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Meet Lee Sung-Kyung, South Korea's Answer to Gigi Hadid

SEWER RAT

By SEWER RAT
in Celebrity News & Gossip

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SEWER RAT Global Superstar

SEWER RAT

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If you don’t know the name Lee Sung-Kyung, you’re not alone, especially if you live in America. But in South Korea, the Seoul-bred 26-year-old is a television and social media sensation, with 5.5 million followers on Instagram alone.

 

To put her celebrity into perspective, in a country of some 50 million people, more than ten percent of the country is following her. That would make her proportionally right on par with Gigi Hadid’s following in America.

 

A couple of months after her hit TV show Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo ended, Lee was at a studio in Garosu-gil in Seoul for a photo shoot. The set was buzzing with flunkies, including two personal stylists and two managers, plus personal assistants, but Lee was unfazed in the middle of it all.Bubbly and in good spirits, she was laughing with the makeup artist between outfit changes and trolling Instagram.

 

“Sure it’s the official Instagram, but I still consider it my personal album," she said coyly.

 

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Lee's rise to fame is a quintessential Cinderella story, the definition of an overnight celebrity. In 2014, Korean director Kim Kyu-tae was casting his new television drama series, It’s Okay That’s Love, looking for a fresh face for one of the roles.

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Lee was a successful model at the time, and the director’s teenage daughter had been following her on Instagram. When the girl showed him Lee's page, he was immediately sold.

 

“It was magic that it just happened like that,†Lee told me over a cup of coffee. “It was total fate.â€

 

In It’s Okay That’s Love, a 16-episode series that aired on Korea's biggest network SBS, Lee was cast as a familiar archetype, the rebellious high school dropout, but she made it entirely her own and cliche-free. From there she built a diehard following and the roles started to flood in, beginning with the television series Cheese in the Trap in 2015, when she played a mentally unstable college student, and later in Doctor Crush, another series where she played a high school student vying for the attention of her biology teacher.

 

In 2016 she landed her first titular role in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, a coming-of-age TV sports drama, for which she was recognized with two MBC Drama Awards, South Korea’s version of the Emmys.

 

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A few episodes into its run last year, Lee was a bona fide celebrity, and she had managed it with relatively few credits and no formal acting background. After it wrapped in January, Lee took her first solo trip, and purposely booked a flight to Paris where she knew no one would recognize her.

 

“That time in Paris was really healing, it brought me back,†she said. “Being in the public eye, you never really have time to yourself. Even when you’re alone, you feel that everyone is watching you and you can’t ever get away from them.â€

 

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Unlike almost all celebrities, Lee does not post any promotional content on social media and takes most of her photos on 32mm film, which are snapped by close friends rather than professional photographers.

 

But fame has taken its personal toll. Lee says she spends much more time indoors than she did before, and won’t leave the house without a low fitting baseball cap.

 

“If I just walk around with friends it escalates into scandal and rumors, so I’m more cautious about what I do now," she said.

 

And the boyfriend situation? “Impossible given the tabloids,†she said, sounding resigned. And anyway, she't not really interested in love.

 

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"There have been so many rumors associating me with certain male models and other relationships I’ve never been in, that I feel as though I’ve been through those relationships already, so I don’t have to go through them again,†she says, laughing. “I feel like I’ve dated around a hundred people by now; it’s exhausting.â€

 

For 2017, Lee's big plan is to make the transition to film, and she is waiting to confirm her first feature. “The film will change my life a lot, but it will be a new platform to show myself.â€

 

So does she lead any semblance of a normal life? She certainly tries.

 

When she’s not filming Lee plays classical piano, a hobby she’s enjoyed since childhood, and travels more than ever, although the anonymity is fading. On a recent trip to Los Angeles, she visited Universal Studios and people called her out.

 

“People recognized me there! They saw me and shouted ‘Hey, Weightlifting Fairy!’ I couldn’t believe it.â€

 

http://www.wmagazine.com/story/lee-sung-kyung-south-korea-model-actress

 

Not at this talented kweenie getting compared to nepotism hadid

 

Anyways get dat worldwide promo baby

 

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OUO Superstar

OUO

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I thought she was interviewed by some nugu koreaboo site, glad to see it's Wmagazine. Get the recognition girl!

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shugwi Nation's First Love

shugwi

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She's pretty but why do they have to compare everyone to Americans?

 

Also to the people saying she's better than Gigi, how? You can think she's prettier, that's subjective but careerwise it's not close.

same I think she is prettier but yeah Gigi is more well known as a model.

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official199x Star

official199x

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So Instagram followers determine if you're It Girl now imstupid.png Maybe if all her Instagram followers watched her last drama maybe it would have higher ratings than 5% laugh.png

Why are you so pressed? Jealousy.

Look at her earning hundreds of dollars while you are just there at home, wishing you are in her position.

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layowei Star

layowei

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She's pretty but why do they have to compare everyone to Americans?

 

Also to the people saying she's better than Gigi, how? You can think she's prettier, that's subjective but careerwise it's not close.

Gigi's gorgeous, but she and her sister Bella only became as 'big' as they are because of her mom/family, just like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin. And as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), LSK has never done anything problematic or racist like Gigi unsure.png which is why imo she's better than Gigi

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