Young Musical Actress Shines as Heroine in Hero

When the musical " Hero ", which tells the story of Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, was staged in Harbin, China in February, it was not the lead actor but a young actress who got most of the spotlight.

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Lee Soo-bin played the role of a 17-year-old Chinese girl who fell in a one-sided love with the " hero " and sacrifices herself for him.

The musical's run in the Chinese city was symbolic because it was where Ahn assassinated the first Japanese resident general of Korea, Hirobumi Ito, in 1909.

The musical is now playing at Blue Square in Seoul until Sunday.

The Chinese girl is a purely fictional character created with the Chinese audience in mind. And Lee succeeded in stealing the hearts of the audience with the lively and sacrificial role.

Lee started acting when she was just five. "I was too young to remember, but my mom said I sprang out of bed at four in the morning when I would go filming", she said. She also performed in several musicals as a child, and couldn't feel happier when she "sings and acts in front of an audience".

Lee has been playing the teen girl in " Hero " for five years now. She will also play the role of another teen girl in the Korean rendition of the musical "Death Note", which will open next month.

Lee, who became a freshman at university this year, said, "It may be because I still look like a cute little girl, but in the future I want to play more mature characters like Galinda in 'Wicked' or Kim in 'Miss Saigon.'"