Meet Honey Lee, the multitalented Korean star: from winning Miss Korea and awards for K-dramas like One The Woman, to performing at the Winter Olympics and expecting her first child

Lee Hanee, better known as the award-winning Korean actress Honey Lee, is set to take a break from filming this year after announcing that she is pregnant with her first child. The happy news came just months after fans were wowed by her shock wedding to an office worker at the end of last year. Lee is clearly a master of keeping her private life just that, but how well do you know the multi-hyphenate talent? She started in beauty pageants Lee was crowned Miss Korea in 2006 before wowing the international audience and her fans at the prestigious Miss Universe contest in 2007 with her unconventional beauty, can-do attitude and confidence. She finished as the third runner-up in the competition, but was later named the first Korean beauty to win the Miss Grand Slam title. Meet Park Solomon, breakout star of zombie K-drama All of Us Are Dead Leveraging her overwhelming fame and media attention, Lee set foot into the alluring but overly competitive K-biz as a musician and actress, and steadily proved that she is not only charming, but also brilliantly talented. She got her big break in musicals Following her success in beauty pageants, Lee took her first acting roles in the musicals Legally Blonde, Polaroid and Chicago. After that, she was cast for supporting roles in television shows such as The Partner and Pasta, launching her career further as an actress. She had to battle strict beauty standards At the beginning, Lee struggled to find her place in the Korean entertainment industry, as she told YouTube series MMTG last year. As far back as her pageant days, Lee said that she had to battle against strict standards for femininity with the ubiquitous portrayals of vulnerable, pale-skinned and demure female characters. Lee, on the contrary, stood out with her dimples, more muscular build and confident personality – aspects that have become more accepted over time. 6 facts about Lee Yoo-mi, star of Netflix’s All of Us Are Dead She’s won plenty of awards Nevertheless, Lee persevered in the face of criticism and challenges, continuing to uphold her values and working diligently in a diverse range of projects. Consequently, she started to receive more recognition for her talent, winning her first award as the best new actress at the MBC Drama Awards in 2011, top excellence award for an actress at the Korea Drama Awards in 2017, and the rookie award at KBS Entertainment Awards in 2018, among many others. For her latest adventure playing dual roles in One The Woman, the 2021 SBS television series, Lee won the top excellence award for an actress in a miniseries romance/comedy drama at the SBS Drama Awards. She’s a professional musician – and more In addition to acting, Lee is also a skilful and gifted musician, playing the gayageum, a traditional Korean plucked zither. Being the daughter of gayageum master Dr. Moon Jae-sook, Lee is a professional gayageum player and has performed at various high-profile events, including the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. 5 Korean stars who love taking the metro, from G-Dragon to Park Bo-gum She got her bachelors and masters degrees in traditional Korean music from the world-renowned Seoul University. It was also at Seoul University that Lee befriended A-list actress Kim Tae-hee who supported Lee tremendously to start her career in the entertainment industry. Apart from her impressive career, Lee is also an inspiring person. She became a vegetarian for many years, but has since resumed eating meat, according to the Kdrama Stars website. She is also adventurous and excels at various sports including scuba diving and martial arts. She’s starting a family While Lee remains largely private about her personal life, she recently excited her fans with the announcement that she is expecting her first baby, due in June. After breaking up with her actor boyfriend of seven years, Yoon Kye-sang, in 2020, Lee surprised fans when she got married last December. Her husband is a non-showbiz office worker whom she met through a friend and the pair wed in a small and private ceremony. Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.