Horrible news out of the entertainment industry:
Lee Sun-kyun, an actor who played one of the leads in the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, was found dead on Tuesday in Seoul, Korea.
He was 48 years old.
Lee’s body was discovered inside of a car at a park, according to the Associated Press, which also reported the actor’s loved ones had been searching for Lee after he left an apparent suicide note.
Circumstances surrounding this tragedy appear to be even more unusual, however.
The star had faced police questioning three times over accusations of illegal drug use amid a government crackdown… with one session running 19 hours just this past weekend.
The actor had said he was tricked into taking drugs by a bar hostess attempting to blackmail him, the Yonhap news agency reported.
He was found with a charcoal briquette in his passenger seat and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lee portrayed the head of the wealthy Park family in Parasite, which took home the Academy Award for Best Film at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards in 2020.
The South Korean film made history by becoming the first non-English language movie to capture this honor.
Parasite also earned Best director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film that year.
“Because the film received the Palme d’OR at Cannes we were hoping that the film would received some recognition at the Oscars, because it was the first Korean film that even had a chance,” Lee told HollywoodChicago.com while lookin gback on his experience working on the film in an interview published in October.
He added at the time:
“When all the nominations came out, I expected that director Boon Joon-ho could win, but I never thought we had a chance at Best Picture. So when our director won, we thought the day was over.
“You cannot imagine how surprised and excited we were when they called the film for Best Picture. I’ll never forget it.”
Lee also had leading roles in films such as Helpless and All About My Wife and starred in Apple TV+’s first Korean-language original series, Dr. Brain.
The actor is survived by his wife, Jeon Hye-jin, and two children.
May Lee Sun-kyun rest in peace.