In the new drama "Miss Korea," veteran actress Lee Mi Sook plays Ma Ae Ri, the woman who molds contestants into beauty pageant winners. The glamorous star has had a long career in films and kdramas, first debuting in 1979 and her career continues to thrive. Here are a few facts you may not know about this actress.
1. She has played some good moms and some selfish ones. She was a good mom to Yoona in "Love Rain," willing to sacrifice her own happiness so that Yoona's and Jang Geun Suk's characters could be a couple. She was a terrible mom to her daughter, played by Moon Geun Young, and her stepdaughter, played by Seo Woo, in "Cinderella's Stepsister." She was IU's birth mom in "You're the Best Lee Soon Shin."
2. Despite her many mom roles, the actress is still a sought after model and some of her photo shoots are sensational. She remains a favorite in magazine spreads. In 2010, at age 50 she did an editorial spread in Elle with BigBang's T.O.P., who is 30 years her junior.
In an interview, he remarked that the shoot, which portrayed an affair, exhausted him. "After we completed the photoshoot, we went to dinner. I came home that night and fell asleep straight away. I couldn't get up for the next two days for no logical reason at all. I must have been overtaken by her energy and spirit."
He described her as having an "overpowering sexy charisma."
3. The actress quit acting at age 27, shortly after marrying her husband a plastic surgeon but ten years later returned to acting with the award-winning film "An Affair." In that film she played a woman who falls in love with her sister's fiancée. Her own marriage ended in an amicable divorce after 20 years.
4. A very popular star in the 80s, the actress has been winning awards for the last 30 years, including Grand Bell and Baeksang awards. Her most recent awards include a 2011 SBS actress award for A Thousand Days' Promise and a 2008 MBC Top Excellence Award for the TV series East of Eden.
5. She launched the Starit lingerie brand at age 50. She was also the primary model for her lingerie brand, which is sold on home shopping channels. It marked the first time that a Korean actress in her 50s modeled her own lingerie products. The brand's motto is "I am my life," which the actress says means that it is important to express what is beautiful about a woman at any age,
