Esther Chae () is an American actress, published playwright, speaker and consultant for Korean entertainment and Hollywood. Chae has appeared in numerous television shows such as ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', '' Law and Order: Criminal Intent'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis that aired on FX from March 12, 2002 to November 25, 2008 for seven seasons. The show is known for its portrayal of corrupt police ...

'', and '' ER''. She has also performed on theater stages including

Yale Repertory Theater Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stud ...

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

Kirk Douglas Theater The Kirk Douglas Theatre is a 317-seat theater located in Culver City, California, United States. Since 2004, it has been operated by the Center Theatre Group. History Built in 1946, as a Streamline Moderne movie palace with a seating capacity o ...

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 ...

, P.S. 122, and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

. Chae was among the inaugural class of TED fellows in 2009. She wrote and performed in ''So The Arrow Flies'', an 80-minute one-woman performance about a North Korean spy and the FBI agent that hunts her down. It touches on

post-9/11 The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy. Some ...

themes of terrorism, political ideology, national identity and mother-daughter relationships.

Early life and education

Chae is the daughter of Dr. Hi-kyung Chae and Mrs. Inja Chae. She was born in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, and at the age of five moved to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. She graduated from

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

with a B.A. in

French Literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

. Upon graduation, she returned to the United States. Chae earned her M.A. in Theater Studies at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and her M.F.A in Acting at the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in ...

Career

Esther Chae has been covered by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, and

Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

. Her life in Hollywood was the subject of a Korean Broadcasting Station ( KBS) documentary. Esther's television roles include

, Law and Order: Criminal Intent,

, 24,

and numerous national commercials; her theatre credits include

La Mama La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

and Harvard/A.R.T. She currently teaches Advanced Acting for TV and Film at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

(LA). As a consultant, she has worked extensively in the entertainment business for the past two decades on major hits such as

World of Dance World of Dance is a Southern California-based dance, fashion, music, and entertainment brand founded by Matthew Everitt, David Gonzalez, Myron Marten, Michael McGinn, and Herman Flores in 2008. It is the world's largest dance entertainment enter ...

(

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

(

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

), Lost (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

) and other high-profile projects. Esther is an inaugural

TED Fellow TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

and has presented her talks at TED, TEDx, Arts Council of Korea and numerous other conferences. Her unique experience as a speaker, actor and teacher allows her to help others hone their public storytelling and presentation skills. As a speaker coach, she teaches students how to craft effective presentations for business at

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

(Seoul), and has worked with companies such as

Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, offering nearly 340 brands alongside its own private label, the Sephora Collection. Its product range includes cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty t ...

XPrize XPRIZE Foundation is a non-profit organization that designs and hosts public competitions intended to encourage technological development. The XPRIZE mission is to bring about "radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity" through incentiv ...

, Overseas Koreans Foundation and other prominent private clients.

Notable awards and recognition

In 2015, Chae was invited to speak at TEDxPHX where she presented "WIBLDD: What If Bruce Lee Didn't Die." This unique talk, combined with performance, highlights Asian American representation (and lack of) in the media and arts through an enlightening conversation with a 75-year-old Master Bruce Lee. In 2014, Chae was nominated for the "Extraordinary Chambers" (Play), 'Outstanding Dramatic Production,' and 'Outstanding Ensemble' by San Diego Theater Critic Circle. In 2010, Chae received the 2010 APA Heritage Trailblazer Award by New York governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

. That year, she also received the 2010

Emerging Artist Alumni Award & King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Professorship and Emerging Artist Award. In 2009, she was one of the inaugural 2009 TED Fellows. At the conference she performed an excerpt from her solo performance ''So The Arrow Flies''. In 2008, Chae was invited to 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 ...

's Network of Korean-American Leaders (NetKAL) Fellowship Program which promotes community leadership among successful second-generation Korean-Americans. In 2007, Chae was awarded the Korean Wave (Hallryu) Asia Star Award which was nationally and internationally televised throughout

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, China, and Japan.

So The Arrow Flies

SO THE ARROW FLIES, written and performed by Esther Chae, is a political thriller about an alleged North Korean spy and the FBI agent who interrogates her. In his introduction,

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...

calls the play a "dazzlingly ambitious play, which explores nothing less than the identity of our world today." Written by award-winning actor Esther K. Chae, the solo performance play explores complex political and social issues including America's national security apparatus, global identity and gender roles through modern heroines. The performance debuted at New York's Estrogenius Festival in 2007. Since then, it has been featured at TED conference, Ars Nova Theater (New York City), Cherry Lane Theater (New York City), World Women's Forum (Seoul, Korea), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), October Nights Theater Festival (Imola, Italy), and educational institutions such as New York University, Wellesley College and City University of New York's Martin Segal Theater Center. ''So the Arrow Flies'' (Book) Archived in Yale Library, Drama Collection in University of Washington's East Asian Library (2016) Archived in Korea's National Assembly Library (2015) Published by Dong-in Press, Korea (2015) Published by No Passport Press (in English and Korean) (2014) ''So the Arrow Flies'' (Stage Play) Library of Congress, Archive Collection (2012)

Credits

Filmography and TV

Theater

Voice Over and miscellaneous

Personal life

Chae is fluent in English and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, and knows some French and

written Chinese Written Chinese is a writing system that uses Chinese characters and other symbols to represent the Chinese languages. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary. Rath ...

. Chae is certified stage combatant, and is trained in Korean Drum and Mask dance. She summited

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

(

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, 5,895m) and trekked the

Himalayan Mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peak ...

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, 1400m) and

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

(

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, 7,972m).

Awards and recognition

*2014 "Extraordinary Chambers" (Play) Nominated for 'Outstanding Dramatic Production' & 'Outstanding Ensemble' by San Diego Theater Critic Circle *2010 Asian American Trailblazer Award *2010 University of Michigan Emerging Artist Alumni Award *2009 TED Fellow *2009 Tanee Artist Recognition Award *2009 Durfee ARC Grant *2009 Asian Women's Giving Circle Grant *2009 Santa Fe Art Institute Screenwriting Fellow *2008 University of Southern California, Center for Asia Pacific Leadership *2008 NetKAL Fellowship *2007

Korean Wave The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-p ...

Asian Star Award at the Asia Model Festival Awards *2006 Vision Award by The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications ("Cinema AZN"/ International Channel) *2005 Producers Guild of America Film Development Workshop Fellow *2005

AFTRA The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...

Best American Scene Award ("Micro Miniseries"/ABC) *2005 Golden Reel Award, Best Radio Play ("

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

" with

Tyne Daly Ellen Tyne Daly (; born February 21, 1946) is an American actress whose six-decade career included many leading roles in movies and theater. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work, a Tony Award, and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of ...

and

Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, ...

) *2001 Ammy Award for Asian Americans, Best Documentary Nominee ("Becoming an Actress in NYC") *2000

Obie The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

Theater Award Nominee ("Pojagi"/Ping Chong and Co.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chae, Esther K. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Korea University alumni New York Film Academy University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Korean descent American television actresses American stage actresses Actresses from Eugene, Oregon