Hana Mae is a multi-talented Korean-American fashion designer, comedienne, model and actress, probably best known for her recurring role as Lilly in the “Pitch Perfect” film franchise.
Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Hana Lee was born on 28 September 1988, under the Libra zodiac sign, in Southern California, USA, which makes her 33 years old as of late 2021. She was brought up in the San Fernando Valley by her parents who are of Japanese and Korean descent. Her mother owned a beauty shop and a salon, and worked there for two and a half decades. Her father was a police officer (a captain) and was stationed in Seoul – however, his name isn’t available. Hana developed an interest in fashion design when 15, and enjoyed doing makeovers and editorial photoshoots.
As she was growing up, her close friends and family knew her by her nickname ‘Fish Lips.’ The future actress went to Granada Hills Charter for her high school, and matriculated to college in 2004, 16 years old then; she attended Oris Arts and Design College situated in Los Angeles, and graduated with a Fashion and Design Fine Arts bachelor’s degree.
Hobbies and Interests
Being a model, Hana is a fitness enthusiast who hits the gym frequently to maintain her slim figure; she is also keen on her diet.
The actress’ father wanted her to follow in his footsteps to join the FBI after she graduated from college.
She likes listening to hip hop music when she isn’t working, and has trained in modern dance.
She has a unique taste in pets, and has kept a bearded dragon (a lizard) and named it Emmanuel.
Mae wanted to assume Stacie’s role in “Pitch Perfect”, but landed another role after auditioning.
She speaks Korean fluently, and performed a Korean traditional song for “Pitch Perfect” auditions.
Career
Modelling Career
Hana began her career when she was 15 years old, doing makeovers at the American department store Macy’s. A year later she started modelling, and was seen in several music videos and a few commercials. Subsequently, she posed as a model for several renowned magazines, such as Vogue Korea, Elle, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Time and many more.
She also had a chance of working with a few notable American personalities such as famous photographer Ellen Von Unwerth, and Kim Kardashian, with whom she featured in Midori Liqueur’s endorsement campaigns. On top of this, she has endorsed several brands such as Honda, Jeep, Apple Inc., Nokia, HP and American Express.
Career as a Fashion Designer
As a fashion designer, Hana has showcased her expertise by designing Mossimo Boy’s label cloth line, and their Target plus-wear line. Her extensive skills saw her being hired by Ralph Lauren to design their Black and Purple menswear labels, and she’s famous for founding the jewellery line called Hanamahn – a Korean word meaning ‘just one’ – in 2009.
Her products were seen in the market until 2018, when she stopped designing under that name, and subsequently created a sister line that had appealing designs of leather items, including costumes, outerwear and apparels. She revealed during an interview that she is inspired by Alexander McQueen’s works, which has prompted her to become more artistic and creative with her attire.
During 2013’s MTV Movie Awards, Mae was seen wearing a Cigarette Butt hat, which she’d designed in collaboration with Alain Lafaille (she worked with Alain to make several other unique art pieces) – the interesting art piece became a viral worldwide hashtag. and was also the subject of many articles written after the award ceremony.
Entertainment Career – Stand-Up Comedy, Film, and TV Series
Hana began her career in the entertainment industry as a stand-up comedienne in 2009. During that year, she became half of Get Gaysian comedy duo alongside Matthew John Dally, performing sketch and stand-up comedy, song and impersonations at Flappers, Akbar, 3 Clubs, and The Comedy Store, among others. Matthew’s also a good friend who she first met at Baron Brown Studios.
She began her small-screen career in 2011, as a guest star in “Mike & Molly” by CBS, in which she portrayed Soo-Jin. During the same year, she featured in “Workaholics” Comedy Central sitcom.
The year that followed saw her rise to prominence for her recurring role in “Pitch Perfect,” in which she assumed the role of Lilly Onakuramara and then reprised the role in the second and third sequels of the film, which aired in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Moreover, she made appearances in productions such as Netflix’s “The Babysitter” and “Love Beats Rhymes” both in 2017. Her most recent films are “The Babysitter: Killer Queen” of 2020, and 2021’s “Abruptio.”
Hana has appeared in several other TV series, including “Made in Hollywood” (2012), “Marry Me” (2014), “Super Fun Night” (2014), “Patriot” (2015), “Those Who Can’t” (2016), and “Perpetual Grace, LTD” (2019), among others.
The talented actress bagged MTV Movie’s Best Musical Moment Award in 2013, for her praised performance in “Pitch Perfect” in 2012.
Mae is very active on social media, and uses her Instagram account (with more than 200,000 followers) for brand endorsements and to promote her career. She’s also active on Twitter, and uses the platform to communicate with her fans about her upcoming assignments and other important aspects of her career. She’s been seen promoting various products, such as Rick Owens Store, Nordstrom, Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Helmut Lang, among others on her social media handles.
Personal Life
Hana was previously seeing Utkarsh Ambudkar, famously known as UTK the INC, who is an American singer, rapper and actor, born in Maryland, USA, under the Sagittarius zodiac sign on 8 December 1983. The duo met during the shooting of the first production of the “Pitch Perfect” film series, in which they assumed starring roles. They started dating shortly afterward, but kept their affair away from the limelight, however, their relationship was short-lived, as they broke up shortly after the movie was released. Utkarsh is currently married to Naomi Campbell, having tied the knot in September 2019, and the couple has welcomed two children together, a daughter and a son named Tiare and Bhumi respectively.
Hana hasn’t been seen dating anyone else since then, and is currently single as observed on her social media posts, and presumably focusing solely on her multi-faceted career with no children as of 2021. She is currently living in Santa Monica, California.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Lee has a slender figure – is 5ft 5ins (1.66m) tall and weighs approximately 110lbs (51kg); her vital statistics are around 34-24-36, and she has dark brown eyes and black hair.
Net Worth
Hana Mae Lee has accumulated a modest fortune through her career as an actress as well as her flourishing fashion and design profession. She owns a jewellery line, and has appeared in several advertising projects, which have contributed to her fame and net worth, estimated as of 2021 at over $1 million.
