Korean Cultural Center New York screens Lee Jung-jae films free online

A promotional banner for “Korean Movie Night at Home: Master's Series, Lee Jung-jae” / Courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center New York

By Park Han-sol

A free online screening highlighting “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae's filmography is scheduled to run throughout next month on the Korean Cultural Center New York's website.

The event, presented as part of the center's “Korean Movie Nights at Home: Master's Series of 2022” to spotlight distinguished Korean actors' cinematic achievements, will feature six of Lee's movies ― from heartfelt romances to crime thrillers ― with English subtitles: “Deliver Us from Evil,” “New World,” “Assassination,” “The Thieves,” “Big Match” and “Il Mare.”

It was the Netflix original survival drama that launched Lee to global stardom. But in Korea, he had already established his name as one of the most sought-after actors, with his career spanning nearly three decades on both the big and small screen.

In addition to starring in “Sandglass,” an iconic 1995 drama that reached a domestic viewership rating of as high as 64.5 percent, the actor has played multiple memorable roles, including in the espionage action film, “Assassination,” set during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial occupation of Korea and the Joseon-era period drama, “The Face Reader.”

The cultural center added that the romance fantasy, “Il Mare,” is notable for being the first Korean film to be remade in Hollywood as “The Lake House.”

Lee's role as Sung Ki-hoon in “Squid Game,” acclaimed for its uniquely twisted transformation of Korean children's games into a life-or-death competition to win 45.6 billion won, has earned him a string of prizes this year: the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, the Critic's Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series.