6 facts about Lee Yoo-mi, star of Netflix's All of Us Are Dead: she's pals with her Squid Game co-star Jung Ho-yeon and K-pop idol Hani, and has been compared to Sulli

Despite not appearing for very long in Squid Game, fans of the show found it hard to forget the sweet smile of Lee Yoo-mi, or player 240 aka Ji-yeong, the young woman who got out of jail for killing her abusive father and became friends with Jung Ho-yeon’s character, badass Kang Sae-byeok.

The 27-year-old actress truly left her mark and seems to be getting more popular by the week. Although she’s now been in the industry for years, it’s only now that the breakout actress is really getting noticed.

As a result, her upcoming thriller All of Us Are Dead (based on a webtoon called Now at Our School) is now hotly anticipated by many who are keen to see her portray a student trapped inside her school during a zombie apocalypse.

So, what else is there to know about her?

1. She credits Kang Hye-jung for getting her into acting

Lee Yoo-mi says she knew she wanted to be an actress since the age of 13. Photo: @leeyoum262/Instagram

Lead actress Kang Hye-jung’s performance in the drama Herb (2007) reportedly made a huge impression on Lee. She told Cosmopolitan: “Actress Kang Hye-jung played a mentally challenged person. I was young so I thought that an actual mentally challenged person starred in the film, but I realised that wasn’t the case. It was shocking. I was in awe so I was drawn to acting.”

After her family helped her approach several agencies, she began to audition and scored parts in several adverts. Her dream career had begun.

By the time she was 15, Lee had landed her first proper roles in action thriller The Yellow Sea and sci-fi children’s show Future Boy. Now, after over a decade in the industry, she’s had parts in almost 30 films and K-dramas, according to KBizoom.

2. She went from 40,000 to 6.7 million Instagram followers thanks to Squid Game

Despite not being one of the main characters in Squid Game, Lee Yoo-mi’s performance was still memorable. Photo: Netflix

But of course it wasn’t until Squid Game that she found herself being labelled a “rising star”. Incredibly, her Instagram followers soared from just 40,000 to 250,000 in just three days after the megahit series’ release, AllKpop reports. She now has a whopping 6.7 million followers.

3. She once beat over a thousand other auditioners for a role

Lee Yoo-mi in Hostage: Missing Celebrity, for which she won a best new actress award in Korea. Photo: @leeyoum262/Instagram

Right before Squid Game, Lee starred in the 2021 action-thriller Hostage: Missing Celebrity. To get the part, she reportedly beat over a thousand competing actresses for the role of a shop assistant who gets kidnapped alongside film star Hwang Jung-min.

She went on to win best new actress for that same film at the Korean Film Writers Association Awards, and also received the rookie of the year award at the Buil Film Awards for Young Adult Matters, in which she played a pregnant high schooler running away from home to get an abortion.

4. Fans think she resembles late K-pop idol Sulli

Many fans have been comparing Lee Yoo-mi’s beauty to Sulli’s. Photos: @leeyoum262, @jelly_jilli/Instagram

Aside from her impressive performances, Lee has won fans online for her soft and natural beauty, which many say is reminiscent of the late K-pop idol Sulli’s. Her look seems similarly ageless and innocent, and the two even share some similar facial features.

5. She became great friends with her Squid Game co-stars

Lee Yoo-mi and her Squid Game co-stars. Photo: @leeyoum262/Instagram

Just like their characters in Squid Game, Lee and her co-star Jung Ho-yeon became great off screen friends too. Although filming has finished, the pair continue to stay in touch and, according to KoreaBoo, they often go out for coffee or tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes).

“We’re the same age and we share similar interests, so we got along really well. When we were filming, we kept sharing Ji-yeong and Sae-byeok’s feelings. There was no way we wouldn’t grow close,” Lee said.

Lee Yoo-mi is good friends with her Squid Game co-star Jung Ho-yeon in real life too. Photo: @leeyoum262/Instagram

Meanwhile, Jung has also said she appreciated Lee’s help during filming, which built connection and trust between them. “It felt like we gave each other a lot of support. Yoo-mi is more experienced in acting, and she’s a great actress. When I talked about my concerns in acting, she was always considerate,” Jung said.

Lee Yoo-mi hanging out with K-pop pal Hani (from Exid). Photo: @leeyoum262/Instagram

Lee is also great friends with K-pop idol and Exid member Hani, who was her co-star in Young Adult Matters. Since making the film together, they’ve shared several sweet photos on social media. “I’m the type of person to approach others first and get close to them. I did that with Hani unnie [older sister], and also with Ho-yeon,” she said, according to AllKpop. “I think everyone will soon find out that I’m the type of person who has good chemistry with anyone – whether they may be men or women, old or young.”

6. She loves pets

Lee Yoo-mi loves pets enough to have several of them – and create a dedicated Insta account for them too! Photo: @l.y.m_262/Instagram

Lee is definitely a dog person. The star has a small furry family of three dogs and two cats. She’s even created an Instagram account for them and posted dozens of cute shots of the little gang sitting around her home, being cuddled, and posing with different hairstyles (the dogs) and outfits (the cats).

Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.