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Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

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Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
Lee at the 2024 Phoenix Fan Fusion
Born (1972-08-16) August 16, 1972 (age 52)
Daejeon, Chungnam, South Korea
NationalityCanadian
Years active1995–present
Korean name
Hangul
이선형
Revised RomanizationYi Seon-hyeong
McCune–ReischauerYi Sŏnhyŏng

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Korean: 이선형; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian actor and television host. He is best known for his roles as Randy Ko in the soap opera Train 48 (2003–2005) and as family patriarch Appa in the play Kim's Convenience (2011) and its television adaptation (2016–2021).

Lee has won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series four times for his role as Mr. Kim in Kim's Convenience, and has been nominated twice for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for The Monster Under the Bed in 2010 and the stage version of Kim's Convenience in 2012.

Early life

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When Lee was three months old, his parents emigrated from Daejeon, Chungnam to Canada, living in London, Toronto and Calgary.[1] In 1990, he moved back to Toronto to attend the University of Toronto, where he attended the drama program at University College.[2]

Career

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He had a supporting role in the film Ice Princess (2005) playing Tiffany's father. Lee appeared in the horror film P2 and the thriller The Echo. In 2006, he took the role of Jung Park in the video game Rainbow Six: Vegas and its 2008 sequel Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.[3]

Lee was part of the main cast of the Global nightly improvised soap opera Train 48 in the role of Randy Ko for the entire run of the series from 2003 to 2005.[4]

In 2017, Lee won the Best Actor citation from the Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards for his portrayal of Kim Sang-il in Kim's Convenience.[5] He played the role of Appa on stage in several Toronto productions of Kim's Convenience and on a national tour with the Soulpepper theatre company, as well as at an Off Broadway staging of the play.[4] He brought the role of Appa to television in 2016 when the show was adapted as a television series.[4] In 2016, Lee played Zhang Lin in the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Canadian Stage production of Chimerica.[6] On January 11, 2017, he guest starred on an episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Lee has been nominated twice for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for The Monster Under the Bed in 2010 and Kim's Convenience in 2012.[7] In the 5th, 6th, and 9th Canadian Screen Awards, he won the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Appa in the Kim's Convenience television series.[8] Lee was selected to host the fourth season of the reality competition show Canada's Smartest Person, entitled Canada's Smartest Person Junior and featuring children as contestants.[9]

Lee is also a playwright, with his own play Dangling premiering at Toronto's fu-GEN theatre festival in 2010.[10]

In 2020, he appeared as New Republic X-wing pilot Captain Carson Teva in The Mandalorian.[11][12][13] He reprised the role in The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian.

In 2021, he appeared as a panelist on Canada Reads, championing Natalie Zina Walschots's novel Hench.[14] In the same year, Lee's five seasons on Kim's Convenience came to an abrupt end when the two show runners left the project.[15] He was cast Uncle Iroh in the Netflix live action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender.[16]

In 2022, he was announced as the host of Fandemonium, a factual series which will profile the internal cultures of various pop culture fandoms.[17] He also appeared on the 2022 revival of The Kids in the Hall.[18][19]

In 2023, he returned as Carson Teva in The Mandalorian Season 3 episodes The Pirate and The Return.[20][21] He also appears in Ahsoka as Captain Carson Teva.

In 2024, he played Uncle Iroh in the Netflix live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.[22] [23] On March 6, 2024, Netflix announced that the series was renewed for 2 additional seasons following the series debuting to 21.2 million views in its first four days.[24][25]

Honours

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In 2023, Lee received the National Arts Centre Award at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.[26][27]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Harriet the Spy Bruno Hung Fat
2001 Khaled Grocer
2005 Ice Princess Tiffany Lai's Dad
2003 One Way Hotel Receptionist
2004 P2 Man in Elevator
2014 RoboCop Omnicorp Technician
2015 End of Days, Inc. Mort [28]
2020 Kitty Mammas Dr. Han
2024 The Second Philip Short film
Night of the Zoopocalypse Felix Voice

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 Where's the Money Noreen? Gene Kajikawa Television film
1999 Total Recall 2070 Waiter Episode: "Rough Whimper of Insanity"
2002 Soul Food: The Series Dan Lee Episode: "A Taste of Justice"
2002 Doc Orderly Episode: "Complicated"
2002 Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story Doctor Television film
2003 Profoundly Normal Delivery Doctor Television film
2003–2005 Train 48 Randy Ko Main role
2004 Kevin Hill Phil Steckler Episode: "The Good Life"
2005 This Is Wonderland Mr. Phan Episode #2.9
2005 1-800-Missing Dr. Winston Nakano Episode: "Fugitive"
2006 Billable Hours Paul Episode: "The Handicapped Bathroom"
2006 Between Truth and Lies D.A. Lee Television film
2007 The Jane Show E.R. Doctor Episode: "Plastic Ono Jane"
2007 Mayday Captain Park Yong-chul Episode: "Missed Approach" (Season 4, Episode 4)
2008 Little Mosque on the Prairie Airport Security Guard Clask Episode: "Islam on Tap"
2010 Covert Affairs Theo Will 2 episodes
2010–2011 Degrassi: The Next Generation Juan Tong Recurring role, 6 episodes
2016–2021 Kim's Convenience Sang-Il Kim (Appa) Main role; 65 episodes
Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, 5th (2017) and 6th (2018); nominated 8th (2020)
2017 Dark Matter Dr. Borsin Episode: "It Doesn't Have to Be Like This"
2018 Canada's Smartest Person Junior Himself Host (season 4 of Smartest Person)
2019–2022 Abby Hatcher Chef Jeff Recurring voice role
2019 The Bravest Knight The Potion Maker Recurring voice role [29]
2020–present The Mandalorian Captain Carson Teva 4 episodes
2021 Private Eyes Chef Andre Episode: "The Perfect Storm"
2021 Bakugan: Geogan Rising Spartillion Recurring voice role
2021 Boyfriends of Christmas Past Leo Kim Television film
2022 The Book of Boba Fett Captain Carson Teva Episode: "Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian"
2022 The Kids in the Hall Mr. Lewis 1 episode
2023 Ahsoka Captain Carson Teva 3 episodes
2024 Avatar: The Last Airbender Uncle Iroh Main role [30]

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Rainbow Six: Vegas Jung Park
2008 Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

References

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  1. ^ "Calgarian is ready to commute". Calgary Herald, June 2, 2003.
  2. ^ "Hit play a homecoming for actor Sun-Hyung Lee". Calgary Herald, September 19, 2013.
  3. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (December 21, 2020). "The Mandalorian: Every Character and Celebrity Cameo So Far". IGN. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, a former U of T drama student, stars in the CBC comedy 'Kim's Convenience'". U of T News, October 24, 2016.
  5. ^ Phan, Rachel (May 31, 2012). "Kim's Convenience gets five thumbs up at Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". National Post. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Maga, Carly (April 1, 2016). "Chimerica has stimulating ideas but underwhelming dialogue: review". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "Women on top; Crash, Penelopiad top Dora nominations". National Post, June 6, 2012.
  8. ^ Vlessing, Etan (March 12, 2017). "'Orphan Black' Star Tatiana Maslany Dominates Canadian Screen Awards With Two Best Actress Wins". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  9. ^ Liwanag, Robert (November 12, 2018). "15 Minutes with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee". Reader's Digest. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  10. ^ "Hey, it's that guy from the IKEA ad and a TV show I never watched!". National Post. April 28, 2010.
  11. ^ "'Kim's Convenience' star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee lands 'dream' role in 'The Mandalorian'". CTV News. The Canadian Press. November 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Glasner, Eli; Weaver, Jackson (November 8, 2020). "How Kim's Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee arrived in The Mandalorian". CBC News.
  13. ^ Dumaraog, Ana (November 20, 2020). "The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 4 Cast & Cameos Guide". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. ^ "Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is looking forward to 'making reading cool' on Canada Reads". CBC Books. January 21, 2021.
  15. ^ Volmers, Eric (March 19, 2021). "'It died from within': Two actors lament the untimely demise of Kim's Convenience". Calgary Herald.
  16. ^ Otterson, Joe (November 16, 2021). "'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Netflix Live-Action Series Casts Its Uncle Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao". Variety.
  17. ^ Ravindran, Manori (February 8, 2022). "'Kim's Convenience' Star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee to Host Fandom Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  18. ^ White, James (April 13, 2022). "The Kids In The Hall Return For New Series – See The Trailer". Empire Online.
  19. ^ Khanna, Vish (May 16, 2022). "'The Kids in the Hall' Continues to Push Boundaries with Uncompromising New Season". Exclaim!.
  20. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (March 29, 2023). "'The Mandalorian' Gets a Special 'SNL' Guest Star and Veers Off-Course". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  21. ^ Chong, Joshua (April 20, 2023). "Paul Sun-Hyung Lee could have larger role on 'The Mandalorian,' Star Wars spinoff series suggests in season finale". Toronto Star.
  22. ^ Yeo, Debra (February 21, 2024). "'I've got to pinch myself': Paul Sun-Hyung Lee on playing Iroh in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'". Toronto Star.
  23. ^ Gomez, Dessi (February 24, 2024). "'How 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Brought Uncle Iroh to Life: 'I Did Not Take That Task Lightly'". The Wrap.
  24. ^ The Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast React to Season 2 & 3 Renewal (Video). Netflix. March 4, 2024.
  25. ^ Lund, Anthony (February 27, 2024). "Avatar: The Last Airbender Smashes One Piece Viewership with Netflix Debut". MovieWeb.
  26. ^ Thompson, Oliver (May 4, 2023). "Paul Sun-Hyung Lee started acting because of Star Wars. Now, he's in Star Wars". CBC News. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  27. ^ Volmers, Eric (February 23, 2023). "k.d. lang, Kim's Convenience actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee to become Governor General laureates". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  28. ^ "End of Days, Inc". Hollywood Suite.
  29. ^ Lee, Paul Sun-Hyung [@bitterasiandude] (April 10, 2018). "Thank you for letting me play today!!! So. Much. Fun. #okseeyou #bravestknight #animation" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ Otterson, Joe (November 16, 2021). "'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Netflix Live-Action Series Casts Its Uncle Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
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