Lee Bong-ryun

Early life Lee Bong-ryun was born Lee Jeong-eun on February 7, 1981, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Her father was an employee at Pohang Steelworks. After attending high school in Pohang for one month, she withdrew at age sixteen and relocated to Daegu. There, she completed an eight-month course at an academy before passing the General Educational Development (GED) equivalency exam.

At age 17, Lee enrolled in Daegu Arts University to study photography. She later earned a master's degree in photography from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, completing her studies at age 24. During her career as a photographer, she used the pseudonym Zhuge Bong-ryeon for her exhibitions.

In 2005, Lee made her professional acting debut in the musical Five Drawings of Love. Originally cast as an understudy, she performed the role for one month due to the absence of a lead actor.

In 2008, Lee auditioned for the musical Laundry after seeing Lee Jung-eun's portray the role of the grandmother. She successfully secured the part for the following season and remained with the production for three years. During this time, Lee participated in several other stage works, including Roberto Zucco, directed by Oh Kyung-taek; Almost, Maine, directed by Yi Sang-woo; and Comrades of the Century Wind, directed by Kim Soo-jin. Lee also collaborated with director Kim Dong-hyun on the play Beeul (Punishment). She has noted that the director's guidance during this production was a significant factor in her professional development. During rehearsals, Kim encouraged her to explore dramatic nuances beyond the comedic expressions she was primarily known for, an experience she describes as a lasting influence on her acting philosophy.

Lee first met director Park Geun-hyung at the Namsan Drama Center while he was preparing Jeon Myeong-chul Biography. This initial encounter led to their collaboration. Subsequently, Lee participated when the Alleyway theater company decided to stage Ode to Youth for their 10th anniversary. Following this, she officially joined the Alleyway theater company and appeared in July performance of Jeon Myeong-chul Biography. It was followed by lead role in youth drama Red Bus, written and directed by Park Geun-hyung.

In 2013, Lee began her acting career in television. Her first role was as a college friend of Na-jung (played by Go Ara) in tvN drama Reply 1994. Despite a brief appearance, she made a lasting impression as a college student from Yeosu who engaged in whose hometown was better dispute with Hae-tae (played by Son Ho-jun) from Suncheon.

In 2014, she starred in Park Geun-hyung's play, Manchurian Front, which explored the lives of young Koreans in Manchuria around 1940. Set in Xingjing (modern-day Changchun, China), the play followed students who met to discuss literature, history, and their shared ambition of achieving wealth and honor in Manchuria, aspiring to live like the Japanese. The play ran at Small Theater Siwol and was critically acclaimed, earning a spot as one of the BEST 7 performances of 2014 by the Korean Theater Company. She reprised her role in Manchurian Front when it served as the opening performance for the 2015 Seoul Theater Festival at the Daehakro Jayu Theater.

In 2015, Lee acted in play The House of Bernarda Alba. Lee landed her first supporting role in 2015 as Mi-ran in the JTBC drama Songgot: The Piercer, which starred Ji Hyun-woo and Ahn Nae-sang. The drama was based Choi Kyu-seok's webtoon Awl, inspired by a true story from 2007. This was followed by minor film roles including A Matter of Interpretation (2015), Girl On the Edge (2015), Life is but an Empty (2015). In the Jang Hoon's A Taxi Driver (2017), Lee played a pregnant woman who received a free ride from taxi driver Kim Man-seop (played by Song Kang-ho). In 2017 Lee signed exclusive contract with C-JeS Entertainment. This was followed by her appearance as Katya in the Korean premiere of the play Valentine's Day, a work by Golden Mask Award-winning artist Ivan Vymilfayev, at Jayu Small Theater until January 14, 2018.

In 2018, Lee appeared in the drama Life on Mars. She also played the older sister who informed Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) that Haemi (Jeon Jong-seo) was a liar when he was searching for her in Lee Chang-dong's film Burning (2018).

Critical acclaim and further recognition In 2019, Lee appeared in several film and television projects, including the dramas When the Devil Calls Your Name and Melting Me Softly. In the film Birthday, she portrayed Jeong-suk, a relative providing support to the protagonists (Sul Kyung-gu) and Soon-nam (Jeon Do-yeon) following the loss of their son. She also appeared as the third older sister of Yong-nam (Jo Jung-seok) in the action film Exit, which recorded over 10 million admissions at the box office.

