Clara Lee

Clara Lee (Korean: 클라라 리; born Lee Sung-min (Korean: 이성민) on 15 January 1985), better known by her mononym Clara, is a Swiss-born British actress and model based in South Korea.[1]

This article is about the South Korean actress. For the South Korean actor, see Lee Sung-min (actor). For the South Korean idol-singer from Super Junior, see Lee Sung-min (singer).

Clara
Lee in 2017.
Born
Lee Sung-min

(1985-01-15) 15 January 1985
Bern, Switzerland
Alma materEl Camino College
Occupation
  • Actress
  • model
Years active2005–present
AgentKorea: Koreana Clara International: East West Artists (EWA)
Parent(s)Lee Seung-kyu (father)
Korean name
Hangul
Revised RomanizationKeulrara
McCune–ReischauerK'ŭllara
Birth name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationI Seong-min
McCune–ReischauerI Sŏng-min

Career

Clara (born Lee Sung-Min，李成敏) made her entertainment debut under her birth name in 2005 and starred in her first film in 2009, Five Senses of Eros. In January 2012, she adopted Clara as her stage name, which was announced at a press conference for the drama series, Take Care of Us, Captain. Reasons given for the name change included that her birth name, Sung-min, was "male-sounding" and that her English name had always been Clara.[2]

In May 2013, Clara became an overnight sensation online after throwing a ceremonial first pitch in a professional baseball game dressed in form-fitting leggings.[3] She has since been hailed as an up-and-coming star and a sex symbol.[4][5] In September 2013, Clara drew criticism from South Korean netizens for apparently contradicting herself on television by saying she liked to eat chicken and drink beer in one program and stating the contrary in another. Consequently, she closed down her Twitter and Facebook accounts.[6][7] Afterwards, she again played supporting roles in the television series Goddess of Marriage (2013) and Emergency Couple (2014), followed by a leading role in the sex comedy film Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies (2015).[8][9][10][11]

In December 2014, she filed a lawsuit against her agency Polaris Entertainment to nullify her contract on the grounds of being sexually harassed by its president Lee Kyu-tae; Polaris denied those allegations and countered that Clara had been blackmailing the agency to end her contract which is due to expire in 2018.[12] In July 2015, prosecutors cleared Clara of the blackmail allegations and indicted Lee for making threats against her that implied physical violence.[13][14][15][16]

On 18 September 2015 Clara dropped her suit against Polaris Entertainment, bringing their legal battle to an end.[17]

Personal life

Clara is the daughter of singer Lee Seung-kyu, a former member of the bilingual band, Koreana.[18]

In January 2019, she announced her marriage to a Korean-American businessman.[19]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role
2009 Five Senses of Eros Lee Yoon-jung (segment "Believe in the Moment")
2013 Ask This of Rikyu Joseon noblewoman
2015 Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies Oh Nan-hee
2016 Line Walker assassin
Some Like It Hot Yoyo (Korean actress)
2017 The Jade Pendant[20] Ying Ying / Peony
2018 Fat Buddies Chinese immigrant's wife
Love Illusion
Killing Mobile Webcam model
2019 Bodies at Rest Ankie Cheng
Shenzhen Love
Jump Out of Primitive Tribe
Space Intellectual
Run Amuck
2021 Kill the Monster
Big Red Envelope
Empathic Master

Television series
Year Title Role Network
2006 Invisible Man, Choi Jang-soo Cha Hye-jin KBS2
2006-2007 High Kick! Kim Yoon-joo (ep.64) MBC
2009 Hilarious housewives Lee Sung-min MBC
Creating Destiny Shin Jin-hee MBC
2010 Happiness in the Wind Choi Mi-ran KBS1
2011 Baby Faced Beauty Chae Seul-ah KBS2
2012 Take Care of Us, Captain Hong Mi-joo SBS
Tasty Life Min Young-woo SBS
2013 Goddess of Marriage Cynthia Jung SBS
Reckless Family - Season 3 Clara Park MBC Every 1
Love For Ten - Generation of Youth Kim Yang Mobile drama[21]
2014 Emergency Couple Han Ah-reum tvN
You Are My Destiny Hye-jin (ep.1) MBC
America's Next Top Model Herself (season 21 ep.14) The CW
2016 Entourage Herself (ep.2) tvN
2017 Strong Woman Do Bong-soon Lee Bong-soon/Dental Hygienist (ep.16) JTBC
Meloholic Yun Kyung-ae OCN
2018 Happiness Chocolate Mango TV
The City of Chaos Zheng Mengqi iQIYI
2020 Detective Chinatown (web series) iQIYI

