Lee Sang-yi makes warmth useful in an action series: his partnership with Woo Do-hwan gives Bloodhounds its human interest. We rate his physical commitment, but want scripts that give him more to work with.
Fi1m perspective
In Bloodhounds (2023), Lee Sang-yi makes Hong Woo-jin someone we are happy to spend time with between fights. Alongside Woo Do-hwan’s Kim Gun-woo, he keeps a forceful action series approachable when its plotting becomes predictable. We warmed to the pair because their companionship gives us a reason to care beyond the next confrontation. That is a substantial contribution in a series whose writing gives its two central characters too little depth.
Earlier television roles often made use of that warmth in romantic or supportive parts. Once Again (2020) brought wider recognition, and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) cast him as Ji Seong-hyun, an optimistic variety-show director. Such characters suit him, though repeated casting of this sort risks giving him little to do beyond being agreeable. His musical-theatre work, from Grease (2014) to A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (2020–2022), has also called on physical precision and comedy. The move into action makes sense for a performer with those skills.
For director Jason Kim’s Bloodhounds, Lee built a boxer’s physique and learnt southpaw technique. The fights give that preparation a purpose: this is action that depends on bodies looking capable of doing damage. We rate the shift because it gives his physical skills a proper job without sacrificing the ease of his partnership with Woo. The limitation comes between confrontations, where neither his physical commitment nor that rapport can supply the character detail the screenplay has left out.
Action has not displaced the romantic comedy. No Gain No Love and Spice Up Our Love (2024) sit alongside the more physically demanding Good Boy (2025), in which he plays a former fencer. We would like to see that physical skill attached to a character with more to reveal. Start with Bloodhounds for the fights, and allow for a script that gives its leading men less to play than they deserve.
Biography
Lee Sang-yi is a South Korean actor and singer. He was born on 27 November 1991 in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
He trained at the Korea National University of Arts and debuted in theatre in 2014, appearing in musicals including Grease. He later took supporting and leading roles in television series such as Once Again (2020), Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021), My Demon (2023) and No Gain No Love (2024).
He is known for his performance as Hong Woo-jin in the Netflix series Bloodhounds (2023–present) and has also performed as a member of the vocal group MSG Wannabe.
