Lee Bong-ryun (; born Lee Jeong-eun, February 7, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She has appeared in supporting roles in various films and television dramas, and worked as a stage and musical actress.

Early life
Lee Bong-ryun was born as Lee Jeong-eun on February 7, 1981, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, where her father's workplace Pohang Steelworks is located, and lived there until age sixteen. Lee dropped out of high school in Pohang after only a month due to feeling bored. She then moved to Daegu and attended an academy for eight months before deciding to take the GED. At the age of 17, she enrolled in Daegu Arts University, where she studied photography. Later, she pursued a Master's Degree in Photography at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, which she completed at the age of 24. Her stage name was originally Zhuge Bong-ryeon, which she used for her photography exhibitions.

Career 
Around 2003, Lee watched a musical called 'Sing in the Rain' and was impressed by Park Dong-ha's performance. As a result, she applied to the musical department in a social education center at a university near her home and attended night classes for about two years. During this time, her stage director and instructor, Kim Dong-yeon, asked her to assist him as a director for his play Fantasy Fairy Tale.

In 2005, Lee made her acting debut in the musical Five Drawings of Love. Initially, she was an understudy, but when an actor was absent for a month, she took the stage. Since then, she has performed in a variety of plays and musicals. Since then, she has appeared in various plays and musicals.

In 2008, Lee saw Lee Jung-eun's portrayal of a grandmother in the musical Laundry and was inspired to audition for the same role in the following season. She successfully won the role and went on to perform in the musical for three years.

In 2012, Lee starred in a youth drama called "Red Bus," which was written and directed by Park Geun-hyung. Following this, she joined the Alleyway theater company led by director Park and appeared in several productions, including "Ode to Youth," "Manchurian Front," and "Press Guide." In the play "Ode to Youth," Lee played the role of a waitress at a coffee shop who suffered from epilepsy.

In 2017, Lee joined musical "Heavy Metal Girls". Followed by appearance as Katya in Korean premiere of play "Valentine's Day", a representative work released in 2009 by the Golden Mask Award-winning artist Ivan Vymilfayev, at Jayu Small Theater until January 14, 2018.

In 2017 Lee signed exclusive contract with C-JeS Entertainment.

In December 2018, Creative Table Quartz confirmed the appearance of actors Kim Jin-soo and Lee Bong-ryun in the Korean premiere of one-man play Everything Shines on Me. The play is Duncan McMillan's original work, that was participating in various overseas festivals, including Edinburgh and Perth in Australia, starting with the 2013 Lurdle Fringe Festival. It has been evaluated by The Guardian as “no more praise to say.”

Film career 
Her cinematic debut was a minor role in film Late Blossom by Choo Chang-min in 2011. It was followed with another minor roles in Masquerade (2012), Confession of Murder (2012), A Matter of Interpretation (2015), Girl On the Edge (2015), Life is but an Empty (2015), Run Off (2016), and How to Break up with My Cat (2016).

In 2017, Lee played the role of a receptionist in the action-adventure film Okja, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Director Bong was a fan of the theater troupe 'Alleyway' and had seen Lee perform in the play Manchurian Front. The assistant director on Okja stated that Bong remembered Lee from the play and after multiple meetings and conversations, she was cast in the film.

In the movie A Taxi Driver (2017) directed by Jang Hoon, Lee played the role of a full-term pregnant woman who received a free ride from Kim Man-seop (played by Song Kang-ho), a grumpy taxi driver. She also appeared in "Burning" (2018) directed by Lee Chang-dong, where she played the older sister who informed Jong-su (played by Yoo Ah-in) that Haemi (played by Jeon Jong-seo) was a liar when he was searching for her.

In 2022, Lee starred opposite Lee Han-seo in director Jang Seon-hee’s independent film Two Woman. The film depicted a chance encounter between little girl who delivers newspapers and a woman who puts up flyers to find her lost child. It was premiered at  the 48th Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF).

