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Kenneth Choi

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For other people with similar names, see Ken Choy and Ken Choi (singer).
In this Korean name, the family name is Choi.

Kenneth Choi
Born (1971-10-20) October 20, 1971 (age 53)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present

Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Judge Lance Ito in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).[1] He is also known for his roles as Jim Morita and Principal Morita in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) respectively, and Lewis on the FOX comedy series The Last Man on Earth (2016–2017).[2] Since 2018 he is starring in the FOX first responder drama series 9-1-1, playing LAFD firefighter Howie "Chimney" Han.

Early life

Eventually I said, you know, "I'm going to give it a go, I’m going to try it" and so I dropped out of school, I packed up all of my belongings, which was not much, [I] saved up enough money to buy a one-way Greyhound ticket and I came out West.

—Kenneth Choi[3]

Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants.[3] His father worked as an electrical engineering professor and businessman. His mother was a registered nurse before becoming a stay-at-home mother. Choi is the middle of three children. He attended Longwood Elementary in Glenwood, Illinois. He then attended intermediate and junior high school at Brookwood School District 167. Choi had his first taste of performing as a break dancer during his junior high years. He ran cross-country and was a gymnast at Homewood-Flossmoor High School where he held the sophomore record for the pommel horse. His parents, especially his father, discouraged his childhood dreams of becoming an actor, instructing him to pursue a “responsible and reasonable” career, like accounting.[3] Choi followed the advice of his parents and majored in accounting at Purdue University, but later decided to drop out in order to pursue his acting dreams.[3] Choi stated: "I came from a very traditional Asian upbringing so they were very strict. When I decided to pursue acting, I knew that I had to do it all on my own. When I left the Midwest, I cut all ties with my family. I basically ran away from home."[3]

Choi moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue a career in acting. He had no prior work experience so he gained employment at a local Blockbuster video store. He spent the next five years training with local Portland acting teachers, most notably with Paul Warner.

Acting career

Choi began his acting career in Portland, Oregon. His first role was in the Disney Channel television movie, Halloweentown, with Debbie Reynolds. Choi moved to Los Angeles in late 1999 to further pursue a career as an actor. Choi has appeared in over 25 films, most notably The Wolf of Wall Street (as Chester Ming),[1] Captain America: The First Avenger (as Jim Morita), Red Dawn (as Smith) and Suicide Squad. In the 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming, he plays a grandson of his Captain America character.

Choi has appeared in over 40 television shows. Most notably, he played Henry Lin in Sons of Anarchy, Captain Ed Rollins on the NBC TV series Ironside, and Sam Luttrell for the NBC TV series Allegiance.

Choi played Judge Lance Ito in the Emmy Award-winning FX series, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He also appeared in various TV series, including Longmire, The Newsroom, The Last Man on Earth, Glee, Heroes, 24, Lincoln Heights, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D. and The King of Queens.

Choi has provided his voice as Jim Morita for the video game Captain America: Super Soldier.[4] He has also voiced the role of a gangster in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[5]

In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on FOX TV's hit show, 9-1-1.[6][7] In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's new series, Counterpart.[8] Also that year, he appeared in the feature films Gringo, alongside Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron, and Hotel Artemis with Jodie Foster.[9]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Halloweentown Hip-Sales-Creature
2000 Deep Core Wayne Lung
2001 Beyond the Pale Douglas [10]
2002 Woman on Fire Janitor
2003 Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision Professor Josh Chan
2004 The Terminal CBP Officer
2005 The Road to Canyon Lake Pong
2005 Harsh Times Fujimoto
2006 Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil South Korean Ambassador Li Sung Park
2006 Only the Brave Dave Fukushima
2006 Undoing Danny
2006 The Heart Specialist Mitchell Kwan
2007 Baby Mike
2007 Walk the Talk Dave
2007 War Takada
2007 Koreatown Sil The Well Dressed Drug Dealer
2008 Street Kings Boss Kim
2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Jim Morita
2012 Dr0ne Jay
2012 Red Dawn Corporal Smith
2012 The Real St. Nick Jack
2013 Five Thirteen C.I.A.
2013 The Wolf of Wall Street Chester Ming
2016 Suicide Squad Yakuza Boss
2017 Stephanie
2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming Principal Morita
2017 Bright Yamahara
2018 Gringo Marty
2018 Hotel Artemis Buke
2018 Office Uprising Freddy Wong