Variety show
Year Title Network Notes
2013
 Saturday Night Live Korea - Season 4 tvN Cast (episode 20-38)
2014
 Fashion King Korea - Season 2 SBS Cast
2017
 The Taming of the Shrew 2[22] JTBC2

Music video
Year Song Title Artist
2007 "Same Pillow"[23] Tei
"Love Song"
2009 "Empty Bet" Kim Joon
"Toy"[24] Moon Hee-joon
2010 "Nothing to Lose"[25] Juno
"Shout to the World" December
"Dazzling Tears"[26]
"오고있나요"[27]
2013 "Joah" Jay Park
"Invitation"[28] House Rulez
2014 "Gwiyomi Song 2"[29] Clara
"Fear"[30] Clara ft. Yasu
2017 "Hitchhiking"[31] Clara
"I Am Clara" (Chinese ver of Hitchhiking)[32]

[33] [34]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
20041st Foce Digital Ulzzang Photo ContestN/AN/AWon
2013Men's Health Cool Guy ContestVital Woman Award[35]N/AWon
6th Style Icon AwardsChevrolet Find New Star AwardN/AWon
6th Korea Drama AwardsHot Star AwardGoddess of MarriageWon

References
  1. Ock, Hyun-ju (13 January 2014). "Is Clara turning into a Korean sex symbol?". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  2. 클라라, 개명이유 "본명 이성민, 남자가 너무 많아". My Daily (in Korean). 3 January 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  3. "Pororo Beats Psy and Other Celebrities in Google Search Results". The Chosun Ilbo. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  4. Ahn, Joo-hee (5 July 2013). "Clara shows off her bikini body for High Cut". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  5. "Clara Makes Generous Pledge to Breast Cancer Patients". The Chosun Ilbo. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  6. Im, Woo-jung (11 September 2013). "After series of gaffes, Clara swears off SNS". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  7. Lee, Sun-min (12 September 2013). "Clara uses Internet to quit Internet". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  8. Bae, Sun-young (25 June 2013). "PREVIEW: SBS weekend drama Goddess of Marriage". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  9. Lee, Sun-min (16 August 2013). "Clara ranks baby-daddies". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  10. Oh, Jean (21 January 2014). "Clara to show her true self". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  11. "Clara Speaks Out About Enduring Harsh Criticism". The Chosun Ilbo. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  12. Kim, Se-jeong (15 January 2015). "Clara claims sexually harassment by agency owner". The Korea Times. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  13. Choi, Hee-suk (15 July 2015). "Prosecution clears Clara of blackmailing, indicts Polaris chief". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  14. "Ilgwang group chairman accused of threatening actress". The Korea Times. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  15. Jin, Min-ji (16 July 2015). "Court sides with Clara in lawsuit". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  16. "Actress Cleared of Blackmail". The Chosun Ilbo. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  17. "Clara drops her suit against Polaris Entertainment". Allkpop. 21 September 2015.
  18. Park, Si-soo (7 March 2014). "Stars and outstanding parents". The Korea Times. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  19. "Actress Clara to marry Korean-American fiance in LA". 4 January 2019.
  20. Frater, Patrick (18 May 2017). "Cannes: China's 'Jade Pendant' Set for North American Release (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  21. Kang, Jung-yeon (19 August 2013). "INFINITE Sung Yeol, 4minute Jihyun to Pair Up in Drama". TenAsia. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  22. "[OFFICIAL] 170704 f(Luna) = JTBC 'The Taming of the Shrew' Promo Pics [7P]". FunctionLove.net. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  23. "Same Pillow". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  24. "Toy". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  25. "Nothing to Lose". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  26. "Dazzling Tears". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  27. "Are you coming with Clara". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  28. "Invitation". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  29. "Gwiyomi Song 2". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  30. "Fear". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  31. "Hitchhiking". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  32. "I Am Clara". YouTube. Clara Lee. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  33. Clara Lee at hkmdb.com
  34. Clara Lee at chinesemov.com
  35. Ahn, Joo-hee (2 July 2013). "Clara wins awards, reps games". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
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