Lee Sung-Kyung (Instagram)

Lee Sung-Kyung, known for her roles in “Cheese in the Trap,” “Doctors,” “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo,” and “Sh**ting Stars,” visited the Philippines for the second time to hold her fan meeting "Be Closer" last July 8.

With her recent Korean drama, “Call It Love,” with Kim Young-Kwang, the actress shows versatility as her character calls for revenge.

From playing roles as a weightlifter, PR head in the world of show business, a doctor, and more, here is a quick fact sheet on things you may not know about the versatile actress.

1. She is signed under the same company as K-pop groups BLACKPINK and Big Bang, YG Entertainment, and YGK-Plus.

Lee Sung-Kyung is one of the first female models under YGK-Plus, the company established by YG Entertainment for their models. At the same time, she is under YG Entertainment for acting projects.

2. She debuted in “It’s Okay, That’s Love” in 2014.

The merger of YG Entertainment and YGK-Plus in 2014 opened an opportunity for Lee Sung-Kyung to start her career as an actress. Her company wasted no time casting her in “It’s Okay, That’s Love” by playing the role of Oh So Nyeo—a problematic and cheeky high school student who ended up with the lead’s housemate, Park Soo Kwang. 

3. She was truly dedicated to her craft as she had to gain weight for the drama, “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo.”

In a report from InStyle magazine, Sung-Kyung revealed that she had to gain weight to play the lead role of Kim Bok-joo by doing workouts and eating a lot. Bok-Joo was also her first leading role after playing supporting roles for “Cheese in the Trap,” “Doctors,” and “Flowers of the Queen.” Her efforts paid off as she was given the Excellence Award for Mini-Series at the 2016 MBC Drama Awards. At the same time, she and her co-star Nam Joo-hyuk received the Best Couple Award at the same ceremony.

Lee Sung-Kyung gaining weight for her role in 'Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo'

4. There was a time she dreamt of becoming a pianist!

Before she became an actress, Lee Sung-Kyung was a music student. During her first fan meeting in Manila back in 2019, she revealed that she wanted to be a pianist and practiced playing the instrument for 10 years. She also knows how to play the drums!

A screenshot of Lee Sung-Kyung playing the piano in Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook Episode 550 (viaKOCOWA TV’s YouTube Channel)

5. She experienced her rags to riches story.

During JTBS’ variety show “Seri Money Club,” the actress opened up about growing up with financial struggles in response to the rumors of her being rich. She recalled how her family went bankrupt when Sung-Kyung was only four years old after her father’s factory got into a fire accident. 

6. She is misunderstood as intimidating because of her looks.

Since Lee Sung-Kyung was little, she said she was often misunderstood as intimidating and not friendly because of her appearance. She purposely approached people in a funny way, which has become her personality now. “I know that others find me hard to approach, so I work harder to approach them first,” Lee Sung-Kyung said in Cosmopolitan magazine. 

A selfie of Lee Sung-Kyung (Instagram)

7. She can definitely be an idol if she wants to!

Does she sing? Yes! Does she know how to dance? Definitely! Lee Sung-Kyung ticked on all the checklists to be a total performer. She even performed in the King of Masked Singer in 2015, and the judges were surprised to see that it was her. Lee Sung-Kyung even has songs such as “My Lips Like Warm Coffee” ft—Eddy Kim and “Love” with Loco.

A screenshot of Lee Sung-Kyung singing 'Nice to Meet You' in 'King of Masked Singer' (viaMBCentertainment YouTube’s Channel)

8. She was cast to dub in the movie “Trolls” for its Korean release.

Lee Sung-Kyung lent her voice to dub Princess Poppy for the Korean version of “Trolls,” along with Park Hyung-Sik, who dubbed Branch. 

Lee Sung-Kyung and Park Hyung-Sik cast to dub voices in the Korean release of 'Trolls' (Photo fromSoompi)

9. She helped her younger sister to become a musical actress.

In an interview with Hankook Ilbo in 2019, Lee Sung-Kyung talked about her younger sister, a musical actress. The actress said that she was the one who sent her sister to academies by using the money she earned from her work. 

10. She is definitely not a big fan of kimchi. She fears it.

Kimchi has been considered an essential part of Korean meals, but keep it away from Lee Sung-Kyung as she admitted that she fears kimchi. On JTBC’s “Please Take Care of My Fridge,” the actress revealed this. Sung-Kyung said that when she was a student, one of her teachers forced her to eat kimchi because she was picky with her food. From that day, she started to fear kimchi. (Kyla Mari Paulo/OJT/University of Santo Tomas)