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Martial Law Biohazard Driver Episode: "Blue Flu"
2000 The West Wing Secret Service Agent #1 Episode: "Six Meetings Before Lunch"
2000 The Huntress Douglas Ho Episode: "Scattered"
2000 Arliss Tommy Takega Episode: "Where There's a Will..."
2000 V.I.P. Desmond Kusari Episode: "Magnificent Val"
2000 Roswell Ken Episode: "Skin and Bones"
2001 The Division Louis Tang Episode: "Absolution"
2001 The Brothers García Alec Lind Episode: "Band on the Run"
2001 Kristin 'Smoove' Episode: "The Escort"
2001 Dead Last Syd The Junkie Episode: "Heebee Geebee's"
2002 Reba Officer Aoki Episode: "Brock's Swan Song"
2002 The King of Queens Todd Ling Episode: "Holy Mackerel"
2003 Presidio Med Dennis 2 episodes
2003 Crossing Jordan Garma Episode: "Fire and Ice"
2003 Becker Nam Episode: "Dates & Nuts"
2003–04 Dragnet Criminal Investigator Burrell 2 episodes
2004 According to Jim Lab Technician Episode: "A Vast Difference"
2004–05 House Dr. Lim 2 episodes
2005 Las Vegas Duncan Sabusawa Episode: "Fake the Money and Run"
2006 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jason Tua Episode: "Post Mortem"
2007 Shark Kirk Bagley Episode: "The Wrath of Khan"
2007 Lincoln Heights Anthony Moon Episode: "Tricks Treats"
2007 24 Cheng's Operative 4 episodes
2008 Samurai Girl Sato 6 episodes
2008–09 Crash Mikey Han 3 episodes
2008–14 Sons of Anarchy Henry Lin 14 episodes
2009 Without a Trace Agent Philip Shen Episode: "Once Lost"
2009 Heroes Sam Douglas Episode: "Chapter Nine 'Turn and Face the Strange'"
2009 Glee Dr. Wu 2 episodes
2010 Hawthorne Dr. Paul Hyun 3 episodes
2011 Last Man Standing Dr. Wong 2 episodes
2012 The Newsroom Dr. Lee Episode: "The Greater Fool"
2013 Ironside Captain Ed Rollins 9 episodes
2013 Longmire Dr. Bloomfield Episode: "Tuscan Red"
2014 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jim Morita Episode: "Shadows"
2015 Allegiance Sam Luttrell 13 episodes
2016 The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story Judge Lance Ito 7 episodes
2016–17 The Last Man on Earth Lewis 10 episodes
2017 Chicago Med Dr. David Kwon 2 episodes
2017 Dimension 404 Kojima Episode: "Impulse"
2018– 9-1-1 Howie 'Chimney' Han 63 episodes
2018 Counterpart Bob Dwyer 4 episodes
2019 Snowfall Bobby 'Bob-Bob' Kim Episode: "Cash and Carry"

Video games

Year Title Role
2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Gangster
2011 Captain America: Super Soldier Jim Morita

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and director
Year Artist Song title Director
2016 OneRepublic "Wherever I Go" Joseph Kahn

References

  1. ^ a b "Movie Casting Roundup: 'Wolf of Wall Street', 'Twelve Years a Slave', 'You Are Here', 'Claire's Cambodia'". June 25, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  2. ^ "'Last Man on Earth' Returns in Season 3 With a Major Short-Lived Guest Star". The Hollywood Reporter. September 25, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Kenneth Choi Brings Nisei Soldiers to the Big Screen in 'Captain America'". New American Media. July 24, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  4. ^ "Captain America: Super Soldier (2011 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  5. ^ "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  6. ^ "Ryan Murphy's '911' Fox Drama Adds Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi". The Hollywood Reporter. October 12, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "9-1-1's Kenneth Choi Says Chimney Has a '50/50' Chance of Surviving Getting Stabbed | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. March 26, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  8. ^ "Stephen Rea and Kenneth Choi join the 'other side' in exclusive 'Counterpart' photos". EW.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Otterson, Joe (October 12, 2017). "Ryan Murphy's '9-1-1' Adds Four to Cast, Including Rockmond Dunbar, Aisha Hinds". Variety. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "Beyond the Pale (2001)". IMDb. 2001. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
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