In 1991, the year she turned 21, she debuted on stage in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in her third year of university. She first worked not as an actress but on the backstage production team. In 1994, she began working in earnest as an actress, playing a human trafficker in That Star Is Dangerous. Around 1995, she appeared in the plays Chunpoong’s Wife and Simbasame.
In 1997, she played Pockmarked Granny in Subway Line 1, on stage with Sol Kyung-gu. In 2000, she appeared on screen for the first time in the film A Masterpiece in My Life. After Wanee & Junah in 2001, she had no film work for a while.
In 2003, she staged the play Jindong Geoul with a troupe she set up herself, but few viewers came and she fell 50 million won into debt. She says repaying it took 13 years. In 2008, she joined the musical Laundry as the landlady. In 2009, she had a bit part in director Bong Joon-ho’s film Mother. She says she made a living with part-time jobs such as delivering green juice and working at a supermarket until she turned 40, in 2010.
In 2012, she took the stage in the musical Assassins. In 2013, she had bit parts in the films Born to Sing and The Attorney, and after that calls from TV began to come. In 2014, she moved between drama bit parts and the cashier role in the film Cart.
The breakthrough yearIn 2015, the year she turned 45, she played the shaman Seobinggo in tvN’s Oh My Ghost. It was a supporting role, not a bit part, and the role made the name Lee Jung-eun known to the public. It came 24 years after her debut.
In 2016, she kept up drama supporting roles, including Geumchon-daek in The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop. In 2017, she voiced the super pig in the film Okja. In 2018, she gained the nickname Hamblly as Hamandaek in tvN’s Mr. Sunshine.
In 2019, she won the Baeksang Arts Awards supporting actress prize for The Light in Your Eyes, and Parasite won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. That November she won the Blue Dragon Film Awards best supporting actress prize for Parasite. In 2020, she won the Screen Actors Guild ensemble award with the Parasite cast. In 2021, she played Gageodaek in the film The Book of Fish. In 2022, she played Jeong Eun-hui in Our Blues and took her first solo lead in Hommage.
In 2023, she appeared in Daily Dose of Sunshine and A Bloody Lucky Day. In 2024, she appeared in The Frog and Light Shop. In 2025, the film My Daughter Is a Zombie drew 5.63 million viewers. In 2026, the film The Journey to Gyeongju opened, and she appeared on You Quiz on the Block to look back on her years.
Lee Jung-eun (born Jan 23, 1970) debuted in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1991, the year she turned 21, and became known as the shaman Seobinggo in tvN’s Oh My Ghost on Jul 2015, the year she turned 45. In 2019, the year she turned 49, she won the Blue Dragon Film Awards best supporting actress prize for Parasite.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.