Draft:Lee Han-byeol

Lee Han-byeol (March 18, 1992) is a South Korean actress and model known for her leading role in the Netflix original Korean drama series Mask Girl (2023).

Personal life
Lee Han-byeol was born on March 18, 1992 in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. She attended university, studying fashion.

She is a multidisciplinary artist who, aside from acting, formerly held a career in the fashion industry and continues to maintain an independent artistic output, posting visual art including paintings, digital art, and film photographs to her two Instagram accounts. She has cited influence and inspiration from fashion designer John Galliano, conceptual artist Marina Abramovic, and films such as Moonlit Winter.

Pre-debut
Lee Han-byeol originally studied fashion in university and subsequently pursued a career in the fashion industry before pivoting toward acting in her late 20s.

Debut and Mask Girl
In an intentional move to create drama around the show, no information was revealed about Lee Han-byeol ahead of the release of Mask Girl except that she was a first-time actress. Two days before the release of the show on Netflix, her identity was revealed as she appeared in public for the first time at a promotional press conference for the show alongside her well-established costars Go Hyun-jung and Nana, whose hand she could be seen clutching nervously. It was said by JoongAng Ilbo that she beat 1,000 to 1 odds to be cast in the Netflix original drama, garnering immediate attention as an actress "with no unknown days," referring to her rare case of having landed a leading role without having to first gain notoriety as a supporting actress. A press release, posted via Naver on the day of the release of Mask Girl, stated that she would be signing to the Ace Factory entertainment agency.

Following the release of Mask Girl, she received high praise in an interview given by series director Kim Young-hoon, stating, “Even though this is her debut show, she is so good at analyzing the script and would give very instinctive performances, which is very bold for a newcomer. She is really a genius at acting." She won the “Best New Actress” award at the 2023 APAN Star Awards for her work in Mask Girl. Lee Han-byeol also began modeling following the release of the drama, shooting pictorials with both Harper's Bazaar Korea and Korean lifestyle magazine Singles. In March of 2024, she was also awarded the "New Actress of the Year (Series)" award at the 22nd Director's Cut Awards for her work in Mask Girl.