Approaching 40, Lee Min-ho hopes to show something new, calls marriage 'a miracle'

Lee Min-ho says he tried to give Young-il in Assassin(s) constant movement and energy so the film would not feel too solemn. As he approaches 40, he says he wants to keep surprising audiences and hopes to try a mature romance with director Hur Jin-ho. He also said marriage feels like a miracle and that family changes could shape his acting more than career plans.

Lee Min-ho said he experimented with Young-il’s movement during rehearsals and added the ssanghwa tea line to give the character sly humor.

He said Assassin(s) marks the closing chapter of his 30s and that he feels pressure about his first digit changing.

Lee Min-ho said he hopes to work with director Hur Jin-ho on a drama about passion and jealousy.

He said he has been interested in films more strongly since turning 30 and now prioritizes projects that let him bring his own emotional perspective and view of society.

He said marriage is something of a miracle and that starting a family or going through major life changes could alter the qualities he brings to his work.

Published Sep 14, 2026 6:20 pm KST

Lee Min-ho in a scene from “Assassin(s)” / Courtesy of Hive Media Corp.

From his first reading of the script for “Assassin(s),” Lee Min-ho had a clear idea of what his character, Young-il, should bring to the film: constant movement and a burst of energy to keep a potentially heavy story from becoming too solemn.

“When I read the script, I felt Young-il’s role was to breathe life into the story,” Lee said in a recent interview with the Hankook Ilbo. “The director also said he wanted him to feel like a live fish. I experimented with a lot of movement during rehearsals, and he liked it. So I planned how Young-il would move in every scene.”

A line about ssanghwa tea, a traditional Korean herbal drink, was also Lee’s idea, capturing the character’s sly humor. The original script gave him a lengthy stretch of dialogue in which he tried to get information out of another character, but Lee felt the scene risked becoming predictable.

The idea grew out of his understanding of Young-il’s purpose in the story and his determination to avoid familiar ways of expressing it. By varying the character’s dialogue and movements without disrupting the film’s flow, Lee made Young-il his own.

“Assassin(s)” also marks the closing chapter of Lee’s 30s. The actor was candid about his feelings as he approaches 40.

“I feel a lot of pressure about that first digit changing,” he said. “But I’m trying to approach life with a mindset that allows me to feel freer, regardless of my age.”

As he wrestles with that transition, one thing he wants to preserve is his ability to surprise audiences. Despite his years of acting, he has no intention of falling back on familiar emotions or repeating what he has already shown.

“I think I have a strong desire to offer something fresh,” he said. “I feel most satisfied when people say, ‘I haven’t seen that side of him before,’ or ‘That feels fresh.’ I don’t want to keep acting only to show the same emotions or give the same impression. With every project, I want to add something new.”

That desire has also drawn him toward a different kind of romantic drama. Lee hopes to one day work with director Hur Jin-ho, known for his mature portrayals of love, on an intense story of passion and jealousy.

“I asked him about it once, and he said he wanted his final film to be a romance,” Lee said. “So I told him I’d love to make a drama about passion and jealousy with his sensibility, and he was very enthusiastic. It’s a kind of romance I haven’t tried before, so it would give me a lot to think about. I’m curious to see what that sort of film would look like in his hands.”

For Lee, the set of “Assassin(s)” became more than a place to shoot his scenes and leave. He visited even on days when he was not scheduled to work, inspired in large part by co-star Park Hae-il.

“Hae-il came in almost every day of the shoot, whether he had scenes or not,” Lee said. “Seeing that, how could I stay away? The set felt comfortable, like being with family. On days when I wondered how things were going, I would go and soak up the atmosphere.”

Watching Park up close, Lee discovered an actor who combined gravitas with innocence.

“In Hae-il, I saw both an adult wrestling with difficult questions and carrying a heavy burden, and a boy who was still curious about so many things,” Lee said. “That duality was incredibly appealing. He’s an actor who can tell a story in his own voice, without adding or taking anything away, and let you see it with complete clarity.”

Lee Min-ho / Courtesy of Hive Media Corp.

Lee, too, tends to follow his curiosity wherever it leads. An interest in a particular war takes him beyond the conflict itself to explore its underlying causes, geographical context and, eventually, the struggle for economic dominance. He believes even seemingly unrelated events are ultimately connected within society.

