SINGAPORE – The death of South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun at the age of 48 came as a shock to the country’s entertainment industry.

He died on Dec 27 in an apparent suicide amid gruelling police investigations into accusations of his illegal drug use, leaving behind his actress-wife Jeon Hye-jin, 47, and their two sons.

His death triggered an outpouring of grief from the industry both within and beyond his country – South Korean stars showed up to pay their last respects to Lee at his funeral while critics and film lovers overseas mourned his death.

Lee received international attention as part of the cast of the Best Picture Oscar-winning movie Parasite (2019) as a wealthy patriarch, arguably his most renowned role.

A well-respected actor known for his ability to tackle a wide range of roles from romantic leads to cartoonish comedies, Lee leaves behind a body of work spanning over two decades.

The Straits Times runs down five of his most memorable performances.

Parasite (2019), available on Viu and also a limited screening at The Projector in January as part of the cinema’s ninth anniversary line-up

In the black comedy, Lee plays Mr Park, a wealthy man who owns the grand home in which the story mostly takes place.

The movie, directed by Bong Joon-ho, won four Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, becoming the first non-English-language film in history to do so. Much of its awards success came from the chemistry between the cast.

While the film did not garner any nominations for acting – a fact that would raise accusations of bias in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences against non-Western actors – it won a Screen Actors Guild Award in the Best Performance by a Cast category.

The Park home is meant to be a microcosm of South Korean society, with the Park family sitting at the top of the social hierarchy and the poorer Kims below them serving their needs.

As Mr Park, Lee brings the perfect blend of coolness and warmth, an elitist with expensive tastes, but who also loves his wife and indulges his two children.

He is an aristocrat who makes crass remarks – he tells his wife that the chauffeur (Song Kang-ho) has body odour typical of a lower-class person – but in Lee’s hands, he is difficult to dislike, and that makes the story all the richer for it. – John Lui

Sleep (2023), screened in Singapore in September

Lee had plenty of mainstream success in films and television, especially after Parasite. He could have chased bigger productions, but he enjoyed stretching himself and never stopped working in art-house cinema and theatre.

His last film was Sleep, a modestly budgeted horror mystery laced with drama and comedy where he plays Hyeon-soo, a struggling actor. Lee is paired with Jung Yu-mi, who plays his wife Soo-jin. It was selected to screen at Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.

The first half of the film relies on viewers falling in love with the couple, so that the tragedy that unfolds in the second half is all the more devastating.

Lee and Jung as husband and wife are a great match – like many actors, Hyeon-soo is insecure and in frequent need of ego-boosting, which Soo-jin the cheerleader happily provides. The two are not just in love, but are also best friends.

South Korean film-maker Jason Yu’s debut feature is a horror picture that examines the what-if anxieties that surround the lifelong commitment that is marriage. Lee’s transformation from doting hubby to dangerous stranger is scarily believable and his performance is one of Sleep’s linchpins. – John Lui

Coffee Prince (2007), available on Viu

Most local audiences’ first exposure to Lee would likely be from the romantic-comedy series Coffee Prince, about a girl, Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye), who pretends to be a boy to work at a cafe that hires only good-looking men.

One of the most popular idol dramas of the early Hallyu, or Korean wave, the show is best remembered for the star turn of leading man Gong Yoo as cafe owner Choi Han-gyeol.

But Lee puts in a convincing performance as the supporting romantic lead, music producer Choi Han-sung, who gets entangled in the budding romance between Han-gyeol and Eun-chan despite having a girlfriend. Where Han-gyeol can be brusque and demanding, Han-sung is sweet and gentlemanly, always ready to lend a listening ear.

It is little wonder that Eun-chan falls for him first, as fans have had their hearts captured by him as well.

Lee also sang Ocean Voyage, also known as Bada Yeohang, for the series’ soundtrack. – Jan Lee

My Mister (2018), available on Netflix and Disney+

The pairing of youthful K-pop singer-songwriter IU with the middle-aged prestige actor Lee may seem odd at first glance, yet it was one that not only worked, but also shone.

My Mister, which took home Best Drama at the Baeksang Arts Awards in 2019, is a quiet and cinematic 16-parter that does not follow any usual K-drama tropes.

Doing away with a conventional romantic plot, the series cultivates a love that transcends romance between the impoverished and debt-ridden Lee Ji-an (IU) and Park Dong-hoon (Lee), her miserable supervisor at work.

The subtle yet powerful performances of both IU and Lee bring to life a story of two wounded and lonely individuals who rescue each other. Through extending kindness to each other, they find hope and humanity even at the rock bottom of their lives.

My Mister is particularly poignant in the light of Lee’s death.

One scene features Dong-hoon saying: “When you just want to die, it’s great to have someone who tells you not to die, that you’re a good person, and that you should cheer up. That alone helps you breathe.” – Jan Lee

Dr. Brain (2021), available on Apple TV+

Apple TV+’s first Korean-language series may have flown under the radar compared with the streamer’s more talked-about shows such as Ted Lasso (2020 to 2023) and Severance (2022), but it was a solid drama with an intriguing premise and a grounding lead performance by Lee.

Dr. Brain follows brilliant neurologist Koh Se-won (Lee), who uses his research of brain-syncing – transferring the memories of the deceased to his own brain – to solve the mystery of his son’s supposed death in a gas explosion.

The premise is high concept and the drama occasionally resorts to using science-fiction gimmicks, but Lee anchors the show with heart and gravitas. His performance makes sure that at its core, Dr. Brain is about a grieving, desperate father coping with his loss by searching for answers.

For this, Lee was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Actor. – Jan Lee