Lee Sun-kyun, of Parasite and TV’s My Mister and Dr. Brain, Dead at 48

Matt Webb Mitovich
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Lee Sun-kyun, who played the wealthy Park family patriarch in the Oscar-winning film Parasite and whose TV credits included My Mister and Apple TV+’s Dr. Brain, has died at age 48.

The South Korean actor was found on Wednesday morning in a car parked in central Seoul, dead in an apparent suicide, South Korean police told NBC News. Law enforcement had reportedly begun looking for Lee upon receiving a tip from his manger that he had left behind what appeared to be a suicide note.

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Lee had been the subject of a weeks-long investigation into alleged drug use. Lee in his defense had claimed he was tricked into taking the drugs, and had filed a suit against two people also involved in the incident, alleging they blackmailed him.

“I feel sorry to my family members who are enduring too difficult pains at this moment,” the AP quotes Lee as saying when he was first called in for questioning by law enforcement. “I again sincerely apologize to everyone.”

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Lee’s many TV credits include Loveholic, Behind the White Tower, The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, Teuripeul, Pasta, Golden Time, Miss Korea, My Mister (which won Best Drama at the 2019 Baeksang Arts Awards), Diary of a Prosecutor, Dr. Brain (a sci-fi thriller that debuted on Apple TV+ in November 2021, and for which Lee earned an International Emmy nod) and, most recently, the SBS TV drama Payback.

For his role as Parasite‘s Park Dong-ik, Lee was a part of that acclaimed film’s SAG Award-winning cast.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Text MHA to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor from Crisis Text Line.

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