Although in Squid Game, Lee Jung-jae portrays a debt-ridden man who struggles to support his family financially, his financial situation in real life couldn't be any further from the show's protagonist Seong Gi-hun. After the massive success of the series, he has become the second-highest-paid actor in Korea, amassing a net worth of 5 million. According to Today Online, Lee earned 300mil won (about S$344K) per episode. On top of that, before making his international debut with Squid Game, he was already a household name in South Korea.
It is speculated that Lee earned around S$3.1mil for the drama, surpassing the 180mil won (S$205.9K) Song Joong Ki received for each episode of the hit series Vincenzo. Though Lee Jung-jae debuted in the entertainment industry as a model, his talent as an actor allowed him to star in many successful productions throughout his life. At 48 years old, the Squid Game star has gained great success and still has a long career ahead. Let's take a look at how Lee amassed his 5 million fortune.
Lee Jung-jae Was Born in a Bankrupt Family
Lee Jung-jae enjoyed a pretty privileged childhood. The South Korean actor was born into a wealthy family of doctors and brewery owners. However, his family fell into huge debts after his grandfather tried and failed to run for congress a total of four times. At this point, young Lee had to work at a cafe.
In August 2008, Lee was awarded his master's degree from Dongguk University's theatre and film art department. This is a graduate school of cultural arts, and he made his first foray into theater in December of that year, taking on the titular role of Hamlet. He was 36 years old when he completed his studies, and he'd already been a working actor since his 20s.
Previous to all this, he worked at a cafe in the Gangnam-gu area, which many people know now from PSY's hit song Gangnam Style. While working at this cafe, he was spotted by designer Ha Yong-soo who got him into the world of high-end fashion and modeling.
The 'Squid Game' Star Was Already a Household Name in South Korea
Lee Jung-jae made his acting debut in 1993 with the TV drama Dinosaur Teacher and became a local TV star overnight. His next major accomplishment would come just one year later in the film The Young Man and Feelings, which made him a household name.
Lee continues to wow audiences in award-winning films like An Affair and City of the Rising Sun, for which he became the youngest actor to win Best Actor at The Blue Dragon Film Awards. But it wasn't all good news. In 1999, Lee was charged with a DUI after his car collided with another one. He was found with a blood alcohol reading of 0.222%.
In the years that followed, Lee was in a series of hit films like Il Mare (2000) and Somewhere in Time, in which Keanu Reeves played Lee's role in the 2006 Hollywood remake The Lake House. The Squid Game star followed this up with Last Present and The Last Witness before taking a short break to focus on school and his other various ventures.
Lee Jung-jae Owns a Real Estate Development Company
While working on his master's from Dongguk University, Lee Jung-jae ventured into multiple businesses, launching the chain of upscale Italian restaurants in Seoul named after his film Il Mare. Having studied interior design, Lee himself took responsibility for designing the interiors of his restaurants.
He also got himself involved in real estate, and he set up a company with a partner known as Seorim C&D back in 2008. Between him and his partner, he's said to have made as much as 55 million dollars in real estate. On top of all this, he also has an entertainment company.
On a personal level, he dated actress Kim Min-hee for three years before they split up in 2006. He then went public in 2015 with his relationship with businesswoman Lim Se-Kyung. She is the daughter of the chairman of Korea's food giant Daisy group. Lim's ex-husband was the vice-chairman of Samsung. However, they divorced in 2009. There's no doubt that Lee likes to be surrounded by the elite.
Veteran Actor Lee Jung-jae Is Set To Make His Directorial Debut
While Lee Jung-jae experienced a bit of a career slump in the late 2000s, there was a resurgent that soon followed thanks to projects like The Thieves, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, Chief of Staff, The Housemaid, New World, and 2020's Deliver Us From Evil.
Squid Game would become the surprise meteoric hit that would launch him to international fame. The actor told Variety, "I didn't expect this kind of success at all when I first boarded Squid Game as a project. But when I read the script, I understood that it contained elements that could resonate with everyone and work outside of Korea."
Although the show has proven to be a massive success, he said his phone isn't ringing off the hook from Hollywood, at least not yet. Lee is currently producing and making his feature-directing debut in Namsun, a spy thriller that he got caught up in after buying the rights and rewriting the screenplay. There's no doubt that his talent for acting and making business will continue to bear fruit.
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