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MeeWha Alana Lee

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MeeWha Alana Lee
Lee at home in New York City
Born
이미화 (MeeWha Lee)

(1958-12-31) December 31, 1958 (age 66)
Masan, South Korea
Alma mater
  • Seoul National University
  • University of Iowa
Occupation(s)Actor, designer, painter
Years active2017–present

MeeWha Alana Lee (born December 31, 1958) is an American actor and visual artist. She is best known for her roles in The Chair (2021 TV series)[1] and Umma (2022 film).[2]

Early life

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Lee was born in Masan, South Korea. She received her BFA degree from Seoul National University. She moved to the United States in 1982, receiving her MFA degree in Design and Drawing from the University of Iowa.[3]

Art and design

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Lee was a college graphic design professor[4] and a brand design strategy executive for three global corporations.[5] Her background in industrial and graphic design allowed her to participate in product and packaging development, which led to many US and global patents.[6]

During and after her time in these careers, she has exhibited her design and studio art internationally. She curated an exhibition of Korean poster design that brought the works of 19 of Korea's leading graphic designers to a global audience[4][7] and also exhibited and lectured on her own work in brand design.[5][8][unreliable source?] Her paintings have been shown in solo and group exhibitions around the United States and abroad.[9][10][11] In 2021, she won the Butler Institute of American Art Award for her oil painting.[12]

Acting career

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Lee came to acting late, as a way to honor the memory of her younger son, Alan, a film student who died in 2014.[13][14]

She gained attention in movies such as Five Stars[15] and on the stage.[16] Her performance as a loving but stern grandmother in Parked in America garnered praise for her portrayal of a "wise advisor" to the main character.[17]

In 2021, she appeared in the Netflix series, The Chair with Sandra Oh, harkening back to her academic career. According to Lee, she was cast in part because Oh wanted her to help "tell the story of academia, immigrants, women and especially women of color."[1]

In 2022, she played the title role in the Sam Raimi film, Umma opposite Sandra Oh and Fivel Stewart.[2] While her performance was lauded,[18][19] the film was met with mixed reviews, many of which criticized the use of Korean imagery as "other".[20][21]

Her performance in the 2025 film, G20 (film), garnered praise, being called the "unexpected" or "lowkey" MVP by several critics,[22][23] while others praised her chemistry with lead Viola Davis[24] or suggested that her character should be given a "sidequel".[25]

Personal life

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Having lived in Iowa and Wisconsin for many years, she now resides in New York with her husband, Richard Masters, a coin designer for the US Mint.[14][26][27][28]

Theater

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Year Title Role Notes
2017 Twelve Angry Women Juror #8/Lead Off-Broadway
2018 Casual Carpool Grace/Lead 2018 Take Ten Short Play Festival NYC (world premiere)
2020 Shared Ignorance Sign Changer Bill
2021 Miguk Saram HeeWon Kang
2025 Comfort Women[29] Staged reading

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2018 Queering Angela Episode 2x03: Long Night
2019 Tips Susan Television pilot
2019 Awkwafina is Nora from Queens Korean Grandma #1 Episode 1x02: Atlantic City[30]
2019 The Blessing Auntie Ruby Episode 2: "The Aunties"
2020 Ramy New citizen #2 Episode 2x05: "They"
2020 Parked in America Halmoni Television film[17]
2021 The Chair Grandma 1 Episode 5: "The Last Bus in Town"[1]
2023 A Murder at the End of the World Ethel Episode 1x02: "The Silver Doe"

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2017 Nettles Hannah Lead
2018 Don't Kill My Babies! Acting class patron
2018 Equal Standard Officer Lee
2018 The Butcher[31] Landlady
2018 Five Stars The Korean Woman Lead[15]
2019 Mirror[32] Mrs. Cho
2020 Project Pay Day[33] Restaurant owner as MeeWha Lee
2021 Good Egg Card dealer #2
2022 All I Want Is Everything Mrs. Kim
2022 Umma Umma Title character
2021 Good Egg Card dealer #2
2023 A Great Divide Grandma Shim (Halmoni)
2024 Juk[34] Grandmother
2025 G20 Han Min-Seo
2025 Meet Cute in Manhattan[35] Shirley Lin