Lee gained wider recognition for her role in Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, film starring Jung Yu-mi and Gong Yoo. Based on the million-seller novel of the same name by Cho Nam-Joo, it was released on October 23, 2019. She portrayed Hye-soo, a character who encourages the protagonist's professional aspirations and assists in her return to the workforce. Her performance was noted for its portrayal of a supportive peer providing practical guidance to the titular character.

Lee has been a frequent cast member in productions staged by the National Theater Company of Korea. In 2020, she was cast as Princess Hamlet in the gender-blind production of Shakespeare's Hamlet for the National Theater Company's 70th anniversary. For this role, she won the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Actress in a Play.

In 2021, Lee collaborated with director Yoo Je-won and actress Shin Min-a in the tvN series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. She played Yeo Hwa-jung, a seafood restaurant owner and the village chief of Gongjin. In the series, her character is a divorcée co-parenting their son Yi-jun with her ex-husband, Jang Young-guk (In Gyo-jin), and serves as the landlady for Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-a). Later that year, Lee appeared as Hwang Ma-jin in the JTBC drama Only One Person. In November 2021, following the expiration of her previous contract, Lee signed an exclusive agreement with AM Entertainment.

In 2022, she acted as Deaconess Jung, Yo-hwan's church figure (portrayed by Hwang Jung-min) in the Netflix Original Series Narco-Saints. Also in 2022, Lee starred in her first film leading role opposite Lee Han-seo in director Jang Seon-hee's independent film Two Woman. The film depicted a chance encounter between a young girl delivering newspapers and a woman putting up flyers to find her lost child. It premiered at the 48th Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF).

In 2023, Lee reunited with director Yoo Je-won and Jeon Do-yeon in the romantic-comedy TV series Crash Course in Romance, portraying Kim Young-joo, the best friend of Nam Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon). Her performance was noted for complementing Jeon's acting. This was followed by a role in Destined With You.

In 2024, Lee made a special appearance in Yoo Je-won's drama Love Next Door and acted as an announcer in the film I, the Executioner. In 2025, she made a special appearance in Kim Won-seok's drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, written by Lim Sang-choon. Also in 2025, she starred in the tvN drama Resident Playbook, a spin-off of Hospital Playlist, where she was cast as Seo Jeong-min, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Jongno Yulje Hospital. Despite a one-year delay, the drama was successful, earning Lee a reward trip to Bali with the cast and crew.

Personal life Although Lee is Catholic, she selected her stage name, "Bong-ryeon," for its perceived Buddhist resonance. She was inspired by a segment on the television program VJ Special Forces regarding name changes, where she found the phonetics of the name familiar and humorous. For the Chinese character (Hanja) transcription, she chose 鳳輦 (Bong-ryeon), meaning "the king's palanquin," while noting the characters could be adapted to mean "peak" (峰) or "lotus" (蓮) in the future.

Filmography Film

Television series +Television series appearances Year Title Role Note English Korean2013 Reply 1994 응답하라 1994 Na-jung's classmate 2015 Songgot: The Piercer 송곳 Mi-ran 2017 Tomorrow, with You 내일 그대와 Oh So-ri My Father Is Strange 아버지가 이상해 Yoon-ryeon Drama Special:"Madame Jung's Last Week" KBS 드라마스페셜 - 정마담의 마지막 일주일 President Shin one act-drama While You Were Sleeping 당신이 잠든 사이에 Go Pil-sook 2018 Life on Mars 라이프 온 마스 Yoo Soon-hee 2019 When the Devil Calls Your Name 악마가 너의 이름을 부를 때 Nurse Melting Me Softly 날 녹여주오 Park Yoo-ja 2020 When the Weather Is Fine 날씨가 좋으면 찾아가겠어요 Jang Ha-nim 2020–2023 Sweet Home Im Myung-sook Season 1–2 2020–2021 Run On 런 온 Park Mae-yi 2021 Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha 갯마을 차차차 Yeo Hwa-jung 2021–2022 The One and Only 한 사람만 Hwang Ma-Jin 2022 Extraordinary Attorney Woo 이상한 변호사 우영우 Ryu Jae-sook Cameo (episode 12) Narco-Saints수리남Deaconess Jung Destined With You 연애는 불가항력 Ma Eun-yeong 2024 Love Next Door 엄마 친구 아들 Im Kyung-ran 2025 When Life Gives You Tangerines 폭싹 속았수다 Doctor Resident Playbook Seo Jeong-min Confidence Queen 컨피던스 맨 KR Ye-sol's mother Special appearance Heroes Next Door Na Eun-jae

Stage

Musical

Theater

Awards AwardYearCategoryWorkResultRef.Baeksang Arts Awards 2021 Best Actress – Theatre Hamlet