Lee Tae-sung

Lee Tae-sung (; born April 21, 1985), birth name Lee Sung-deok, is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in 26 Years Diary, Playful Kiss, Rooftop Prince, and My Golden Life and is currently a cast member of the reality show My Little Old Boy.

Early life The elder of two sons, Lee was born and raised in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. His younger brother is singer Sung Yu-bin (, born 1987), who is a member of the band BOB4. Lee was a baseball player in his youth and had aspired to play professionally before constant injuries forced him to give up the sport during his senior year. He graduated from Ansan Technical High School where he was schoolmates with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun.

Career Lee's first credited role was as baseball player Koo Chun-seo in the sports film Superstar Mr. Gam. He was cast in his first lead role in the 2005 film Blossom Again opposite veteran actress Kim Jung-eun and was nominated for Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards. His next film was the 2006 Japanese-South Korean co-production 26 Years Diary, in which he portrayed the Korean student who was killed trying to save a man who had fallen off the platform at the Shin-Ōkubo Station. It garnered him much attention in Japan due to the high profile nature of the actual incident, which had occurred in 2001. He was cast in the second male lead role in the romantic comedy Two Outs in the Ninth Inning, in which he played a college baseball player aspiring to go professional. After a stint of playing mostly protagonist roles, he portrayed the villainous nemesis of Park Yoo-chun in the sageuk fusion drama Rooftop Prince followed by the scheming son of a chaebol family in Pots of Gold.

Following his discharge from the military in July 2015, Lee's comeback project was the MBC weekend drama My Mom. He then starred in the KBS drama My Golden Life, which began airing in late 2017 and became a ratings hit domestically.

In April 2020, Lee and his mother joined the cast of the reality show My Little Old Boy.

In December 2021, Lee released his first solo exhibition 'Lee Motion' and made his debut as a painter.

In June 2022, Lee will hold a second art exhibition, starting from June 21, 2022, until July 20.

Personal life Baseball Lee played for the celebrity amateur baseball team Playboys, alongside the likes of fellow actors Kim Seung-woo and Yoon Hyun-min.

Relationship and family Lee secretly registered his marriage in April 2012 to his non-celebrity girlfriend. The couple have a son who was born in 2011, a day before the death of his paternal grandmother. They separated before he enlisted for his military service and eventually divorced after three years of marriage. He has primary custody of their son.

Military service Lee entered his mandatory military service on October 29, 2013 at 32nd Division training camp in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. As he was a single father, he was granted reservist status, which meant that he could commute to his duty station from home after the five weeks of basic military training. He was discharged in July 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2003 Go Mom Go!2007 Several Questions That Make Us Happy Jung-wook Two Outs in the Ninth Inning Kim Jung-joo Time Between Dog and Wolf Bae Sang-shik 2008 Terroir Park Dan-byul 2009 Romance Zero Kim Woo-jin Enjoy Life Jang Yoo-jin 2010 Drama Special: The Woman Next Door Byun Hoon one act-drama Playful Kiss Bong Joon-gu 2011 Pianissimo Ki Da-rim Bravo, My Love! Byun Dong-woo 2012 Rooftop Prince Yong Tae-mu 2013 Pots of Gold Park Hyun-joon 2015 My Mom Kim Kang-jae 2017–2018 My Golden Life Seo Ji-tae 2018 Ms. Hammurabi Min Yong-joon 2019 The Golden Garden Choi Joon-ki 2020When My Love BloomsJoo Young-woo 2021 The Penthouse: War in Life 3 Prosecutor Cameo (episode 11–12, 14) 2022 Ghost Doctor Jang Min-ho The Driver Cameo Why HerAhn Kang-hoon Cameo (episode 1) 2022–2023 Three Bold Siblings Cha Yun-ho

Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2011–2012 K-Pop CONMC Performer, episode 1 2016 King of Mask Singer Contestant as "Want To Fly Flying Boy", episode 47 Real MenCast member Navy NCO special2020–2022 My Little Old Boy 2021 Run Dang Dang

Music video appearances

Artist Song

"Thorn Fish" "So Sick" 2009 Park Sang-min "When I Miss You" 2010 Gavy NJ "Sunny Side" 2012 BOB4 "Mystery Girl"

Soundtrack appearances Lee Tae-sung: "Like the First Time" (Romance Zero OST, 2009) Lee Tae-sung: "Talking to Myself" (Playful Kiss OST, 2010) Hunter: "I Want to Be the Only Man For You" (City Hunter Special OST, 2011)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2005 26th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best New Actor Blossom Again 2006 42nd Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actor (Film) 2007 8th Busan Film Critics Awards Best New Actor Gangster High 2010 MBC Drama Awards Best New Actor Enjoy Life, Playful Kiss 2011 19th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards Best Actor Bravo, My Love! 2012 SBS Drama Awards Special Acting Award, Actor in a Drama Special Rooftop Prince 2019 MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend/Daily Drama The Golden Garden 2021 15th SBS Entertainment Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) My Little Old Boy