Music videos

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Year Title Role Artist
2017 Got Damn MeeWha Yyou
2019 Old Mama[36] Old Mama Morgane Rondot
2024 Please, Please, Please[37] Arcade Boss Sabrina Carpenter

References

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  1. ^ a b c Nyman, Shane (September 8, 2021). "Familiar face in 'The Chair': Netflix series features former UWO professor". University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Renner, Brian D. (February 21, 2022). "Umma Movie". Movie Insider. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "MeeWha Lee". American Society of Botanical Artists. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Korean Poster Design". Paul Robeson Galleries. September 1996. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "'Whole Brain Thinking' with MeeWha Lee, Kraft Foods". The Wharton Club of Northern California. October 6, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  6. ^ "WIPO IP Portal Patentscope". World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Cloughley, David (June 4, 1997). "Olympic spirit captured in art". The East Carolinian. p. 4. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  8. ^ "Design Management 101/MeeWha Lee". Delineation of Design. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  9. ^ "Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery". flickr. 5 December 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "2010 fall art calendar". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. September 18, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  11. ^ "Edward Hopper House Happenings, November-December 2015". NYACK. November 1, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  12. ^ "108th Annual Exhibition Award Winners". Allied Artist of America. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "Miguk Saram Playbill". Local Theater Company. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. ^ a b Nyman, Shane (August 7, 2020). "UWO professor emeritus artist plenty inspired by NYC—pandemic and all". UW Oshkosh Today. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Five Stars". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  16. ^ "MeeWha Alana Lee". Backstage. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Kayla Yumi Lewis's 'Parked In America' is the YA show for Asian teens". geek gals. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  18. ^ Adams, Jason (March 18, 2022). "A Terrific Sandra Oh Elevates 'Umma' To Almost 'Elevated Horror' But The 'Horror' Part Keeps Dragging It Down". Pajiba. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  19. ^ Chang, Tom (March 19, 2022). "Umma Review: Sandra Oh Shines in Generational Horror Classic". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  20. ^ Power, Tom (June 3, 2022). "Umma review: A film about the 'horrors of assimilation'". CBCListen. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  21. ^ [영화 엄마 UMMA / 배우 인터뷰] 이제는 K-샤머니즘 / 미국 한인 이민자 가족이 숨겨왔던 어두운 비밀! / 이미화 배우 2부 | 무비프레스 2.0, 28 March 2022, retrieved 2022-07-07
  22. ^ Sarah El-Mahmoud (2025-04-11). "Viola Davis Is A Full-On Action Star In Amazon's G20, But There's One MVP I Didn't Expect". Cinemablend. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  23. ^ tldrmoviereviews (2025-04-12). "G20 – Movie Review". TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  24. ^ "Review: In 'G20,' Viola Davis puts on an incredible performance". Review: In 'G20,' Viola Davis puts on an incredible performance - The Eastern Echo. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  25. ^ Vincent, Sarah (2025-04-10). "G20 Review". Sarah G. Vincent Views. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  26. ^ "About". MeeWha Lee. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  27. ^ "Artist Bio". RaM Studio and Gallery. 17 September 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  28. ^ "Richard Masters, AIP Designer". United States Mint. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  29. ^ cjerome (2025-03-19). "Comfort Women -- a staged reading". Around the Block Al Doblar La Esquina. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
  30. ^ Lucas, Luke (January 31, 2020). "Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 1, episode 2 recap: Atlantic City". Fansided. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  31. ^ "The Butcher". California Film Festival. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  32. ^ "Mirror". Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Watch Project Pay Day, a new family feature film!". Crossbow Studio. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  34. ^ Juk (Short 2024) - Full cast & crew - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-05-02 – via www.imdb.com.
  35. ^ Morey, Karen (2025-03-28), Meet Cute in Manhattan (Comedy, Romance), Terence Chen, Kendall Leary, Carolyn Kang, Tiger & Dog Productions, retrieved 2025-05-02
  36. ^ Org, Web-Documentaire (October 11, 2019), "Dernières mise en ligne: Sortie du clip Old Mama par la jeune réalisatrice Morgane Rondot", webdocumentaire, retrieved June 7, 2022
  37. ^ SabrinaCarpenterVEVO (2024-06-06). Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please (Official Video). Retrieved 2024-06-08 – via YouTube.
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