# Lee Chung-ah (이청아)
**Lee Chung-ah** (이청아; born 1984) is a South Korean actress whose career runs from early-2000s teen films to lead roles in television dramas, with work spanning movies, series, reality programs, and stage plays. She made her debut in the 2002 film *The Second Coming of the Little Match Girl* and won the Grand Bell Award for Best New Actress for *Temptation of Wolves* (2004), and she is known internationally for the Western *The Good, the Bad, the Weird* (2008).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984, in Ansan, South Korea[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) |
| Education | Graduated from the theater and film school of Hanyang University[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) |
| Breakout role | Han-kyung in *Temptation of Wolves* (늑대의 유혹, 2004); 42nd Grand Bell Award for Best New Actress (2005)[3](https://cine21.com/db/person/info/?person_id=20192) |
| Notable film | Song-yi in Kim Jee-woon's *The Good, the Bad, the Weird* (2008)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) |
| TV awards | Best Supporting Actress (*VIP*) and Best Performance Award (*One Dollar Lawyer*) at the SBS Drama Awards, 2019 and 2022[4](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah) |
| Family | Daughter of the stage actor Lee Seung-cheol[4](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah) |
| Recent lead | Lawyer Hwang Hyun-jin in the ENA drama *Honour* (2026)[5](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260312165300005) |
## Background
Lee was born in 1984 in Ansan, South Korea.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) She studied theater and film at [Hanyang University](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanyang-university), where she majored in directing, and has said that the directing training makes her comfortable watching other actors and shaping a character.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) • [6](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2026/03/13/OGVASW3L6VHFVMMDMQODMRG45U/?outputType=amp) Her father is the stage actor Lee Seung-cheol.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730)
Database listings differ on two small points. IMDb places her birth in Ansan, while The Movie Database lists October 25, 1984 and Siheung, Gyeonggi.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) • [7](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/126743-lee-chung-ah) Korean film databases give her blood type as A and list her height as 165 cm; the Japanese profile service gives 166 cm.[3](https://cine21.com/db/person/info/?person_id=20192) • [8](https://sp.kdaisuki.jp/star/profile/?id=366)
## Early film career
Lee debuted in 2002 with a small role in *The Second Coming of the Little Match Girl* (성냥팔이 소녀의 재림).[9](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/hot-issues/10981418) Her lead role in the 2004 teen romance *Temptation of Wolves* (늑대의 유혹) made her known to the general public and brought her the Grand Bell Award for Best New Actress at the 42nd ceremony in 2005, along with a Best New Actress Golden Cinematography Award the same year.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) • [3](https://cine21.com/db/person/info/?person_id=20192) She followed with *Ssunday Seoul* (2005) and *My Tutor Friend 2* (2007), often cast as the love interest in melodramas and romantic comedies.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730)
In 2008 she appeared in [Kim Jee-woon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-jee-woon)'s Western *The Good, the Bad, the Weird* as Song-yi and in [Lee Joon](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-joon)-ki's *My Dear Enemy*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) Later film work includes *The Five* (2013), *Northern Limit Line* (2015) as Captain Choi, *Bluebeard* (2017), and *Spring, Again* (2019), for which she received positive reviews playing a woman who lost her child.[4](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730)
## Television and typecast image
Lee's early television roles repeated the sweet love-interest type, and she has said it took eight to nine years to overcome the burden of being told too often that she was not good at acting.[9](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/hot-issues/10981418) A turning point came in 2016, when she played a villainous vampire in *The Vampire Detective* and a company CEO in *Lucky Romance*.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) In 2017 she appeared in the tvN drama *Because This Is My First Life* as Go Jeong-min.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/)
Her awards came from two SBS dramas. She won Best Supporting Actress at the 2019 [SBS Drama Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/sbs-drama-awards) for *VIP*, playing Lee Hyeon-ah, and a Best Performance Award at the 2022 SBS Drama Awards for *One Dollar Lawyer*, in which she played prosecutor Lee Joo-young over three episodes.[4](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah) She also joined the reality program *Rural Police* (시골경찰), in which celebrities take over a village police officer's duties, in its third and fourth seasons.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730) • [3](https://cine21.com/db/person/info/?person_id=20192)
Recent series roles widen the range further: Jamie Leighton in *Awaken* (2020–2021), Ha Yeon-joo in *Hide* (2024), Yoon Shi-hyeon in Netflix's *[Celebrity](https://www.edgepedia.org/celebrity-south-korean-tv-series)* (2023), and Gak Hwa, a Qing Dynasty prisoner hunter, in *[My Dearest](https://www.edgepedia.org/my-dearest)* (2023).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/) • [4](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah)
## Stage and recent work
Lee made her first appearance in theater with the play *Secret of Flowers*, after roughly fourteen years of screen acting.[10](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/lee-chungah-steps-onto-the-stage-the-actress-is-hoping-to-start-a-new-chapter-in-her-career-as-a-thespian/11314414)
**Honour.** In the ENA drama *Honour* (아너, 2026), adapted from a Swedish series of the same name, Lee plays the lawyer Hwang Hyun-jin, one of three women lawyers and 20-year friends at the center of a mystery thriller about a scandal tied to their past.[5](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260312165300005) She described the part as an acting transformation: an impulsive, hot-tempered but deeply loyal action-taker who constantly stirs up and then cleans up trouble.[5](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260312165300005) She recalled reading the script in Amsterdam and finishing it in three hours.[6](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2026/03/13/OGVASW3L6VHFVMMDMQODMRG45U/?outputType=amp) The finale broke the show's own highest viewer rating at 4.7 percent nationwide, according to Nielsen Korea.[11](https://www.starnewskorea.com/en/broadcast-drama/2026/03/15/2026031315131394092) In interviews she said her criteria for choosing projects have shifted toward whether a work will make someone happier or offer something to think about, pointing to stories of vulnerable and unprotected people.[6](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2026/03/13/OGVASW3L6VHFVMMDMQODMRG45U/?outputType=amp)
## References
1. [Lee Chung-Ah, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632701/)
2. [LEE Chung-Ah, Korean Film Council (KOFIC) people database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10057730)
3. [이청아 profile, 씨네21 (Cine21)](https://cine21.com/db/person/info/?person_id=20192)
4. [Lee Chung-Ah, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Lee_Chung-Ah)
5. [이청아 "이나영·정은채와 워맨스…여배우 기싸움 전혀 없었죠", 연합뉴스 (Yonhap News)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260312165300005)
6. [Lee Chung-ah recalls reading Honor script in Amsterdam and finishing it in three hours, CHOSUNBIZ](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2026/03/13/OGVASW3L6VHFVMMDMQODMRG45U/?outputType=amp)
7. [이청아, The Movie Database (TMDB)](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/126743-lee-chung-ah)
8. [イ・チョンア profile, 韓流大好き! 有名人名鑑](https://sp.kdaisuki.jp/star/profile/?id=366)
9. [Actor Lee Chung-ah confessed that it took eight to nine years to overcome the burden, Maeil Business Newspaper (MK)](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/hot-issues/10981418)
10. [Lee Chung-ah steps onto the stage, The Korea JoongAng Daily](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/lee-chungah-steps-onto-the-stage-the-actress-is-hoping-to-start-a-new-chapter-in-her-career-as-a-thespian/11314414)
11. [Honor. Lee Chung-ah interview, STARNEWS](https://www.starnewskorea.com/en/broadcast-drama/2026/03/15/2026031315131394092)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of East and Southeast Asia › South Korean actors, 2000s onward › Surnames L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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