YouTube is one of his main windows onto the world. Recently, watching individual creators tell their personal stories has sparked an interest in how technology shapes people’s emotions. Discovering artificial intelligence (AI)-generated music has also made him curious about new ways to create.

“I’d like to try composing music, but the legal framework around AI isn’t fully established yet, so I haven’t pursued it seriously,” he said. “Technology has come a long way in allowing us to experience things we otherwise couldn’t. If something really grabs me one day, perhaps I’ll give it a try.”

On the prospect of AI actors, Lee acknowledged the technology’s potential but spoke of the warmth that people bring. He said he could imagine spending 10 minutes watching nothing but someone’s hands making coffee in a vlog.

“When it comes to conversation, though, I prefer talking to people,” he added with a laugh.

The same thoughtfulness informs his choice of projects. Asked why he had appeared in relatively few films compared with television dramas, Lee said it was only after turning 30 that he began to feel drawn to cinema.

“In my 20s, even when I went to the cinema, I rarely watched films starring people my age or younger. I preferred films that made me feel something and that I could find my own meaning in,” he said. “Even though I was an actor, it wasn’t until I was past 30 that I wanted to make films. The line between film and television has blurred now, but in my 20s, people would ask whether I was just chasing popularity.

“Now I think I’ve reached an age where I can carry a story and bring my own emotional perspective and view of society to it. Those are the kinds of projects I find myself prioritizing.”

Lee was reluctant to predict what his 40s would look like. He believes changes in his personal life will have a greater influence on his acting than any career plan.

“If I start a family or go through a major change in my life, I think I’ll change quite dramatically too,” he said. “Rather than a deliberate change as an actor, those life changes would shape the qualities I bring to my work. So it’s difficult to predict right now.”

He was equally candid about marriage.

“I think marriage is something of a miracle,” he said. “These days, divorce and people choosing not to date are discussed as social issues. Looking at that, I don’t think I’m the only one who finds the idea of marriage daunting.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

李敏镐表示，为了避免电影过于沉闷，他在《刺客》中努力赋予英日这个角色持续的活力和动感。即将步入40岁的他表示，希望继续给观众带来惊喜，并期待与许镇浩导演合作，尝试拍摄一部成熟的爱情片。他还说，婚姻对他而言如同奇迹，家庭变故或许比职业规划更能影响他的表演。

李敏镐表示，他在排练期间尝试了永日的动作，并加入了双花茶的台词，为这个角色增添了一丝狡黠的幽默感。

他说，《刺客》标志着他30岁人生的最后一个篇章，他感到即将步入30岁，压力很大。

李敏镐表示，他希望与许镇浩导演合作拍摄一部关于激情与嫉妒的电视剧。

他说，自从30岁以后，他对电影的兴趣更加浓厚，现在他优先考虑那些能让他融入自己情感视角和社会观点的项目。

他说，婚姻在某种程度上是一种奇迹，组建家庭或经历重大的人生变故可能会改变他带到工作中的特质。

发布于2026年9月14日 下午6:20（韩国标准时间）

李敏镐在电影《刺客》中的剧照 / 图片由 Hive Media Corp. 提供。

从第一次阅读《刺客》的剧本开始，李敏镐就清楚地知道他的角色英日应该给这部电影带来什么：不断的动作和爆发力，以防止一个可能很沉重的故事变得过于严肃。

李在最近接受《韩国日报》采访时表示：“我读剧本的时候，觉得永日这个角色要赋予故事生命力。导演也说他希望永日这个角色像一条活生生的鱼。排练的时候我尝试了很多不同的动作，导演很喜欢。所以我就为永日在每一场戏里的动作都做了规划。”

关于双花茶（一种韩国传统草药饮品）的那句台词也是李的主意，它恰到好处地展现了角色的狡黠幽默。原剧本中有一段很长的对话，让他试图从另一个角色口中套取信息，但李觉得这段戏可能会变得过于老套。

这个想法源于他对英日这个角色在故事中的作用的理解，以及他避免采用老套的表达方式的决心。李安通过改变角色的台词和动作，同时又不破坏影片的流畅性，最终塑造出了属于他自己的英日形象。

《刺客》也标志着李安三十岁生涯的落幕。这位演员坦诚地谈到了自己即将步入四十岁的感受。

“我感觉年龄大了，第一个数字的变化让我压力很大，”他说。“但我正努力用一种让我感到更自由的心态来面对生活，无论我的年龄多大。”

