Aaron Takahashi is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as the "male nurse" Lee in the film '' Yes Man'' (2008), one of the fake groomsmen in ''

The Wedding Ringer ''The Wedding Ringer'' is a 2015 American buddy romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Jeremy Garelick in his directorial debut. It stars Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting. The film was produced by Adam Fields, Will Pac ...

'' (2015), as Troy in the film ''

Welcome to the Jungle "Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured as the opening track on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 ...

'' (2013), and his various roles on the talk show ''Conan'' on TBS, with

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...

. Takahashi has appeared in over 50 national commercials since 2004.

Early life and education

Takahashi graduated from North Torrance High School. Takahashi worked at Meidi-Ya supermarket while attending the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC). He graduated with a degree in English and an emphasis on creative writing. After graduation, he became the manager of the store. After the store closed, Takahashi pursued acting full time.

Career

Film

Takahashi has appeared as the character "Takashi" in

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. His films have grossed over $3 billion USD worldwide . He is best known for his directorial work on ...

's directorial debut, ''

Better Luck Tomorrow ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' is a 2002 American independent crime drama film directed by Justin Lin. The film is about Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and material excess. ''Better Luck ...

'' (2002). He also appeared in the film '' Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005) as a Rickshaw Runner, and in

Lane Nishikawa Lane Nishikawa is a Japanese American actor, filmmaker, playwright and performance artist who was born in Wahiawa, Hawaii, and is ''Sansei'' (third generation Japanese American).Kim, Esther. (2006). His work often deals with Asian American histo ...

's film '' Only the Brave'' (2006) as one of the 442 2nd Squad soldiers. Takahashi has additionally appeared as the male nurse character "Lee" in

Peyton Reed Peyton Tucker Reed (born July 3, 1964) is an American television and film director. He directed the comedy films ''Bring It On (film), Bring It On'' (2000), ''Down with Love'' (2003), ''The Break-Up'' (2006), and ''Yes Man (film), Yes Man'' (200 ...

's '' Yes Man'' opposite

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...

. In 2013, Takahashi appeared as "Troy" in Rob Meltzer's ''

'' (2013) opposite

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...

. In 2015, Takahashi appeared as Endo/Rambis (named after the coach

Kurt Rambis Darrell Kurt Rambis (; born February 25, 1958) is a Greek-American former professional basketball player and coach who is a senior basketball adviser for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he won f ...

), one of

Josh Gad Joshua Ilan Gad (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Olaf in the '' Frozen'' franchise and playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical ''The Book of Mormon''. For his role as Olaf, Gad won two Annie ...

's character's "fake groomsmen" in

Jeremy Garelick Jeremy Garelick (born November 30, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Garelick was born in New York City. He attended Yale University and graduated in Film Studies. He is of Jewish background. Career After grad ...

's ''

'', starring

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...

and

. In addition to ''Better Luck Tomorrow'', Takahashi has appeared in independent films such as Kiyong Kim's ''Ku Klux Korena'' (2007) (as Jin), Teruhisa Yoshida's ''Robert Hearts Miss Ing'' (2008), Tom Huang's ''Why Am I Doing This?'' (2009)(as Sung), James Huang's ''Starting From Scratch'' (2013) (as Jim), Peter O'Melia's ''The Grounds'' (2014) (as Applicant #4), and as Aaron, a fictionalized version of himself, in ''Awesome Asian Bad Guys'' (2013-2014), directed by Patrick Epino and Stephen Dypiangco. Takahashi has also appeared in various short films such as Mike Nojun Park's ''Re: Your Balls'' (2009) (as Matt), James Huang's ''Represent'' (2010) (as Aaron), and Roman Cortez's ''My Best Friend Bigfoot Ep.1 & 2.'' (2010) (as Scott).

Television

Takahashi has appeared in a number of TV series, including ''Asia Street Comedy'' (2004-2005) (various characters), ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American television sitcom created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic ...

'' (as a Thai Delivery Man and a Storeowner), ''

The Bill Engvall Show ''The Bill Engvall Show'' is an American sitcom that ran on TBS from July 17, 2007, to September 5, 2009. The series starred comedian Bill Engvall and was written and created by Engvall and Michael Leeson. The series was canceled on Septembe ...

'' (2009) (as a Driver), ''Whacked'' (as a Korean Shopkeeper), ''

Traffic Light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

'' (as a Nerdy Dad), '' Mr. Sunshine'' (as Jerry), ''ACME Saturday Night'' (as various characters), ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

'' (as the Math Club Leader in the episode "A Fistful of Paintballs" Dir. Joe Russo), ''The Mentalist'' (as Tai Nguyen), ''

Ben and Kate ''Ben and Kate'' is an American single-camera sitcom television series created by Dana Fox. It ran on Fox from September 25, 2012 to January 22, 2013, as part of the 2012–13 television season. The series stars Dakota Johnson and Nat Faxon as a ...

'' (as Shawn), ''

Sullivan & Son ''Sullivan & Son'' is an American sitcom created by Steve Byrne and Rob Long that was broadcast on TBS. It starred Byrne as Steve Sullivan, who surprises his parents when he leaves his job as a corporate lawyer to take over a bar owned by his ...

'' (as Dr. Park), ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'' (as a scientist), ''

The Millers ''The Millers'' is an American sitcom television series that was created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia and stars Will Arnett as Nathan Miller and Margo Martindale as Carol Miller. The Multiple-camera setup, multi-camera series aired fr ...

'' (as Kevin), '' Conan'' (as various characters), ''Drunk History'' (as a guest) and ''Dog Park'' (as Neal). Takahashi currently has recurring roles in both the

Yahoo! Screen The company Yahoo! ran several similar video services. Yahoo! Video, a video hosting service, was established in 2006. Later, the ability to upload videos was removed, changing it to a more pure video on demand service; the website became a port ...

original series ''

Sin City Saints ''Sin City Saints'' is an American sitcom television series starring Malin Åkerman, Andrew Santino, and Keith Powers. It debuted on Yahoo! Screen on March 23, 2015. Its eight-episode first season was directed by Bryan Gordon and Fred Savag ...

'' (as social media guru Henry), and the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

series ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissoci ...

'' (as Allsafe Security employee Lloyd).

Advertisement and other work

Takahashi has appeared in over 50 national ad campaigns for brands such as

Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, based in Plano, Texas, United States. The original producer of Snapple, a company that was known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved ...

, the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Esurance Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. is an American insurance company. It sells auto, home, motorcycle, and renters insurance direct to consumers online and by phone. Founded in 1999, the company was acquired by Allstate in 2011. History Esuranc ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Arlo Technologies Arlo Technologies is an American company that makes wireless surveillance cameras. Prior to an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2018, Arlo was a brand of such products by Netgear, which retained majority contr ...

and Amp'd Mobile (where he plays a worker that raps the song " U and Dat" (featuring

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

and Kandi Girl) out loud in a bathroom before another employee notice him). Takahashi also provides the voice of "Paul Tard" in the videogame ''Slumber Party Slaughterhouse: The Game'' (2008). Takahashi has also appeared on stage in Paul Kikuchi's ''Slice'', at the Fremont Theater in Pasadena. He has been trained at

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give ...

, where he teaches the annual "On-Camera Commercial and Audition Class." He has also been a writer and performing member of the ACME Comedy Theater, and is also currently a workshop instructor and core performing member of the improv group Cold Tofu. He was an honoree at East West Players 2019 Night Market for "advancing the visibility of Asian Americans nationally" through his work.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Actor Aaron Takahashi's Greatest Hits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takahashi, Aaron American male actors of Japanese descent American male film actors American male television actors Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Year of birth missing (living people)