Kenneth Choi
Kenneth Choi | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actor |
Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor.[1] He is best 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).[2] 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 respectively, and Lewis on the FOX comedy series The Last Man on Earth.[3] He is currently starring in Fox first responder drama series 9-1-1, playing LAPD 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[4]
Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] 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."[4]
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),[2] 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, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. 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.[5] He has also voiced the role of a gangster in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[6]
In 2018, Choi will play Bob Dwyer on Starz's new series, Counterpart as well as Howie "Chimney" Han on FOX TV's hit show, 9-1-1. Also that year, he appeared in the feature films Gringo, alongside Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron, and Hotel Artemis with Jodie Foster.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Halloweentown | Hip-sales-creature | |
2000 | Deep Core | Wayne Lung | |
2001 | Beyond the Pale | Douglas | |
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 | James "Jim" Morita | |
2012 | Dr0ne | Jay | |
2012 | Red Dawn | Smith | |
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 | Agent Coleman | |
2018 | Gringo | Marty | |
2018 | Hotel Artemis | Buke | |
2018 | Bumblebee | In post-production |
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 | C.I. 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. | James "Jim" Morita | Episode: "Shadows" |
2015 | Allegiance | Sam Luttrell | 13 episodes |
2016 | The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story | Judge Lance Ito | 10 episodes |
2016–17 | The Last Man on Earth | Lewis | 10 episodes |
2017 | Chicago Med | Dr. David Kwon | 2 episodes |
2018 | 9-1-1 | Howie "Chimney" Han | Main 26 episodes |
2018 | Counterpart | Bob Dwyer | Recurring 4 episodes |
Video games
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Gangster |
2011 | Captain America: Super Soldier | Jim Morita |
Music videos
Year | Artist | Song title | Director |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | OneRepublic | "Wherever I Go" | Joseph Kahn |
References
- ^ "Kenneth Choi". The New York Times.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|url=
(help) - ^ a b "Movie Casting Roundup: 'Wolf of Wall Street', 'Twelve Years a Slave', 'You Are Here', 'Claire's Cambodia'". Retrieved July 9, 2014.
- ^ "'Last Man on Earth' Returns in Season 3 With a Major Short-Lived Guest Star". September 25, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Kenneth Choi Brings Nisei Soldiers to the Big Screen in 'Captain America'". New American Media. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Captain America: Super Soldier (2011 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
External links
- Kenneth Choi at IMDb