Trivia

Owns a chain of upscale Italian restaurants named after his 2000 hit film, Il Mare (2000). He also owns a real estate development company called Seorim C&D, and founded the entertainment label, Artist Company, together with actor Jung Woo-sung.

When he was offered the role of Master Sol in the Acolyte, Lee Jung-jae, never spoke a word of English in his life, so he set out to learn it in only 4 months.

Although he grew up in a wealthy family, he started working from a young age at a local cafe in Apgujeong, Seoul, where a designer named Ha Yong-soo saw him and launched him into a brief fashion model career, after which he made his acting debut in the 1993 Korean TV drama Dinosaur Teacher.