Lee Da-hae is a well-known South Korean actress who has been in dramas such as “My Girl,” “The Slave Hunters,” and “Hotel King.” She is fluent in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese, and has a large fan base in China and Japan. She’s also one of the few performers in China who has done a lot of crossover work. Lee began her career in show business after winning a pageant in 2001. She is well-versed in traditional Korean dances (Miss Chunhyang). She began her acting career in South Korean television dramas in modest and supporting roles before landing her first major role in 2004 with ‘Lotus Flower Fairy.’ She was well-received by the public, and she went on to win the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actress for her performance. She appeared in the Chinese dramas ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Best Couple’ after earning recognition in China. She has worked as a part-time host and musician in addition to being an actress.
Childhood and Adolescence
Lee Da-Hae was born on April 19, 1984, into an affluent business family in Seoul, South Korea, and spent the majority of her childhood in Sydney, Australia, where her father ran a successful business. Her zeal to discover new things and cultures as she grew up in a strange new nation immediately acclimatized her to the Australian way of life, and she quickly mastered English.
She had always been different from other kids since she was a child. She was interested in things that other girls her age were not. She was a voracious reader with a desire to learn new things, including languages. Her mother encouraged her in all of her endeavors, including encouraging her to study traditional Korean dancing, which she later performed in front of Australian audiences.
She completed her high school education in Sydney and then went to Seoul with her mother after graduation, while her father and brother remained in Australia.
Lee began by competing in beauty pageants at her mother’s request, and after winning the Miss Chunhyang beauty pageant in 2001, her confidence soared, and she began modeling immediately. This gave her the opportunity to audition for a variety of TV and film roles, and as fate would have it, she had no trouble finding supporting roles on television, and her quick learning talents impressed the producers as well.
The Career of Lee
Lee made his acting debut in 2002, with modest roles in shows including ‘Park Jong-Cheol, a Fine Young Man’ and ‘Ling Ling.’ After a few more similar stints, her skill was recognized, and she was cast as the protagonist in the 2004 fantasy drama ‘Lotus Hearted Fairy,’ in which she portrayed the character of a good-hearted Shaman’s daughter who is treated horribly after her true identity is exposed. Her first leading part garnered her praise, and she was awarded the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actor.
For a young actress, this was a great start, but it was difficult to maintain the same level of popularity with her subsequent ventures. She starred in two highly successful television programs in 2005, ‘Green Rose’ and ‘My Girl.’
Lee became a national sensation in South Korea as a result of the popularity of these two dramas. She became well-known not only in South Korea but also in other nations. She earned the excellence prize at the SBS Awards that year for ‘My Girl.’
In 2007, she won another excellence award for her romantic comedy ‘Hello Miss,’ in which she demonstrated again that she could play any type of character with equal panache. Her next job, in the 2008 drama ‘Robber,’ was another testament to this truth, as she played a widowed woman.
Later the same year, she caused a minor stir when she abruptly departed the series ‘East of Eden’ in the middle of its run, claiming that her part in the multi-story series was being cut without her consent. Regardless, the series was a hit, and Lee’s career benefited greatly as a result.
She made a comeback in 2010 with back-to-back four successful shows after taking a sabbatical from anything fresh on television in 2009. She starred in the film ‘The Slave Hunters,’ where she was chastised for exposing her cleavage and overdoing her make-up.
Then she went on to play the lead in the 3D epic ‘Songs of Spring,’ but the picture required a lot of finance, which never came through, and the very ambitious project was abandoned.
Following a guest appearance in the successful series ‘The Fugitive: Plan B,’ she went on to play a scriptwriter in the hit series ‘Haru, an Unforgettable Day in Korea,’ and the success of these two was followed by another award-winning tenure in the form of ‘Miss Ripley,’ in 2011. At the Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards, she earned the Grand Prize for Acting in a Drama.
Lee, who was bilingual in Chinese and Mandarin at the time, had a developing fan base in China, with over 6 million followers on various social media platforms. With the sitcom ‘Love Actually,’ she made her Chinese television debut in 2012. She honed her Chinese language skills for the role, becoming the first South Korean actress to deliver her lines in Mandarin without the use of dubbing.
Following the popularity of the series, she returned to South Korea in 2013 to star in ‘Iris II,’ a sequel to the critically acclaimed 2009 series.
Lee starred in the 2014 television series ‘Hotel King,’ in which she played an heiress fighting to save her family’s seven-star hotel. She was nominated for an excellence award at the MBC Drama Awards that year for the series.
In 2016, she starred in her second Chinese series, ‘Best Couple,’ which was a mediocre hit in South Korea but received high ratings in China.
Lee Da”s Personal Experiences
Lee Da-Hae has been involved in numerous controversies. In ‘The Slave Hunters,’ she was chastised for exposing her cleavage needlessly. Later in 2013, she was suspected of being involved in a high-profile celebrity prostitution ring by some internet users. Her name was eventually cleared by the police, who stated that she was not one of the celebrities under investigation.
Lee announced her romance with rapper Se7en in February 2017. She stated they had known each other for a long time and were head over heels in love.
Estimated Net worth
Lee Da-Hae is one of the wealthiest TV actresses and one of the most popular. Lee Da-net hae’s worth is estimated to be at $3 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.