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

Television 
In 2013, Lee began her acting career in television with minor roles. Her first role was Na-jung's (acted by Go Ara) college friend in tvN drama Reply 1994. Despite having a brief appearance, she made a lasting impression as a college student from Yeosu who participated in a dispute over which hometown was better against Hae-tae (played by Son Ho-jun) from Suncheon.

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 on the webtoon Awl by Choi Kyu-seok, which in turn was inspired by a true story that occurred in 2007.

In 2017, Lee costarred in Yoo Je-won's Tomorrow, with You. She acted as Oh So-ri, Ma-rin's (played by Shin Min-a) best friend who runs piano academy. Then she costarred in drama While You Were Sleeping. On October 12, 2017, Lee signed an exclusive contract with C-JeS Entertainment.

In 2018, Lee played in drama Life on Mars. In 2019, Lee did two drama When the Devil Calls Your Name and Melting Me Softly. In 2020 Lee starred in When the Weather Is Fine. In the end of 2020 Lee acted as Park May in JTBC drama Run On.

In 2021, Lee collaborated once again with director Yoo Je-won and Shin Min-a in the romantic-comedy TV series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. She portrayed the character of Yeo Hwa-jung, a native of Gongjin who owned a seafood restaurant and also served as Tong-jang (village chief). She co-parented her son Yi-jun with her ex-husband Jang Young-guk (played by In Gyo-jin) and was also the owner of the building that housed Hye-jin's dental clinic and home.

Followed by role Hwang Ma-jin in JTBC drama Only One Person. In November 2021, after the expiration of her contract with her former agency, Lee joined Shin Min-a's agency AM Entertainment.

In 2022, She acted as Deaconess Jung, Yo-hwan's church figure (acted by Hwang Jung-min) in Netflix Original Series Narco-Saints.

In 2023 Lee joined cast of Crash Course in Romance as Kim Young-joo, best friend of Nam Haeng-seon (acted by Jeon Do-yeon). She was praised for her acting that match Jeon.

Personal life 
Lee Bong-ryun married actor Lee Gyu-hee on March 11, 2019. They met as junior and senior in Alleyway Theater Company.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Web series

Stage

Musical

Theater

Awards

References

External links
 
 
  

1981 births
Living people
Chung-Ang University alumni
South Korean film actresses
South Korean musical theatre actresses
South Korean stage actresses
South Korean television actresses
21st-century South Korean actresses
People from Pohang
이봉련(李鳳輦, 1981년 2월 7일 ~ )은 대한민국의 배우이다.

출연작

영화 
 《두 여인》 (2022년)
 《세자매》 (2021년) - 슈퍼아줌마 역 (우정출연)
 《삼진그룹 영어토익반》 (2020년) - 총무부 미스김 역
 《국제수사》 (2020년) - 은행원 역
 《82년생 김지영》 (2019년) - 혜수 역
 《엑시트》 (2019년) - 이정윤 셋째누나 역
 《생일》 (2019년) - 정숙 역
 《히치하이크》 (2019년) - 양로원 간호사 역
 《마약왕》 (2018년) - 이두숙 역
 《늦여름》 (2018년) - 식당주인 역
 《암수살인》 (2018년) - 강숙자 역
 《버닝》 (2018년) - 해미 언니 역
 《부라더》 (2017년) - 8촌종수 역
 《택시운전사》 (2017년) - 서울 임산부 역
 《옥자》 (2017년) - 미란도 코리아 안내원 역
 《여고생》 (2016년) - 간호사 역
 《어떻게 헤어질까》 (2016년) - 스시장인 딸 역
 《국가대표 2》 (2016년) - 대웅동생 역
 《어떤이의 꿈》 (2015년) - 은실 역
 《꿈보다 해몽》 (2015년) - 집주인 역
 《내가 살인범이다》 (2012년) - 팬클럽 여고생 역
 《광해, 왕이 된 남자》 (2012년) - 수랏간 궁녀 1 역
 《그대를 사랑합니다》 (2011년) - 동사무소 여직원 역

