105. Lead debuted before 2000
Help each other out and add actors who had their first main role before 2000.
Feel free to send us a link of your own to a list with actors with who had their first main role before the year 2000.
MDL Watch Challenge 2026 Dec 20, 2024
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![Donnie Yen]()
Donnie Yen Ji Dan is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action choreographer, stuntman, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion. Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. ...more -
![Lee Byung Hun]()
Lee Byung Hun is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres. His critically acclaimed film "Inside Men" won ...more -
![Kim Jung Nan]()
Kim Jung Nan (born Kim Hyun Ah on July 16, 1971) is a South Korean actress. Kim made her acting debut in 1991 but received a new surge of popularity after starring ...more -
![Kimura Takuya]()
Kimura Takuya is a Japanese actor, entertainer, singer, and voice actor born in Tokyo. He is represented by Johnny's. He was a member of the male idol group SMAP from 1988 until ...more -
![Sakai Masato]()
Masato Sakai is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival for Kuhio taisa and Nankyoku ryourinin and the award for best supporting actor ...more -
![Nishikido Ryo]()
Nishikido Ryo is a Japanese idol, singer, actor and songwriter. He is a member of Japanese boy band Kanjani Eight and a former member of Japanese male idol group NEWS. He made ...more -
![Jang Hyuk]()
Jang Hyuk is a South Korean actor and was under SidusHQ Entertainment for 26 years before he left the agency in March 2023. As a child, Jang Hyuk spent most of his ...more -
![Bae Doo Na]()
Actress Bae Doo Na started her professional career as a fashion model in 1998. Her mother is Actress Kim Hwa Young. She moved to a high-profile role in the acclaimed South Korean ...more -
![Wu Nien Chen]()
Wu Nien Chen is a Taiwanese writer, lyricist, screenwriter, director and actor. After writing his first screenplay in 1978, he became a leading member of Taiwan's New Wave Cinema movement throughout the ...more -
![Go Hyun Jung]()
Go Hyun Jung is a South Korean actress. She debuted in the entertainment scene as a Miss Korea runner-up in 1989 and went on to star in "Sandglass", one of the highest-rated ...more -
![Yakusho Koji]()
Yakusho Koji is a Japanese actor. In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as ...more -
![Kim Gab Soo]()
Kim Gap Su is a South Korean actor. His acting debut was in 1977. Kim is a high profile actor in his age bracket and has had a long career as an ...more -
![Carlo Aquino]()
Carlo Aquino is a Filipino actor and musician known for being the lead singer of the band Kollide and formerly on JCS. He and model Trina Candaza first confirmed their relationship in ...more -
![Ahn Sung Ki]()
Ahn Sung Ki was a South Korean actor. He graduated from Dongseong High School and later, because his older brother was serving in the Vietnam War, he enrolled and then obtained a ...more -
![Ha Ji Won]()
Jeon Hae Rim, better known by her stage name Ha Ji Won, is a South Korean actress. Starting her career in 1996, she appeared in second season of “School” (1998) series that ...more -
![Shin Ha Kyun]()
Shin Ha Kyun is a South Korean actor. Shin Ha Kyun first trained as a stage actor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts before going on to act in a large ...more -
![Stephen Chow]()
Chow Sing Chi (English name: Stephen) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director, and producer. Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in the early ...more -
![Kim Hae Sook]()
Kim Hae Sook is a South Korean actor. In 1974, she made her acting debut was in MBC's "Chief Inspector." Since then, she has won over ten awards and has a book ...more -
![Jung Woo Sung]()
Jung Woo Sung is a South Korean actor. He gave up studying to achieve his dream of becoming an actor, dropping out of high school after one year. It was controversial at ...more -
![Kim Hye Soo]()
Kim Hye Soo is a South Korean actress. Kim debuted in the 1986 film "Ggambo" when she was a first-year high school student. She has starred in many television dramas, as well ...more -
![Lee Jung Jae]()
Lee Jung Jae is a South Korean actor born in Seoul, South Korea. He majored in Drama at Dongguk University. He started modelling in 1993. His first film role was in "The ...more -
![Baek Yoon Shik]()
Baek Yoon Shik made his debut in 1970 on KBS TV. In the coming years, he would appear in four films, taking lead roles in his debut Excellent Guys and in the ...more -
![Joo Jin Mo]()
Joo Jin Mo began his acting career in TV dramas and some minor roles in films. He was first cast as a lead in the 1999 film "Dance, Dance" (댄스 댄스), for ...more -
![Jae Hee]()
Jae Hee is a South Korean actor who made his on-screen debut in the Korean drama School. He got his first break as a lead actor in Kim Ki Duk's movie 3-Iron ...more -
![Yang Dong Geun]()
Yang Dong Geun is a South Korean actor and hip-hop artist. Yang majored in Theatrical Performance at Yong In University. -
![Muroi Shigeru]()
Shigeru Muroi is a Japanese actress. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 19th Hochi Film Awards for Izakaya Yūrei. -
![Zhang Zi Yi]()