在努力适应这种转变的过程中，他最想保留的一点就是给观众带来惊喜的能力。尽管他已经演戏多年，但他并不打算依赖熟悉的表演方式或重复自己已经展现过的东西。

“我非常渴望带来一些新鲜的东西，”他说。“当人们说‘我以前没见过他这一面’或者‘感觉很新鲜’时，我感到最满足。我不想一直演戏只是为了展现同样的情感或给人同样的印象。我希望在每一个项目中都能加入一些新的东西。”

这种渴望也让他转向了另一种类型的爱情剧。李希望有一天能与以成熟爱情刻画著称的导演许秦豪合作，拍摄一部关于激情与嫉妒的深刻故事。

李安说：“我曾经问过他这个问题，他说他想把最后一部电影拍成爱情片。所以我告诉他，我很想用他的视角拍一部关于激情和嫉妒的剧情片，他非常热情。这种类型的爱情片我以前没尝试过，所以会让我有很多思考。我很想看看这种类型的电影在他手中会呈现出怎样的效果。”

对李敏镐而言，《刺客》的片场不仅仅是他拍摄戏份的地方。即使没有工作安排，他也会去片场探班，这很大程度上是受到了搭档朴海日的启发。

李说：“海日几乎每天都来片场，不管有没有戏份。看到他这样，我怎么能不来呢？片场的气氛很温馨，就像在家里一样。有时候我会担心拍摄进展，就会去片场感受一下氛围。”

李近距离观察朴赞郁，发现他是一位兼具沉稳气质和纯真气质的演员。

李说：“在海日身上，我看到了一个成年人苦苦思索难题、背负重担的一面，同时也是一个对万事万物充满好奇的男孩。这种双重性极具吸引力。他是一位能够用自己的方式讲述故事的演员，不加任何修饰或删减，让观众能够清晰地理解故事。”

李敏镐 / 图片由 Hive Media Corp. 提供

李也倾向于追随自己的好奇心。他对某场战争的兴趣会让他超越冲突本身，去探究其深层原因、地理背景，以及最终的经济霸权之争。他认为，即使看似毫不相干的事件，最终也与社会息息相关。

YouTube是他了解世界的主要窗口之一。最近，观看创作者们讲述他们的个人故事，激发了他对科技如何影响人们情感的兴趣。发现人工智能（AI）生成的音乐也让他对新的创作方式产生了好奇。

“我很想尝试作曲，但人工智能相关的法律框架尚未完全建立，所以我还没有认真考虑过，”他说。“科技发展日新月异，让我们体验到了许多以前无法体验的事物。如果有一天我真的被某个领域深深吸引，也许我会尝试一下。”

谈到人工智能演员的前景，李承认这项技术的潜力，但也谈到了真人演员带来的温暖。他说，他可以想象自己花十分钟观看一段视频博客，视频里只有某人的手在煮咖啡。

“不过，说到交谈，我还是更喜欢和人聊天，”他笑着补充道。

他对作品的选择也体现了同样的深思熟虑。当被问及为何出演的电影数量远少于电视剧时，李表示，直到30岁之后，他才开始对电影产生兴趣。

“我二十多岁的时候，即使去电影院，也很少看和我同龄或更年轻的演员主演的电影。我更喜欢能触动我内心、让我从中找到意义的电影，”他说。“虽然我是一名演员，但直到三十多岁我才真正想拍电影。现在电影和电视之间的界限已经模糊了，但在我二十多岁的时候，人们会问我是不是只是在追逐名利。”

“现在我觉得我已经到了可以独立讲述故事，并将我自己的情感视角和社会观点融入其中的年纪。这些正是我目前优先考虑的项目类型。”

李不愿预测自己四十岁时的生活会是什么样子。他认为，个人生活的变化比任何职业规划都更能影响他的演艺事业。

“如果我组建家庭或者经历人生中的重大变故，我想我也会发生很大的变化，”他说。“与其说是刻意改变演技，不如说这些人生变故会塑造我带入表演中的特质。所以现在很难预测。”

他对婚姻的看法同样坦率。

“我认为婚姻堪称奇迹，”他说。“如今，离婚和人们选择不约会都成了社会问题。这么看来，我觉得并非只有我一个人觉得婚姻令人望而生畏。”

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。