Lee Chung-ah began her acting career by playing supporting roles in the films
Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002) and
Happy Ero Christmas (2003). In 2004, she landed her first leading role in
Temptation of Wolves (2004), a
film adaptation of an internet novel by
Guiyeoni. Lee played a country girl who moves to the city and attracts the attention of the two most popular boys in town, played by
Jo Han-sun and
Kang Dong-won. The film made the two actors into breakout stars, but not Lee. She was cast as a lead actress in her first
television drama ''Let's Go to the Beach
(2005), where she and Lee Wan played bickering lifeguards who later fall in love. In 2006, Lee starred in the family drama Going Together
and the omnibus film Ssunday Seoul''. Lee then starred in
My Tutor Friend 2 (2007), the
sequel to the 2003
hit film of the same title. She studied
Japanese for her role as a Japanese
exchange student who goes to Korea in search of her first love, then meets a happy-go-lucky university student (
Park Ki-woong) who becomes her
Korean language tutor. A year later, she was cast in
Kim Jee-woon's kimchi
western The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) in a small role as the foster sister of
Jung Woo-sung's character. Lee said that she practiced
horseback riding for this film but those scenes were deleted in
post-production. She later showed her horseback riding skills in
Chosun Police Season 2, a series set during the reign of
Emperor Gojong in which she played a
damo with a dark past. On television, Lee continued to appear in supporting roles in 2009 with the romantic comedy
The Accidental Couple and family drama
Jolly Widows. This was followed by the 2010 daily drama
Pure Pumpkin Flower, where she played a pure-hearted girl who never loses hope even in difficult circumstances. In 2011, she starred in the leading role in cable romantic comedy series
Cool Guys, Hot Ramen. Lee played a college girl preparing for teacher certification examination who unexpectedly inherits her father's
ramen restaurant; she becomes involved in a love triangle with two of her employees, the arrogant heir to the biggest food
conglomerate in Korea (
Jung Il-woo) and a lazy but warm-heated genius chef (
Lee Ki-woo).
Cool Guys, Hot Ramen received solid ratings for a Korean cable drama, and became the first of
tvN's "flower boy" programming, which included
Dating Agency: Cyrano on which Lee made a
guest appearance in 2013. Lee was in two variety shows in 2012. She hosted
Cats and Dogs, a talk show in which pet owners shared information to foster a more mature pet culture. Lee then appeared in the second season of
Music and Lyrics, a
reality show in which a celebrity pair write and compose a song together. She wrote the lyrics and actor
Seo Ji-seok composed the music for the
ballad "Looking Forward to It," which was sung by
Heo Young-saeng and used as the theme song of
Seo In-guk's character in the family drama
The Sons. Lee reunited with
Happy Ero Christmas costar
Kim Sun-a in the 2013 revenge
thriller The Five. Adapted from the
webtoon of the same title, she played a detective with a delinquent credit history who helps kill a serial killer in exchange for an
organ transplant for her ill mother. Later in the year, she played a doormat wife in the weekend drama series
Wonderful Mama. In 2019, Lee returned to small screen with office mystery drama
VIP. In July 2021, Lee signed a contract with J-Wide Company. In 2022, Lee appeared in the SBS drama
One Dollar Lawyer. In October 2024, Lee signed an exclusive contract with Management Soop. It is based on the
Swedish television series Heder which evolves around a 20-year-old secret that the three lawyer friends buried, which resurfaces and throws their lives into chaos. ==Personal life==