# Lee Chung-ah

Lee Chung-ah (Korean: 이청아; born October 29, 1984) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the films Temptation of Wolves (2004) and My Tutor Friend 2 (2007), as well as the cable dramas Cool Guys, Hot Ramen (2011), VIP (2019) and Celebrity (2023).

## Career

Lee Chung-ah began her acting career by playing supporting roles in the films Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002) and Happy Ero Christmas (2003). In 2004, she landed her first leading role in Temptation of Wolves (2004), a film adaptation of an internet novel by Guiyeoni. Lee played a country girl who moves to the city and attracts the attention of the two most popular boys in town, played by Jo Han-sun and Kang Dong-won. The film made the two actors into breakout stars, but not Lee.
She was cast as a lead actress in her first television drama Let's Go to the Beach (2005), where she and Lee Wan played bickering lifeguards who later fall in love. In 2006, Lee starred in the family drama Going Together and the omnibus film Ssunday Seoul.
Lee then starred in My Tutor Friend 2 (2007), the sequel to the 2003 hit film of the same title. She studied Japanese for her role as a Japanese exchange student who goes to Korea in search of her first love, then meets a happy-go-lucky university student (Park Ki-woong) who becomes her Korean language tutor. A year later, she was cast in Kim Jee-woon's kimchi western The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) in a small role as the foster sister of Jung Woo-sung's character. Lee said that she practiced horseback riding for this film but those scenes were deleted in post-production. She later showed her horseback riding skills in Chosun Police Season 2, a series set during the reign of Emperor Gojong in which she played a damo with a dark past.
On television, Lee continued to appear in supporting roles in 2009 with the romantic comedy The Accidental Couple and family drama Jolly Widows. This was followed by the 2010 daily drama Pure Pumpkin Flower, where she played a pure-hearted girl who never loses hope even in difficult circumstances.
In 2011, she starred in the leading role in cable romantic comedy series Cool Guys, Hot Ramen. Lee played a college girl preparing for teacher certification examination who unexpectedly inherits her father's ramen restaurant; she becomes involved in a love triangle with two of her employees, the arrogant heir to the biggest food conglomerate in Korea (Jung Il-woo) and a lazy but warm-heated genius chef (Lee Ki-woo). Cool Guys, Hot Ramen received solid ratings for a Korean cable drama, and became the first of tvN's "flower boy" programming, which included Dating Agency: Cyrano on which Lee made a guest appearance in 2013.
Lee was in two variety shows in 2012. She hosted Cats and Dogs, a talk show in which pet owners shared information to foster a more mature pet culture. Lee then appeared in the second season of Music and Lyrics, a reality show in which a celebrity pair write and compose a song together. She wrote the lyrics and actor Seo Ji-seok composed the music for the ballad "Looking Forward to It," which was sung by Heo Young-saeng and used as the theme song of Seo In-guk's character in the family drama The Sons.
Lee reunited with Happy Ero Christmas costar Kim Sun-a in the 2013 revenge thriller The Five. Adapted from the webtoon of the same title, she played a detective with a delinquent credit history who helps kill a serial killer in exchange for an organ transplant for her ill mother. Later in the year, she played a doormat wife in the weekend drama series Wonderful Mama.
In 2019, Lee returned to small screen with office mystery drama VIP.
In July 2021, Lee signed a contract with J-Wide Company.
In 2022, Lee appeared in the SBS drama One Dollar Lawyer.

## Personal life

Her father is musical theatre actor Lee Seung-chul (actor) [ko].
She began dating actor Lee Ki-woo in 2013; they were costars in the 2011 series Cool Guys, Hot Ramen and broke up in 2019.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Resurrection of the Little Match Girl | Girl in soju-bang | |
| 2002 | Tears | Girl | |
| 2003 | Happy Ero Christmas | Lee Hae-min | |
| 2004 | Twentidentity | Girl | Segment: "Convenience Store at 2:00 a.m." |
| 2004 | Temptation of Wolves | Jung Han-kyung | |
| 2005 | The Dark Plan of Green Tea Planet | S | Short film |
| 2006 | Ssunday Seoul | Young-ja | Segment: "The Young Adventurer" |
| 2007 | My Tutor Friend 2 | Kitano Junko | |
| 2008 | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | Song-yi | |
| 2010 | The First Love Series | Han Seo-yeon | Segment: "Paper Crane" |
| 2010 | Finding Mr. Destiny | Ji-hye | |
| 2010 | Oh! Happy Day | Girl next door | Short film |
| 2010 | Lee Chung-ah's Seoul Play | | Short film |
| 2013 | The Five | Park Jeong-ha | |
| 2014 | First Love Struck Me One Day | Yong-jae | |
| 2014 | Twinkle-Twinkle Pitter-Patter | | Short film |
| 2015 | Northern Limit Line | Lieutenant Choi Yoon-jung | Cameo |
| 2017 | Bluebeard | Mi-yeon | |
| 2019 | Spring, Again | | |

