Cover Lee Jung-jae as Master Soi in ‘The Acolyte’ (Photo: courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)
Lee Jung-jae as Master Soi in ‘The Acolyte’ (Photo: courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)
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After Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, ‘Squid Game’ star Lee Jung-jae joins the ‘Star Wars’ universe in the franchise’s latest spin-off production on Disney +, ‘The Acolyte’
South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae is going strong after his Emmy-winning performance in Netflix’s Squid Game. This household name in Korean cinema will play the role of Jedi Master Soi in The Acolyte, a Star Wars spin-off series. The series premiered on Disney+ on June 4 and reached 4.8 million viewers, marking the most number of views any series has on its opening day on this streaming platform.
New to the franchise, Lee plays the part of a compassionate fighter who lives during the High Republic era—which is set at least a hundred years before the time of all the existing Star Wars stories in a galaxy far, far away.
Tatler sums up five things not to be missed about this new Star Wars hero.
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1. Lee Jung-jae started at a café
Above Lee attends the UK premiere of “The Acolyte” in London in May 2024 (Photo: courtesy of stillmoving.net and Disney)
Lee attends the UK premiere of “The Acolyte” in London in May 2024 (Photo: courtesy of stillmoving.net and Disney)
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Before he started his film and TV career, Lee worked as a cashier at a café in the Gangnam district of Seoul, where he was scouted by actor and fashion designer Ha Yong-Soo. Lee then started modelling and appearing in TV ads. He made his debut as an actor in the Korean TV series Dinosaur Teacher (1993) and rose to fame with Sandglass (1995). In the latter, he played a charming bodyguard, which earned him best debut awards at the Daejong Film Festival, Korean Critics Choice Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards.
2. Lee Jung-jae’s finest roles before ‘Squid Game’
Above Lee attended the UK premiere of ‘The Acolyte’ in London on May 28, 2024 (Photo: courtesy of Kate Green)
Lee attended the UK premiere of ‘The Acolyte’ in London on May 28, 2024 (Photo: courtesy of Kate Green)
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To refine his acting skills, Lee studied theatre and film at Dongguk University’s graduate programme from 2007 to 2008 while appearing in the series Air City. But even before he took up this course, he had acted in a wide variety of genres, including romances and comedies.
Long before his Squid Game fame, Korean star Lee Jung-jae was already a household name in South Korea. Some of his best roles include City of the Rising Sun (1999) which won Lee a Best Actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Award. It’s also referenced by many as his acting breakthrough. He also delivered a stellar performance in Asako in Ruby Shoes (2000), which is relatively less well-known than Lee’s other projects but an underrated gem worth seeing.
3. Lee Jung-jae won an Emmy for ‘Squid Game’
Above Lee Jung-jae posing in the press room at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2022 (Photo: Getty Images)
Lee Jung-jae posing in the press room at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2022 (Photo: Getty Images)
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His international recognition came when he was cast in the 2021 Netflix series Squid Game, in which he plays the lead role of Seong Gi-Hun, a gambler who tries to clear his debt by signing up for a nationwide game comprising deadly challenges based on children’s games. For his performance, he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, making him the first Asian person to earn the recognition.
4. Lee Jung-jae’s foray into the ‘Star Wars’ universe
Above A still from “The Acolyte” (Photo: courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)
A still from “The Acolyte” (Photo: courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)
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Master Soi is Lee’s first English-speaking role. The actor, whose first language is Korean, took a crash course in English and worked with two dialogue coaches. He also consulted an expert in Star Wars lore at Lucasfilm—a US film and TV production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas—to bring hidden nuances to his character.
5. Lee Jung-jae is style icon and business owner
Outside of film and TV, Lee is involved in a wide range of businesses: a restaurant owner, a talent agency co-founder and a real-estate agency founder. He is also known as a style icon who is not afraid to experiment—Gucci enlisted him as a brand ambassador for this very quality.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