Zhang Zi Yi is a Chinese film actress and model. With a string of Chinese and international hits to her name, she has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang ...more -
![Lee Yo Won]()
Lee Yo Won is a South Korean actress. She graduated from Seongil Girls' High School and later obtained a bachelor's degree in Theater and Film from Dankook University. She debuted in 1997 ...more -
![Jun Kwang Ryul]()
Jun Kwang Ryul is a South Korean actor. He graduated from Chugye University for the Arts with a degree in Music. He joined the 22nd TBC Talent Search in 1980. His wife ...more -
![Nakadai Tatsuya]()
Nakadai Tatsuya was a Japanese actor. In his over seven-decade career, he appeared in more than 160 movies and received numerous accolades. He was honored with a Medal with Purple Ribbon in ...more -
![Yu Rong Guang]()
Yu Rong Guang (English name: Ringo) is a Chinese actor and director. He was born in Beijing and is the son of Peking Opera performance artist Yu Ming Kui (Source: Baidu) -
![Matsumoto Jun]()
Matsumoto Jun is a Japanese singer, actor, and radio host. He is a member of Japanese boy band Arashi and is best known to Japanese television drama audiences for his portrayal as ...more -
![Huh Joon Ho]()
Huh Joon Ho is a South Korean actor born on April 14, 1964. He comes from a family of actors; his father was Heo Jang Kang, one of the best-known Korean actors ...more -
![Mikuni Rentaro]()
Rentarō Mikuni was a Japanese film actor from Gunma Prefecture. He appeared in over 150 films since making his screen debut in 1951, and won three Japanese Academy Awards for Best Actor, ...more -
![Kagawa Teruyuki]()
Kagawa Teruyuki is a Japanese screen and stage actor. Born in 1965, his parents are the kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III and the cinema actress Hama Yuko. His grandmother is the film ...more -
![Kishi Keiko]()
Kishi Keiko is a Japanese actress, writer, and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. -
![Aratama Michiyo]()
Michiyo Aratama was a Japanese actress who appeared in leading and supporting roles in such films as Hiroshi Inagaki's Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki, Kihachi Okamoto's Samurai Assassin and Sword ...more -
![Ikuta Toma]()
Ikuta Toma is a Japanese actor and entertainer born in Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan. He has a younger brother, Ikuta Ryusei, who is a Fuji TV announcer. His wife is the actress Nana ...more -
![Okada Yoshinori]()
Okada Yoshinori is a Japanese actor. He is a high school graduate and does not have a college degree. He won the award for the best supporting actor at the 31st Yokohama ...more -
![Nakamura Katsuo]()
Nakamura Katsuo is a Japanese actor. -
![Kim Rae Won]()
Kim Rae Won is a South Korean actor. He initially wanted to become a professional basketball player, but when an injured ankle tendon ended that childhood dream, he turned to acting and ...more -
![Won Bin]()
Won Bin is a South Korean actor. He made his official debut in 1997. One of the most selective actors in the Korean entertainment industry, he has starred in only five films. ...more -
![Ji Sung]()
Ji Sung, born Kwak Tae Geun, is a South Korean actor presented by Surpass Entertainment. As his parents were both educators, it was expected of him to also enter the profession. But ...more -
![Na Young Hee]()
Na Young Hee is a South Korean actress. She has been active since 1981. She debuted in 1980 in the MBC drama "Attorney Hong". In 1981, she had her first lead role ...more -
![Krit Shahkrit Yamnam]()
Shahkrit Yamnam, nicknamed Krit, is a film and television actor, model, host, and restaurateur. He attended high school in New Zealand and received a bachelor's degree in marketing from the International Correspondence ...more -
![Nakama Yukie]()
Nakama Yukie is a Japanese actress, singer and former idol. She was born in Okinawa, Japan, in a fisherman's family, the youngest of five siblings. At the start of her career, she ...more -
![Kashiwabara Takashi]()
Japanese actor and muscian from Yamanashi (Born in Kobe). Winner of the 6th annual Junon Superboy Contest in 1993. Made his screen debut in Shunji Iwai's "Love Letter" in 1995, and was ...more -
![Sato Aiko]()
Aiko Sato is a Japanese actress and tarento. -
![Jet Li]()
Li Lian Jie (born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean martial artist, actor, film producer, wushu champion, and international film star who was ...more -
![Jackie Chan]()
Jackie Chan is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer, born in Victoria Peak, Hong Kong. He is one of the ...more -
![Yamato Takeshi]()
Yamato Takeshi is a former Japanese boxer and actor. -
![Kamenashi Kazuya]()
Kamenashi Kazuya, often referred to as Kame, is a Japanese actor and idol from Edogawa, Tokyo. He joined the Japanese talent agency Johnny's at age 12. He made his acting debut in ...more -
![Andy Lau]()
Andy Lau is a Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s and has performed in more than 120 ...more -
![Kojima Hijiri]()
Hijiri Kojima was born on March 1, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an actress, known for Atsumono (1999), Shinkuronishiti (2004) and Naito heddo (1995). She was previously married to Hirofumi Kiyonaga.