### Television series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Let's Go to the Beach | Yoon So-ra | |
| 2006 | Going Together | Da-seul | |
| 2008 | Chosun Police 2 | Han Da-kyung | |
| 2009 | The Accidental Couple | Goo Min-ji | |
| 2009 | Jolly Widows | Han Soo-hyun | |
| 2010 | Pure Pumpkin Flower | Park Soon-jung | |
| 2011 | Cool Guys, Hot Ramen | Yang Eun-bi | |
| 2013 | Wonderful Mama | Oh Da-jung | |
| 2013 | Dating Agency: Cyrano | Seol Yoo-jin | Cameo (Episode 1) |
| 2014 | High School King of Savvy | Attractive woman | Cameo (Episode 17) |
| 2014 | KBS Drama Special: "Bride in Sneakers" | Park Bo-kyung | |
| 2015–2016 | Riders: Catch Tomorrow | Yoon So-dam | |
| 2016 | The Vampire Detective | Yo-na | |
| 2016 | Lucky Romance | Seol-hee / Amy | |
| 2017 | Because This Is My First Life | Go Jung-min | |
| 2019 | Beautiful World | Kang Joon-Ha | |
| 2019 | VIP | Lee Hyeon-ah | |
| 2020 | JTBC Drama Festa: "Hello Dracula" | So-jung | |
| 2020–2021 | Awaken | Jamie Leighton | |
| 2022 | One Dollar Lawyer | Lee Joo-young | |
| 2023 | My Dearest | Gak-hwa | Part 2 |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2017–2018 | The Best Moment to Quit Your Job | Sun-hee |
| 2023 | Celebrity | Yoon Shi-hyeon |
| 2024 | Hide | Ha Yeon-ju |

### Television show

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | The Fox's Butler | Host | |
| 2012 | Cats and Dogs | Host | |
| 2012 | Music and Lyrics (Season 2) | | Paired with Seo Ji-seok |
| 2016 | Battle Trip | Contestant | With Seo Hyo-rim (Episodes 27–30) |
| 2018 | Rural Police | Cast member | Seasons 3–4 |
| 2018 | Everyone's Kitchen | Cast member | Pilot episode |
| 2019 | Everyone's Kitchen | Cast member | Episode 1–11 (except episode 6) |
| 2022 | The Power of the Art Market, Art Collection | Narrator | Special documentary |

### Music video

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2004 | "We Were in Love" | Lyn |
| 2005 | "Coward" | Buzz |
| 2008 | "웃어도 눈물이" | Ryu Joo-hwan |
| 2008 | "Because of You" | Shin Hye-sung |
| 2010 | "Telephone" | Electro Boyz (feat. Horan) |
| 2010 | "Full Story" | V.O.S |
| 2013 | "The Day to Love" | Lee Seung-chul |
| 2015 | "The Only Thing I Can't Do" | Gummy |

## Ambassadorship

* Ambassador for the 1st Ulsan International Film Festival (2021)

## Accolades
### Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination :
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee / Work | Result |
| The 11th Asian Model Awards | 2016 | Model Star Award | Lee Chung-ah | Won |
| Cable TV Broadcasting Awards | 2016 | Best Character | Riders: Get Tomorrow | Won |
| Golden Cinematography Awards | 2005 | Best New Actress | Temptation of Wolves | Won |
| Grand Bell Awards | 2005 | Best New Actress | Temptation of Wolves | Won |
| KBS Drama Awards | 2009 | Best New Actress | The Accidental Couple and Jolly Widows | Nominated |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2016 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Lucky Romance | Nominated |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2023 | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | My Dearest | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2019 | Best Supporting Actress | VIP | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2022 | Best Performance | One Dollar Lawyer | Won |

### Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement :
| Publisher | Year | Listicle | Placement | Ref. |
| Forbes | 2020 | Korea Power Celebrity | 35th | |