South Korean actor Lee Sun Kyun, who starred in the four-Oscar-winning 2019 film satire “Parasite,” has been found dead in a car. The car carrying the actor was discovered on Wednesday in a park in the capital Seoul, South Korean broadcasters reported, citing police. The actor was recently investigated on suspicion of drug abuse. With the role of a rich family man in “Parasite,” Lee also made his international breakthrough. He was 48 years old.
Police are reportedly not ruling out suicide. Lee’s manager alerted the police from the actor’s apartment in southern Seoul on Wednesday morning, the national news agency Yonhap reported. The manager had therefore visited the apartment because contact with Lee had been lost. The actor left a kind of farewell letter before leaving the house.
Lee had been questioned several times by police on suspicion of illegal drug use. According to Yonhap, Lee said he was tricked by a bar employee and didn’t know what he had taken. He later filed a criminal complaint against the hostess and another person on allegations of blackmailing him. At the end of October, Lee apologized for causing “a huge disappointment.” The actor leaves behind his wife and two sons.
Lee was already a well-known actor in his homeland before the global success of “Parasite.” The film won the 2020 Oscars for director, screenplay, best foreign language film and in the top category “Best Film”. The top honor had never before gone to a film made in a language other than English.
The film is a mixture of social satire, black comedy and thriller. It’s about two families who live in very different living conditions and their absurd complications. Lee took on the role of father in the wealthy Parks family. After the son of the poor family became a tutor at the Parks, he managed to get his parents and sister hired there too. The situation then gets more and more out of control.
