Ma Dong-seok

Early life

Ma was born in South Korea. He had South Korean citizenship until 1989 (when he was aged 18), after which he forfeited his South Korean citizenship and became an American citizen. He returned to South Korea at age 30 and began acting.

Career

Ma rose to fame for his supporting roles in the films The Neighbor, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, and The Unjust. He then played leading roles in Norigae, Murderer, and One on One.

Ma's role in the zombie film Train to Busan propelled him to international popularity. His subsequent leading roles in films Derailed, The Bros, The Outlaws, Unstoppable, Champion, The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos and The Roundup along with supporting roles in Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days and Ashfall have met with critical and commercial successes led him to Most Bankable Star of Korean Cinema. Although known for his 'tough guy' persona roles, Ma is often celebrated and criticized for playing similar roles in his movies. In 2019, he joined the cast of the MCU film Eternals as Gilgamesh which marked his Hollywood debut. On television, Ma is known for his roles in the hit OCN series Bad Guys and Squad 38.

In 2022, Ma signed a contract with LDH Japan, another large Japanese agency. His 2022 release action crime thriller The Roundup, sequel to his 2017 film The Outlaws not only opened to unanimous positive reviews but also became the highest-grossing film of 2022 by surpassing 12 million admissions for the first time since 2019 and all time 3rd highest grosser in South Korea. In 2024, dystopian film Badland Hunters in which Ma is playing role of wasteland hunter was released on 26 January on Netflix.

In 2026 he is set to star in an action-adventure videogame developed by Nagoshi Studio, founded by Toshihiro Nagoshi entitled Gang of Dragon.

Other activities

Under his Westernized name, Don Lee, and before he turned to acting, Ma was the personal trainer of mixed martial artists Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman.[[File:(부산행) 칸 국제 영화제 초청 배우 감사인사 영상 마동석.jpg|thumb|upright=1|right|Ma in 2016]]

With his production company Team Gorilla, Ma is currently involved in planning and writing screenplays. He worked on the screenplay for the film Deep Trap, in which he starred. He is also the co-creator of the OCN Dramatic Cinema series Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation.

Armwrestling

Ma has been an amateur armwrestler since 2008, and he became the president of Korea Armwrestling Federation in 2018.

Personal life

In 2016, Ma was reportedly dating sports reporter and media personality . On October 20, 2022, Ma's agency stated that he and Ye had registered their marriage the previous year. The wedding ceremony would be held at a later date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and busy schedules.

Filmography

Main article: Ma Dong-seok filmography

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Listicles

Notes

References

References

1. (2019-08-05). link
2. link. [[Busan Ilbo]]. Nam. Yoo-jung. (December 12, 2018)
3. (October 17, 2014). "10 Scene Stealers⑤ - MA Dong-seok: Wild but Tender".
4. Park, Si-soo. (April 1, 2014). "Watch out! They 'steal' scenes, your heart". [[The Korea Times]].
5. (June 2, 2014). "An interview with Ma Dong-seok: "One On One"". MBN Star.
6. (September 28, 2016). "'Train to Busan' takes Don Lee to Hollywood".
7. (November 18, 2016). "Tough guy film star finds success being sweet : Known for aggressive roles, Ma Dong-seok is not afraid to be cute".
8. (October 1, 2017). "[INTERVIEW] Ma Dong-seok to rise as new hero in crime action genre".
9. (10 November 2017). "The many personalities of Ma Dong-seok: Actor's ability to play a wide range of characters has led to his success".
10. (June 11, 2022). "'The Roundup' tops 10 mln admissions in S. Korea". [[The Korea Herald]].
11. (December 1, 2018). "Ma Dong-seok's heroism grows stale: Some are calling out the star's most recent films for their depiction of women".
12. Gonzalez, Umberto. (April 17, 2019). "Marvel Studios Taps Ma Dong-seok for 'The Eternals' (Exclusive)". [[TheWrap]].
13. (October 5, 2014). "Park Hae-jin, Ma Dong-suk go 'manly adorable'".
14. (March 4, 2016). "Sooyoung, others to star in new OCN drama".
15. Jo Ji-young. (January 11, 2022). "[SC이슈] "韓→美 이어 日진출"...마동석, EXILE·m-flo 소속사 LDH 재팬과 전속계약..글로벌 행보ing". [[Sports Chosun]].
16. James Marsh. (May 23, 2022). "The Roundup movie review: Ma Dong-seok, Son Suk-ku face off in riotously entertaining sequel to 2017 action thriller The Outlaws". [[South China Morning Post]].
17. link. [[JTBC]]. Jo Yeon-kyung. (June 11, 2022)
18. link. [[Star News (South Korea). Star News]]. Jeong Hyung-hwa. (June 27, 2022)
19. link. [[Osen (newspaper). OSEN]]. Kim Bo-ra. (November 2, 2023)
20. https://www.nagoshistudio.com/en/products/gangofdragon
21. link. [[Osen (newspaper). OSEN]]. (November 6, 2012)
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23. (August 18, 2016). "(News Focus) 4 movie stars whose talents go beyond acting".
24. Park. Ah-reum. link. Newsen. (January 31, 2020)
25. "[K스타] 잘 나가는 마동석, 팔씨름연맹 이사 된 사연은?".
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27. link. OSEN]]. Park. Pan-seok. (October 20, 2022)
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29. Ji, Yong-jin. (May 13, 2013). "RYU Seung-ryong Wins Grand Prize at Baeksang Arts Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone.
30. (January 24, 2017). "THE WAILING Triumphs at Korean Film Reporters Association Awards".
31. (February 9, 2018). "Don LEE Takes Best Actor Performance at Golden Egg Awards".
32. link. (April 6, 2018)
33. link. (May 3, 2018)
34. (November 14, 2018). "Kim Hee-ae, Ma Dong-seok honored".
35. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. Yang Jeong-woo. (October 11, 2022)
36. link. Kim Ji-hye. (December 15, 2022)
37. link. [[Sports Kyunghyang]]. Kim Ji-woo. (December 21, 2022)
38. "". link. Newsen. Lee. Min-ji. (November 24, 2021)
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40. link. [[JTBC]]. Cho. Yeon-kyung. (April 7, 2023)
41. link. (December 31, 2021)
42. Lee. Hye-in. (2025-04-28). link. Forbes Korea
43. link. Kim. Gye-yeon. (December 13, 2017). [[Yonhap News Agency]]
44. link. [[Busan Ilbo]]. Nam. Yoo-jung. (December 12, 2018)
45. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. Lee. Do-yeon. (December 13, 2018)
46. link. Jo. Yeon-kyung. (December 17, 2019)
47. link. [[The Chosun Ilbo]]. Moon. Ji-yeon. (December 17, 2019)
48. link