Korean actress Lee Ha-nee bound for Hollywood

Actress Lee Ha-nee on film “The Bros” in 2017. Courtesy of MEGABOX

By Dong Sun-hwa

Korean actress Lee Ha-nee, also known as Lee Honey, will make Hollywood her next stage after recently inking a contract with a veteran agency and a management company in the U.S.

The actress, 35, clinched the deal with Philip Sun of agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) and David Unger of Artist International Group (AIG) for management, according to the Hollywood Reporter magazine Monday.

Korean actress Lee Ha-nee. Courtesy of Saram Entertainment

“We got many proposals from diverse Hollywood agencies,” Lee So-young, CEO of Lee's Korean agency Saram Entertainment, said. “Through several meetings, we decided to team up with partners that could assist us the most.”

WME, one of the largest agencies in the U.S., manages Korean talent including filmmaker Park Chan-wook and actress Bae Doo-na.

AIG is a talent management and content production firm. It is known for managing Chinese actress Gong Li.

Lee Ha-nee made her acting debut after being crowned the 2006 Miss Korea. She was third runner-up in the 2007 Miss Universe contest.

She has been forging an acting career since appearing in films and dramas including science-fiction movie “Deranged” (2012) and MBC drama “Rebel” in 2017.

Lee, who studied Korean classical music at Seoul National University, is also a professional player of the gayageum ― a Korean zither with 12 strings ― and has mastered a musical performance using the instrument that is Korea's intangible cultural property No. 23.