 After starring in "Ghost in Love" opposite Kim Hee-sun, Lee rose to prominence as the leader of a small group of thugs in one of the biggest box-office hits of the late 1990s, Kim Sang-jin's smash comedy "Attack the Gas Station".Shortly thereafter he took a role in a very different kind of film, the accomplished black comedy "Barking Dogs Never Bite", and his portrayal of a dog-hating lecturer who desperately wants to become a professor received good reviews.In 2001, Lee acted opposite Ko So-young in "A Day", a drama about a young married couple who wish to have a baby; he then appeared alongside Cha Seung-won and Kim Hye-soo in "Kick the Moon", another wildly popular comedy by Kim Sang-jin.