Lee Hye-ri


Lee Hye-ri, better known mononymously as Hyeri, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is the youngest member of girl group Girl's Day and is known for her leading role in television drama Reply 1988. She ranked third in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list in 2016.

Early life and education

Hyeri was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea. She has a sister, Hye-rim, who is two years younger. Hyeri grew up in poverty, staying with her grandmother in the countryside while her mother was working in a factory.
When she was in middle school, Hyeri was scouted by Dream T Entertainment at a talent show and consequently joined Girl's Day with little prior training. She later attended Seoul School of Performing Arts, and then majored in Film at Konkuk University.

Career

2010–present: Girl's Day

In September 2010, Hyeri was announced as a new member of Girl's Day alongside Yura when Jiin and Jisun left the group, just two months after the group debuted. The revamped group released a single titled "Nothing Lasts Forever".
After her exclusive contract with Dream T Entertainment ended in 2019, Hyeri joined a newly set-up agency Creative Group ING. Although all four members joined separate agencies, they have stated that the group has not disbanded.

2012–2014: Acting debut and rising popularity

In 2012, Hyeri made her acting debut in the SBS weekend drama Tasty Life, where she played the youngest in a family of four daughters.
After her 4-day long appearance on Real Men in August 2014, a brief clip of her showing aegyo at her instructor went viral in South Korea, reaching one million views in a day. She consequently shot to stardom overnight and was later named as the "Nation's Little Sister" by the South Korean media due to her overwhelming popularity. In December 2014, she won Best Female Newcomer award at the MBC Entertainment Awards for her Real Men appearance.
In November 2014, Hyeri was cast as one of the main characters in teen drama Schoolgirl Detectives, which began airing on cable channel jTBC in December. In late 2014, she was also cast in the mystery rom-com drama Hyde, Jekyll, Me, which began airing on SBS in January 2015.

2015–present: Leading roles

In 2015, Hyeri was cast as the lead of the tvN drama Reply 1988. The drama premiered in November and went on to become a commercial success with audience ratings peaking at 18.8%, making it one of the highest rated dramas in Korean cable television history. Hyeri received critical and audience acclaim for her award-winning portrayal of the female protagonist.
In 2016, Hyeri was cast as the lead in the SBS drama Entertainer along with actor Ji Sung and CNBLUE member Kang Min-hyuk, which began airing on April 20 and for which she won "New Star Award" at 2016 SBS Drama Awards.
In March 2017, it was announced that Hyeri will be making her big screen debut as the female lead in Monstrum; filming began in April and premiered in September 2018. The same year, she starred in the police comedy drama Two Cops alongside Jo Jung-suk.
In 2018, she was cast in My Punch-Drunk Boxer, a boxing comedy drama film. The film was released in October, 2019. In 2019, Hyeri was cast in tvN's office comedy drama Miss Lee.
Besides acting, Hyeri frequently guests on variety shows. She has been described as a "blue chip" in the entertainment industry due to her "frank and easy-going charms, bright energy and flexible chemistry with other cast members". Since 2018, Hyeri has been a regular cast member of DoReMi Market, a weekly television program currently airing on tvN.

Philanthropy

Hyeri was appointed as the ambassador for 'Free Semester Program' by the Ministry of Education in September 2016. In February 2017, Hyeri was appointed as one of the ambassadors for the Count Every Child birth registration campaign as part of her NGO partnership with Plan Korea.
At 25 years old, Hyeri became the youngest member of UNICEF's Honors Club, having donated more than ₩100 million "to run educational programs for underprivileged children and AIDS-prevention campaigns in underdeveloped nations in Asia". A membership ceremony took place on July 26, 2019.
Throughout her career, Hyeri has donated to a wide variety of causes, ranging from public health to disaster management. On the Lunar New Year of 2016, Hyeri donated ₩50 million to Community Chest of Korea towards improving elderly welfare. Later that year, she donated ₩50 million to Korea Disaster Relief Organisation for the victims of the Seomun Market fire. In February 2020, Hyeri donated ₩100 million to Save the Children to help those affected by COVID-19.
In March 2020, Hyeri criticised Nth room-related cybersex trafficking on her Instagram account and urged her followers to sign a petition to reveal the identities of the perpetrators, stating that she hopes that "they face harsher punishment for what they did".

In the media

Endorsements

The success of Reply 1988 combined with Hyeri's status as an icon of aegyo led to her becoming one of the most in-demand advertising models in South Korea. By the start of 2016, she had shot over 30 advertisements for brands such as Puma, Lotte Confectionery's Ghana, Bohae, Amore Pacific's Happy Bath, and was consequently given the title of "₩10 billion girl " by the South Korean media.
The sales of products such as 7-Eleven lunch boxes and Nongshim ramen increased by 78% and 50% respectively after Hyeri's endorsement. Similarly, the page views of Dabang, a real estate mobile app that Hyeri has endorsed since 2015, grew from 5 million to 15 million, and weekly active users increased from 600,000 to 1.5 million after a new ad featuring Hyeri as Harley Quinn was released in 2017.
Following her appointment as the model for Albamon, a part-time job recruiting site, Hyeri was awarded with the plaque of appreciation by the Ministry of Employment and Labour for "promoting minimum wage awareness and compliance" in March 2015. In January 2017, Albamon received "Consumer Choice Best Brand Award" for "its efforts to improve the rights of the public by providing high quality part-time job announcements" after an ad featuring Hyeri and Im Chang-jung reached over 10 million views in just a month after its release.
In July 2017, she received the Female Commercial Film Star Award at MTN Broadcast Advertising Awards Festival.

Personal life

In January 2014, Hyeri fainted on stage during a Girl's Day live performance and had to be carried off-stage by M Countdown staff. She was later diagnosed with swine flu.
In March 2016, Hyeri was hospitalised after being diagnosed with meningitis due to busy schedules and lack of rest.

Discography

Filmography

Film

Television series

Variety show

Hosting

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2014MBC Entertainment AwardsBest Female NewcomerReal Men: Female Special
2015Daum AwardsRising Idol Actress
20168th Style Icon AsiaIdol Actress Award
20168th Style Icon AsiaStyle Icon
201652nd Baeksang Arts AwardsBest New Actress Reply 1988
20165th APAN Star AwardsBest New ActressReply 1988
20169th Korea Drama AwardsBest New ActressReply 1988
2016tvN10 AwardsMade in tvn, Actress in DramaReply 1988
2016tvN10 AwardsRising Star Award, actressReply 1988
2016tvN10 AwardsBest Kiss Reply 1988
20161st Asia Artist AwardsMost Popular ActressReply 1988
20166th Korean Wave AwardsActing AwardReply 1988
20164th DramaFever AwardsBest Kiss Reply 1988
2016SBS Drama AwardsNew Star AwardEntertainer
2016SBS Drama AwardsTop Excellence Award, Actress in a Romantic-Comedy DramaEntertainer
2017MTN Broadcast Advertising AwardsFemale Commercial Film Star Award
2017MBC Drama AwardsTop Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday DramaTwo Cops
2017MBC Drama AwardsMost Popular ActressTwo Cops
20182nd The Seoul AwardsMost Popular ActressMonstrum
2018Korea First Brand AwardsFemale Idol Variety Star
2019Brand of the Year AwardsFemale Variety Idol
2020Brand of the Year AwardsCelebrity YouTuber of The Year