This week the spotlight falls on Lee Shi-young, who is currently starring in the KBS drama What’s Wrong, Poong-sang, where she plays one of the siblings in this ensemble primetime family drama.
Born in 1982, Lee Shi-young debuted in 2008 and soon after gained recognition with her supporting roles in Boys Over Flowers, Playful Kiss, among others. Even early on in her career, Lee Shi-young seemed to know the niche she hoped to fill. “I don’t see many actresses who are good at tough action roles,” she once said in an interview. “I hope I can fill that gap.” While Lee Shi-young’s choices in dramas and films have been varied, and not all of them have been action, they have always supported her idea of a strong female character.
Further fitting that concept, Lee Shi-young also became a rather successful and high-profile amateur boxer. In 2010, when preparing for a drama, Lee found she had a natural gift and was encouraged to continue boxing. The drama never got produced, but Lee Shi-young wound up winning a number of titles in the amateur boxing world. The training also served to broaden her abilities as a female action star. We’ve seen this in dramas like Lookout, but here’s hoping there are many more strong female action roles to come.
Here are some drama highlights from Lee Shi-young, followed by her full filmography.
Boys Over Flowers (2009)
Who can refuse an opportunity to talk about Boys Over Flowers? Not me. Rather than rehash the plot of what has become one of the most notorious/well-loved K-dramas of all times, I choose to instead wax poetic about how sentimental this drama makes me. I can’t even hear “almost paradiiiiiiiise” without getting verklempt! Some of the cast hit it big after this show, some disappeared, some got into hot water, and some — like Lee Shi-young — fell into the “I didn’t even remember she was in that!” category. Am I the only one that didn’t realize the little girl Goo Jun-pyo tormented for her looks was played by Lee Shi-young? In a way it’s a good thing — it means she was able to carve out her own career separate from this drama, whereas I think a sliver of the hot-headed Goo Jun-pyo will forever be a part of Lee Min-ho. Not that that’s a bad thing.
Valid Love (2014)
Such an underrated drama! Valid Love was not your typical feel-good K-drama. It was complex, deep, and full of characters with scars and bitterness — but also the capacity for love and forgiveness. Valid Love was written by Kim Do-woo, of My Name is Kim Sam-soon fame, but Valid Love told a very different kind of story. Lee Shi-young played a young wife who finds herself suffocated by what her life has become, from her relationship with her husband (fantastically played by Uhm Tae-woong), to her daily responsibilities and duty towards his family. Throw in Lee Soo-hyuk as the loner carpenter she crosses paths with, and her life goes into a tailspin. The drama is dark and yeah, a little depressing with its somber tone, but it was also a moving and authentic story about human nature and love. As an aside, Choi Yeo-jin as the heroine’s sister-in-law not only gave an amazing performance, but she had one of the most powerful storylines I have seen in a long time.
Lookout (2017)
The action-crime drama Lookout starred Lee Shi-young, Kim Young-gwang, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Seul-gi, and Key as a group of people whose lives or loved ones met with tragedy due to criminals. What do you do when you can’t get justice for the crimes committed against you? Form a group of vigilantes and seek justice yourself. This drama is a great example of Lee Shi-young putting her action star chops to work, and I love a good story of vigilante justice. With a story and cast like this, I don’t know how Lookout escaped me for so long! (Don’t worry, I’m currently marathoning it.)
Lee Shi-young’s full filmography: