In 2007, the year he turned 23, he debuted in KBS2’s one-act drama Drama City – The Way Love Moves Us. He had first stepped into show business in 2006, in a music video for the group Typhoon. In September that year he played Han Sun-soo in SBS’s First Wives’ Club.
In 2008, First Wives’ Club reached a peak rating of more than 30%, and he played Choi Ji-woo’s road manager Jang-soo in SBS’s Star’s Lover. In 2009, he appeared in SBS’s City Hall. In 2010, he made a guest appearance as an intelligence agent in the film I Saw the Devil, and in June KBS2’s Three Brothers ended with a rating of 39.8%.
In 2011, he appeared in SBS’s City Hunter and was nominated for an actor’s Excellence Award at that year’s SBS Drama Awards. In 2012, he was nominated at the KBS Drama Awards for KBS2’s Man from the Equator. In 2014, he appeared in MBC’s My Spring Days. In 2015, he was nominated at the KBS Drama Awards again, for KBS2’s House of Bluebird.
The breakthrough yearIn June 2017, the year he turned 33, he became known playing the prosecutor Seo Dong-jae in tvN’s Stranger. Its final episode, which ended in July, set a new series best with a peak rating of 7.3%. In December that year he appeared as First Lieutenant Park in the film Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, which in January became the first film of the new year to pass 10 million viewers.
In 2018, he played Ye Jae-wook in tvN’s A Poem a Day, and in August KBS2’s Are You Human? ended with him as Ji Young-hoon. In 2019, he played Oh Young-seok, an independent lawmaker and naval academy graduate, in tvN’s Designated Survivor: 60 Days.
In 2020, he won an Excellence Award at the MBC Drama Awards for MBC’s 365: Repeat the Year, and in August he returned as Seo Dong-jae in Stranger 2. In 2022, he made a guest appearance as Jang Do-yul in SBS’s Our Beloved Summer.
In 2023, he played Joo Seong-cheol in The Roundup: No Way Out, which drew 10 million viewers, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. In November he made a guest appearance in 12.12: The Day, which also passed 10 million. In 2024, he played Seo Dong-jae again in the Stranger spin-off Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard on TVING.
In 2025, he played Yoo Eun-ho in SBS’s Love Scout and, in May, was nominated for Best Actor in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards for Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard. In December he won the Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards for Love Scout. In February 2026, the year he turned 42, he made a guest appearance as Grand Prince Geumseong in the film The King’s Warden and played the detective Mu-gyeong in Netflix’s The Art of Sarah. In September he returned as the team leader Gong Eun-tae in tvN’s The Ordinary Jackpot.
Lee Joon-hyuk (born Mar 13, 1984) debuted in 2007, the year he turned 23, in KBS2’s one-act drama Drama City, and became known on Jun 10, 2017, the year he turned 33, when he played Seo Dong-jae in tvN’s Stranger. In 2023, the year he turned 39, he appeared as Joo Seong-cheol in The Roundup: No Way Out, which drew 10 million viewers.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.