[People's] Lee Je-hoon, Will He Win His First Acting Award?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Actor Lee Je-hoon has been active with great passion this year. He quietly acted and made films, and continued his challenges by establishing a production company and an agency. He also received favorable reviews on the small screen. He excellently led the drama "Taxi Driver," which ranked first in viewership ratings, and is being mentioned as a strong contender for the acting awards.

Lee Je-hoon worked diligently again this year. In April, he played the role of taxi driver Kim Do-gi in SBS's Friday-Saturday drama "Taxi Driver," confronting those who commit evil acts without a conscience. Taking revenge on behalf of the socially vulnerable, he delivered a deep catharsis and drove the ratings.

In the work, Lee Je-hoon excellently performed high-level car chases and action scenes. Kim Do-gi, who carries the pain of losing his mother in the past, empathized with the victims' stories and ran fueled by righteous anger toward evil. He received praise for his delicate emotional expressions and intense action, and "Taxi Driver" settled in the living rooms as it was praised for expanding the scope of hero content.

Thanks to his performance, "Taxi Driver" confirmed the production of season 2. The sequel, planned for production in 2022, is expected to feature most of the cast from the previous season along with the employees of Rainbow Transportation. The stories that can be unfolded around the solidly built characters seem to be endless.

In the Netflix original series "Move to Heaven: I am a Legacy Organizer," released last May, Lee Je-hoon played Sang-gu, a former boxer recently released from prison. Becoming the guardian of his nephew Geu-ro, who has Asperger's syndrome, he ran the legacy organizing company Move to Heaven with Geu-ro, bringing warmth.

Photo by SBS

Lee Je-hoon, who has revealed that watching and making films is his dream, fulfilled that dream. He established the content production company Hardcut with producer Kim Yoo-kyung and director Yang Kyung-mo, and presented the Watcha short film project "Unframed" as their first work.

Starting with "Unframed," Hardcut plans to present various genre works including the music melodrama "Class Time Her," co-produced with Naver Webtoon; the occult thriller "Phantom," co-produced with Climax Studio; the Spanish hit action thriller "Celda 211"; and a remake of the crime noir "Trivisa," produced by director Derek Tsang.

The "Unframed" project featured Lee Je-hoon, Park Jung-min, Choi Hee-seo, and Son Seok-gu each directing a short film, which was released on the online video service (OTT) Watcha.

Lee Je-hoon directed "Blue Happiness." Actor Jung Hae-in played Chanyeong, a job seeker facing anxiety and worries about the future, dreaming of an ordinary life, portraying a story of chasing happiness that is hard to grasp no matter how hard one tries. It was praised for calmly weaving the story of youth living in the present and eliciting empathy.

Moreover, Lee Je-hoon established the entertainment company Companyon and embarked on an independent path. Companyon, which contains the meanings of warmth (溫), wholeness (穩), and the English word "ON," was inspired by the similar pronunciation to "companion," meaning "a place where like-minded people gather and accompany each other."

Photo by Watcha

In this way, Lee Je-hoon faithfully devoted himself to acting while establishing a production company and an agency, concluding 2021 with meaningful steps.

Lee Je-hoon, who worked diligently this year, is an actor who works like an ox. He is deeply passionate about acting and films and has a sincere personality, earning strong trust in the industry. With a neat image and excellent self-management, he is also receiving hot advertising offers.

Lee Je-hoon is being mentioned as a strong candidate for the SBS Acting Awards this year. He previously won the Best Actor Award in 2018 for the drama "The Package." At the awards ceremony to be held on the 31st, he is expected to compete with Kim So-yeon, Lee Ha-nee, and others. Attention is focused on whether he will embrace the prestigious grand prize at SBS after three years.