'Parasite' Actor Lee Sun-kyun Found Dead At 48

Actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known in America for starring in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, has died at the age of 48. According to CNN, the South Korean actor was being investigated for illegal drug use when police found him unresponsive in his car on Wednesday morning (December 27th). His cause of death is "presumed to be suicide."

Police in Seoul had received a missing person report from Lee's manager on their hotline, according to a statement per CNN. The actor had been questioned three times since October as part of the investigation into his alleged drug use, according to police in the city of Incheon. He was summoned by police as recently as December 23rd and was held for 19 hours before being released the next day.

Incheon police reported that Lee's drug tests had come back negative throughout the investigation. They also reported that Lee claimed he was tricked into using drugs and later blackmailed by an individual. The actor filed a lawsuit against the alleged blackmailer and police say they received a tip about his alleged drug use before the suit was filed.

An autopsy has not been conducted per the request of Lee's family. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, a funeral will be held "quietly" with family members and colleagues. Lee's agency, Hodu & U Entertainment, shared a statement on the sad news: "Actor Lee Sun-kyun passed away today There is no way to contain the sorrow and devastated feelings. Please refrain from spreading false information based on speculation or assumption."

Before his death, Lee was slated to appear in the forthcoming dark comedy No Way Out but later agreed to drop out of the film in light of the aforementioned police investigation per the Hollywood Reporter.