Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (; born August 16, 1972) is a South Korean–Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Randy Ko in the soap opera Train 48 (2003–2005) and as family patriarch Appa in the play Kim's Convenience (2011) and its television adaptation (2016–2021).
Lee has won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series four times for his role as Mr. Kim in Kim's Convenience. He has been nominated twice for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for The Monster Under the Bed in 2010 and the stage version of Kim's Convenience in 2012.
Early life When Lee was three months old, his parents emigrated from Daejeon, Chungnam, South Korea, to Canada. They lived successively in London and Toronto, both in the province of Ontario; and Calgary in Alberta."Calgarian is ready to commute". Calgary Herald, June 2, 2003.
In 1990, Lee moved back to Ontario to attend the University of Toronto. He studied in the drama program at University College."Hit play a homecoming for actor Sun-Hyung Lee". Calgary Herald, September 19, 2013.
Career Lee made his acting debut in 1989 in the television series Gideon Oliver. He had a supporting role in the film Ice Princess (2005) playing Tiffany's father. Lee appeared in the horror film P2 and the thriller The Echo. In 2006, he took the role of Jung Park in the video game Rainbow Six: Vegas and its 2008 sequel Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
Lee was part of the main cast of the Global nightly improvised soap opera Train 48 in the role of Randy Ko for the entire run of the series from 2003 to 2005.
In 2012, Lee won the Best Actor citation from the Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards for his portrayal of Kim Sang-il in Kim's Convenience. He played the role of Appa on stage in several Toronto productions of Kim's Convenience and on a national tour with the Soulpepper theatre company, as well as at an Off Broadway staging of the play. He brought the role of Appa to television in 2016 when the show was adapted as a television series."Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, a former U of T drama student, stars in the CBC comedy 'Kim's Convenience'" . U of T News, October 24, 2016. In 2016, Lee played Zhang Lin in the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Canadian Stage production of Chimerica. On January 11, 2017, he guest starred on an episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Lee has been nominated twice for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, Large Theatre, for The Monster Under the Bed in 2010 and Kim's Convenience in 2012."Women on top; Crash, Penelopiad top Dora nominations". National Post, June 6, 2012. In the 5th, 6th, and 9th Canadian Screen Awards, he won the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Appa in the Kim's Convenience television series. Lee was selected to host the fourth season of the reality competition show Canada's Smartest Person, entitled Canada's Smartest Person Junior and featuring children as contestants.
Lee is also a playwright. His play Dangling premiered N8at Toronto's fu-GEN theatre festival in 2010.
In 2020, he began portraying New Republic X-wing pilot Captain Carson Teva in The Mandalorian, appearing in two episodes of Season 2 ("Chapter 10: The Passenger" and "Chapter 12: The Siege") and twice more in Season 3 ("Chapter 21: The Pirate" and "Chapter 24: The Return"). Lee continued to reprise the role in various Star Wars franchise-related media such as The Book of Boba Fett ("Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian") in 2022, three episodes of Ahsoka Season 1 in 2023 ("Part Four: Fallen Jedi", "Part Five: Shadow Warrior", and "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness"), and in the 2026 feature film The Mandalorian and Grogu.
In 2021, Lee appeared as a panelist on Canada Reads, championing Natalie Zina Walschots's novel Hench. In the same year, Lee's five seasons on Kim's Convenience came to an abrupt end when the two show runners left the project.
In 2022, he was announced as the host of Fandemonium, a factual series which will profile the internal cultures of various pop culture fandoms. He also appeared on the 2022 revival of The Kids in the Hall.
In 2024, he played Uncle Iroh in the Netflix live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. On March 6, 2024, Netflix announced that the series was renewed for two additional seasons after garnering 21.2 million views in its first four days. He also plays a new main character, Inspector Albert Choi, the new head of Station House No 4, in the eighteenth season of the CBC mystery series Murdoch Mysteries.
Honours In 2023, Lee received the National Arts Centre Award at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Harriet the Spy Bruno Hung Fat 2001 Khaled Grocer 2005 Ice Princess Tiffany Lai's Dad 2003 One Way Hotel Receptionist 2004 P2 Man in Elevator 2014 RoboCop Omnicorp Technician Removed in the final cut 2015 End of Days, Inc. Mort 2020 Kitty Mammas Dr. Han 2024 The Second Philip Short Night of the Zoopocalypse Felix Voice 2026 The Mandalorian and Grogu Captain Carson Teva
Television Year Title Role Notes1989 Gideon Oliver Dan Wu Episode: "Tongs" 1995 Where's the Money Noreen? Gene Kajikawa Television film 1999 Total Recall 2070 Waiter Episode: "Rough Whimper of Insanity" 2002 Soul Food: The Series Dan Lee Episode: "A Taste of Justice" 2002 Doc Orderly Episode: "Complicated" 2002 Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story Doctor Television film 2003 Profoundly Normal Delivery Doctor Television film 2003–2005 Train 48 Randy Ko Main role 2004 Kevin Hill Phil Steckler Episode: "The Good Life" 2005 This Is Wonderland Mr. Phan Episode #2.9 2005 1-800-Missing Dr. Winston Nakano Episode: "Fugitive" 2006 Billable Hours Paul Episode: "The Handicapped Bathroom" 2006 Between Truth and Lies D.A. Lee Television film 2007 The Jane Show E.R. Doctor Episode: "Plastic Ono Jane" 2007 Mayday Captain Park Yong-chul Episode: "Missed Approach" (Season 4, Episode 4) 2008 Little Mosque on the Prairie Airport Security Guard Clask Episode: "Islam on Tap" 2010 Covert Affairs Theo Will 2 episodes 2010–2011 Degrassi: The Next Generation Juan Tong Recurring role, 6 episodes 2016–2021 Kim's Convenience Sang-Il Kim (Appa) Main role; 65 episodesCanadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, 5th (2017) and 6th (2018); nominated 8th (2020) 2017 Dark Matter Dr. Borsin Episode: "It Doesn't Have to Be Like This" Canada's Smartest Person Junior Himself Host (season 4 of Smartest Person) 2019–2022 Abby Hatcher Chef Jeff Recurring voice role 2019 The Bravest Knight The Potion Maker Recurring voice role 2020–2023 The Mandalorian Captain Carson Teva 4 episodes 2021 Private Eyes Chef Andre Episode: "The Perfect Storm" 2021 Bakugan: Geogan Rising Spartillion Recurring voice role 2021 Boyfriends of Christmas Past Leo Kim Television film 2022 The Book of Boba Fett Captain Carson Teva Episode: "Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian" 2022 The Kids in the Hall Mr. Lewis 1 episode 2023Family Law Bert Choi Episode: “Revisionist History” 2023 Ahsoka Captain Carson Teva 3 episodes 2024–present Avatar: The Last Airbender Uncle Iroh Main role2024–2025Go TogoSparksMain voice role 2024–2025 Murdoch Mysteries Inspector Albert Choi Season 18 2025–present Paw Patrol Mr. Park Recurring voice role 2026 Adults Mr. Lee Episode: "Vote for Paul Baker"
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2006 Rainbow Six: Vegas Jung Park 2008 Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
References
External links
BitterAsianDude.com Personal website