Lee Si young

Biography

Lee Si-young (born Lee Eun-rae on April 17, 1982) is a South Korean actress and former amateur boxer.

Born Lee Eun-rae in Cheongwon County, North Chungcheong Province, her family moved to Seoul when she was 9 years old. Lee majored in Fashion Design at Dongduk Women's University and later changed her name to Lee Si-young.

Lee made her acting debut in 2008 in a guest appearance on season 3 of the Super Action TV procedural Urban Legends Deja Vu, followed by the historical drama "The Kingdom of The Winds".

But 2009 was the year she began to gain attention with several high-profile supporting roles. In the smash hit Boys Over Flowers, Lee played the character of Sakurako Sanjo in the source manga Hana Yori Dango, who was mercilessly teased for being homely as a young girl, then undergoes extensive plastic surgery and becomes a backstabbing frenemy to win the heart of her tormentor.

 Lee then played the mistress of a married man in the surrogacy melodrama Loving You a Thousand Times.

In 2010, she began hosting Entertainment Relay (also known as Entertainment Weekly), the longest-running entertainment news show on Korean television (her stint ended in 2012). 

Then in Birth of the Rich (also known as Becoming a Billionaire), Lee was the standout in the cast and was praised for her portrayal of a spoiled, Paris Hilton-esque chaebol heiress, despite mixed reviews for the series itself. 

Later that year, she starred in Playful Kiss, another series adapted from a manga (in Itazura na Kiss, her character is Sasuiko, a haughty paragon of perfection who becomes the heroine's rival in love). 

Lee had acquired a reputation for making her second-lead roles memorable and endearing in their own right, giving her characters a human, lovable side despite their role as antagonists in the narrative.

In 2012, Lee cut her hair into a short perm for Wild Romance, playing a tomboyish bodyguard who protects an arrogant baseball star after he receives death threats (played by Lee Dong-Wook).

 Lee said, “I don't see many actresses who are good at tough action roles. I hope I can fill the gap.” The series received low ratings but had a cult following.

In 2017, Lee starred in MBC's action thriller The Guardians.

In 2018, Lee returned to the small screen after her marriage and childbirth with the medical drama Risky Romance, reuniting with Becoming a Billionaire co-star Ji Hyun-woo.

In 2019, Lee starred in the action film No Mercy and in the family drama Liver or Die.

In January 2020, Lee signed with new management agency Ace Factory. That same year, Lee starred in the apocalyptic horror Netflix series, Sweet Home (TV series).

In July 2017, she announced through her social media that she would be getting married in September and was 14 weeks pregnant. She gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy, on January 7, 2018.