R.I.P. Lee Sun-kyun, Parasite star
Lee died Wednesday in an apparent suicide. He was 48.
Lee Sun-kyun, a South Korean actor known for his roles in Parasite, Dr. Brain, and more, died Wednesday morning, according to Associated Press and South Korean news agency Yonhap. He was 48.
Police found Lee dead in a car in Northern Seoul after receiving reports that the actor had gone missing. While authorities have not officially stated that he died by suicide, South Korean media outlets say that Lee’s family reported a “message similar to a suicide note” to police earlier that day.
Lee is best known in the United States for his role in Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning 2019 film Parasite. In the film, Lee plays Park Dong-ik, the patriarch of the wealthy Park family, who hires and is eventually ruined by the lower-class Kim family. Parasite broke records as the first foreign-language film to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, as well as the first South Korean movie to win an Oscar of any kind. The film won four Oscars overall, in addition to the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival—the first South Korean film to receive this honor as well. The ensemble cast, including Lee, also won a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture.
Following Parasite, Lee also starred in the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Dr. Brain, for which he was nominated for Best Actor at the 2022 International Emmy Awards. He has also starred in a number of South Korean projects over the years including Payback, Diary Of A Prosecutor, My Mister, Killing Romance, Kingmaker, Project Silence, Sleep, and more.
Recently, Lee had been under investigation for drug use, after he was accused of taking illegal substances at the residence of a bar hostess. (South Korea has extremely strict anti-drug laws and detained a record number of people for drug-related offenses this year, according to AP.) Lee allegedly claimed he was tricked into taking the substances and was being blackmailed by the hostess and one other person in a suit filed earlier this year. He also claimed to have been extorted for thousands of dollars (per Variety). The ongoing investigation also stirred up a number of unsubstantiated rumors about his personal life. “I feel sorry to my family members who are enduring too difficult pains at this moment. I again sincerely apologize to everyone,” the actor said when summoned for questioning at a police station in Incheon, a city near Seoul, this past fall.
Lee is survived by his wife, actress Jeon Hye-jin, and two sons.