드라마 
 《이 연애는 불가항력》 (JTBC, 2023년) - 마은영 역
 《일타 스캔들》 (tvN, 2023년) - 김영주 역
 《수리남》 (Netflix, 2022년) - 정 권사 역
 《이상한 변호사 우영우》 (ENA, 2022년) - 류재숙 역
 《불행을 사는 여자》 (JTBC, 2022년) - 경화 역
 《한 사람만》 (JTBC, 2021년) - 황마진 역
 《갯마을 차차차》 (tvN, 2021년) - 여화정 역
 《스위트홈》 (Netflix, 2020년) - 명숙 역
 《런 온》 (JTBC, 2020년) - 박매이 역 
 《날씨가 좋으면 찾아가겠어요》 (JTBC, 2020년) - 장하님 역
 《날 녹여주오》 (tvN, 2019년) - 박유자 역
 《악마가 너의 이름을 부를 때》 (tvN, 2019년) - 간호사 역
 《라이프 온 마스》 (OCN, 2018년) - 유순희 역
 《KBS 드라마 스페셜 - 정마담의 마지막 일주일》 (KBS2, 2017년) - 신 사장 역
 《당신이 잠든 사이에》 (SBS, 2017년) - 고필숙 역
 《내일 그대와》 (tvN, 2017년) - 오소리 역
 《아버지가 이상해》 (KBS2, 2017년)
 《송곳》 (JTBC, 2015년) - 미란 역
 《응답하라1994》 (tvN, 2013년) - 성나정과 해태의 연세대학교 컴퓨터공학과 동기생 역

연극 
 《코스모스》 마유미 역
 《국립극단 햄릿》 햄릿 역
 《궁극의맛》 다 역
 《메리제인》 - 메리제인 역
 《여름은 덥고 겨울은 길다》 경애 역
 《내게 빛나는 모든 것》 나레이터 역
 《발렌타인 데이》 - 까쨔 역
 《나는 살인자입니다》 다 역
 《1945》 송끝순 역
 《피카소 훔치기》 - 캐시 스미스 역
 《보도지침》 - 여자 역
 《베르나르다 알바의 집》 - 앙구스티아스 역
 《헤비메탈 걸스》 부진 역
 《그 집 빌라에서 우리는》 - 미쓰오 역
 《공장》 정미 역
 《만주전선》 - 게이코 역
 《날 보러와요》 - 남씨부인 역
 《다정도 병인 양하여》 현피디 역
 《피리부는 사나이》
 《아시아 온천》 종달 역
 《청춘예찬》 - 간질 역
 《빨간버스》
 《꿈》
 《전명출 평전》 - 종란 역
 《벌》 송신가람 역 
 《백년 바람의 동료들》 - 경희 역
 《올모스트 메인》
 《락시터》
 《빨래》 - 주인할매 역
 《로미오 & 베르나뎃》 - 바이올라 / 로즈 역
 《술집》 - 엘리자벳 외 1인 다역 역

뮤지컬 
 《포미니츠》 - 크뤼거 역(22년 6월 21일 ~ 22년 8월 14일)
 《그날들》 - 사서 역
 《은밀하게 위대하게》 - 란 / 정순 역
 《식구를 찾아서》 - 박복녀 역
 《사랑에 관한 다섯개의 소묘》

음악극 
 《백인당 태영》 - 이태영 역

수상 목록 
 2021년 제57회 백상예술대상 연극부문 여자 최우수연기상 (햄릿)

각주

외부 링크 
 playDB 인물정보

대한민국의 여자 배우
대한민국의 여자 텔레비전 배우
대한민국의 여자 영화 배우
대한민국의 여자 연극 배우
대한민국의 여자 뮤지컬 배우
20세기 대한민국 사람
21세기 대한민국 사람
1981년 출생
살아있는 사람