Lee Jung-eun (이정은), born on January 23, 1970, in Seoul, is a South Korean actress. A particularly prolific figure in Korean film and television, she spent many years making a name for herself in supporting roles before gaining national and then international recognition, notably thanks to Parasite.
She began appearing in films in 2000 in A Masterpiece in My Life. In the years that followed, she took on a number of supporting roles in productions such as Mother (2009), The Attorney (2013), A Girl at My Door (2014), Cart (2014), A Violent Prosecutor (2016) and The Strangers (2016). In 2017, she appeared in several major films, including Okja, in which she voices the character Okja, among others, Battleship Island and To a Taxi Driver.
The year 2019 marked a major milestone in her career with *Parasite*. In the film, she plays Gook Moon-gwang, the Park family’s former housekeeper, a pivotal character in the story’s turning point. The film’s global success played a major role in bringing her to the attention of international audiences. She then continued her film career with The Day I Died (2020), The Book of Fish (2021), Tribute (2021) and, in 2025, My Daughter Is a Zombie, in which she plays the lead role of Kim Bam-sun.
At the same time, Lee Jung-eun has built up an extensive television filmography. After several appearances in the early 2010s, she notably gained attention for her role as the shaman Seo Bing-go in Oh My Ghostess (2015). She then appears in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, Fight for My Way, While You Were Sleeping and Familiar Wife. In Mr. Sunshine (2018), she plays Haman Daek, Go Ae-shin's loyal servant.
In 2019, she played Eom Bok-soon, the unsettling owner of the Eden Residence in Strangers from Hell. Her character thus finds herself at the center of the oppressive world in which Yoon Jong-woo, played by Yim Si-wan, lives. That same year, she also starred in The Light in Your Eyes and When the Camellia Blooms.
Starting in the 2020s, she began regularly landing leading roles. She played a dual role in Once Again (2020), and then played Kim Eun-sook in Law School (2021). In 2022, she appeared in several notable productions: as Judge Na Geun-hee in Juvenile Justice, Jung Eun-hee in Our Blues, Seiren in Yonder and Kang Eun-sil in Missing: The Other Side 2.
In 2023, she plays Head Nurse Song Hyo-shin in Daily Dose of Sunshine and also plays one of the leading roles in A Bloody Lucky Day. 2024 is a particularly busy year for her: she plays police officer Yun Bo-min in The Frog, Jung Yu-hui in Light Shop and appears in The Trunk.
She is also enjoying renewed success with Miss Night and Day (2024). In the series, Lee Jung-eun plays Im Sun, the persona that the young Lee Mi-jin mysteriously assumes during the day. This role allows her to blend comedy, romance, and drama while taking center stage in the plot.
In 2025, she continues with More Beautiful than Heaven, in which she plays Lee Yeong-ae, as well as’A Hundred Memories. His career is set to continue, with several projects announced in the provided information, including Doctor X in 2026, and then Real Man and Hakgyo, thank you very much. in 2027, while Granny and Knock Off are listed without a specific date.
With a career spanning everything from very brief appearances to leading roles, Lee Jung-eun has established herself as one of the most prominent character actresses in contemporary South Korean film and television. Her career is particularly notable for her ability to shift seamlessly from warm or comedic characters to authoritative, eccentric, or deeply unsettling figures.
