who's That Actor?", I'm going to spotlight Lee Sung Min:

Source

Where you might have seen him: Miss Korea (as the angry/mopey gangster constantly accompanied by sad woodwind music), My Princess (as the bossy president), Pasta ("You. Are. FIRED!"), and about fifty billion other roles, most of which involve high levels of shouting--go here for the full list.

Biggest role: He was one of the leads in Golden Time, which I haven't seen, but based on the title, it sounds like a show that probably revolves around grandfathers sitting in rocking chairs on a porch reminiscing about the old days while Tobey Maguire does a voiceover segue into a flashback.  

Source

Based on Viki, it's actually about emergency medicine and also stars Lee Sun Gyun, which sounds like a much better premise than my initial hypothesis.  Lee Sung Min won several awards for his role as a trauma surgeon, including the 2012 MBC Drama award for Actor of the Year.  So what I'm trying to say is that he's kind of a big deal.  

My favorite role: I always forget that he was the older brother in King 2 Hearts.  It was much softer than most of his other roles.  *Wipes away tears.

Fun fact: I kind of assumed that this guy must have been some young hot kdrama actor back in his 20s who just gradually shifted into older roles.  Nope.  As it turns out, the guy started acting in 2004 at the age of 36, which, as far as I can tell, might as well be seventeen million years old in Korean celebrity terms.  You have to wonder what got him into acting at that point.  Was some director desperate for a really bossy character, and he suddenly thought, "You know who would be perfect?  Uncle Sung Min!  Too bad he's already a used car salesman instead of an actor..."?  I guess we will never know for sure.  

So there you have it.  The next time he pops up on the screen, you can tell all of your friends, "Hey!  That's Lee Sung Min!"  and they will all be really impressed.

Any other random actors you want to see spotlighted?