Career
As a child actor, Lee built his filmography in television series such as The Return of Iljimae and Queen Seondeok. Upon reaching his teenage years, he became better known for his roles in Master of Study, Manitoba from the Equator and To the Beautiful You. Since then, he proved himself to be an extremely capable and talented adult actor with his touching performance of a North Korean spy in the critically acclaimed, 2013 film Secretly, Greatly, as well as his role of a genius hacker in the surprise hit film of 2014, The Con Artists.
Following these successes, he landed his first leading role in a major network drama in 2016"s Moorim School.
Lee Hyun-woo began his career as a child actor, building up his resume by playing roles in a number of large-scale productions, such as The Legend, King Sejong the Great, The Return of Iljimae, and Queen Seondeok. After his fame rose as Chan-doo in Master of Study, Lee took to the stage for the 2010 musical production of Footloose, where he played the leading role of Ren, played by Kevin Bacon in the original movie.
In 2011 he and K-popular singer Yoon Doo-joon (from B2ST) began hosting music program Music on Top on cable channel jTBC. He was then featured in Indiana University"s music video for the song "You and I." Lee further expanded his acting scope in historical drama Gyebaek, revenge thriller Manitoba from the Equator, and made a guest appearance in medical drama Brain. In 2012, Lee was cast as the second male lead in To the Beautiful You, the Korean television adaptation of Japanese manga Hana-Kimi, with his role based on the character Shuichi Nakatsu.
Despite low ratings during its domestic run, To the Beautiful You led to increased Korean Wave exposure for Lee in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and China.
He and co-star Hwang Kwanghee were later designated as the new hosts of live music show Inkigayo. His breakthrough continued when he landed a major role in 2013 box office hit Secretly, Greatly, an action-comedy film in which he played a North Korean undercover spy disguised as a high school boy. Lee also sang "Ode to Youth" on the film"s soundtrack.
Lee next played a hacker in the heist movie The Con Artists.
He then starred in Northern Limit Lincolnshire, a 2015 naval thriller about the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong.