Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series '' Glee'' (2009–2015), Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series '' Shadowhunters'' (2016–2019), and Dr. Benson Kwan on the ABC television series ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' (2022–present). He was nominated for six Screen Actors Guild Awards for best ensemble performance in '' Crazy Rich Asians'', '' Glee'' and '' Everything Everywhere All at Once'', winning for the latter two. Shum won The Male TV Star of 2018 award in the

E! People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the Fan (person), fans and Public, general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined us ...

for ''Shadowhunters''. Shum has appeared in the films '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' (2008), '' Step Up 3D'' (2010), '' White Frog'' (2012), '' Revenge of the Green Dragons'' (2014), '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny'' (2016), '' Crazy Rich Asians'' (2018), the

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web series '' The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers'' (2010–2011) and the YouTube Originals series '' Single by 30'' (2016). In 2020, he starred in

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

's romantic drama '' All My Life''. In 2021, Shum starred in the thriller '' Broadcast Signal Intrusion'' and appeared in

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's holiday rom-com '' Love Hard''. In 2022, Shum had a supporting role in A24's critically acclaimed film ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'', and is set to star in a '' Crazy Rich Asians'' spinoff centered around his and Gemma Chan's characters.

Early life

Shum was born in Limón, Costa Rica, the son of Chinese immigrants. His mother is a native of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and his father is from

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China. They relocated to Costa Rica, where Shum and his two older sisters were born. When Shum was six years old, the family moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He stated, "I feel I have the best of so many worlds. I speak Spanish and

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

. Spanish is actually my first language before I learned Cantonese and English." He later stated that he has not spoken Spanish fluently since the age of 6. Shum spent most of his schooling years in San Luis Obispo County, California, and graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2000. Initially, he had been more interested in theater and sports but found a passion for dance after auditioning for his high school dance team on a dare. Shum attended San Francisco State University for a year, before dropping out to pursue a dance career. In an interview, he said that his earliest motivations to dance were from watching Ginuwine, Dru Hill, and Usher before becoming influenced by dancers like

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Career

2002–2007: Dancer beginnings

Shum began his dance career in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. As an 18-year-old, he was spotted by choreographers Rosero McCoy and Jamal Sims to go on a UK tour with the singer Kaci. He steadily built his career, appearing as the only male dancer on BET's '' ComicView'', and starred in a series of

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

advertisements as dancing silhouettes. He joined

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

in their co-headlining tour ''Ladies First'' in 2004, while working as a backup dancer for artists including

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, Jessica Simpson, and Mariah Carey. He appeared in several music videos of songs including '' Lose My Breath'' by

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

and "It's Like That" by Mariah Carey. Shum also worked as a dance instructor.

2008–2014: Turn to acting, ''Glee, The LXD''

Since 2008, Shum was given roles in '' Step Up 2'' and later '' Step Up 3D'', both directed by Jon M. Chu. From 2009 until 2015, he portrayed the role of Mike Chang, a dancer who joins the glee club, on the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. Known for a while as "Other Asian" on '' Glee'', he was given very few lines during the show's first season. Partly due to the enthusiasm from fans during his appearances on the live tour taking place after the first season concluded, Shum's character was given storylines in the second season, mostly involving his relationship with fellow glee club member Tina Cohen-Chang ( Jenna Ushkowitz). He subsequently gave performances of "Make 'Em Laugh" in "

The Substitute ''The Substitute'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Marc Anthony, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz and Luis Guzmán. It was filmed at Miami Senior High School. Pl ...

", "Sing" from '' A Chorus Line'' in " Duets", "Valerie" in "

Special Education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

", and the show's first dance solo in " A Night of Neglect". He was promoted from guest star to series regular for the third season. He was given a major storyline in the third episode of the season, " Asian F," and performed " Cool" from '' West Side Story'', his first solo song. On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Shum would not return as a regular on ''Glee'' fifth season but would be a recurring guest star. Shum worked as both a choreographer and a dancer for the dance group The LXD. Shum has been featured in many productions of Wong Fu Productions. In 2011, Shum starred in a short action film, '' 3 Minutes'', directed by Ross Ching and produced by Don Le and George Wang. In 2012 he starred in '' White Frog'', a comedy-drama film directed by Quentin Lee. Subsequently, Shum was cast in the role of the Kuai Liang (the younger Sub-Zero) in the second season of '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy''. Harry had a major role in crime drama film '' Revenge of the Green Dragons'', which was executive produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. Shum was also a judge on the

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

television series '' Face Off''.

2015–2018: ''Shadowhunters'' and other films

In 2016, Shum appeared as the character Wei-Fang in the

American–Chinese

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...

'' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny'', a sequel to '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (1999). Shum was also cast as the male lead, Peter Ma, in '' Single by 30'', a YouTube Red original series from Wong Fu Productions and New Form Digital after starring in the original pilot in 2015. The first season of the series premiered on August 24, 2016, on Wong Fu Productions' Channel. Shum scored a primary role in the Freeform series, '' Shadowhunters'', and portrayed the centuries-old warlock Magnus Bane between 2016 and 2019. The show was based on Cassandra Clare's best-selling young adult

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

series, '' The Mortal Instruments''. His portrayal of Bane, a bisexual man of color, helped '' Shadowhunters'' win the 2017 GLAAD media award for an "Outstanding Drama Series", which he accepted with his co-star Matthew Daddario. Shum also received the Bisexual Representation Award (BiRA) for "Best Bisexual Representation of a Supporting Character" in both 2017 and 2018 hosted by FluidStyleCo. Shum won the award for The Male TV Star of 2018 in the

for his role as Magnus Bane in '' Shadowhunters''. Alongside his work in '' Shadowhunters'', he received supporting roles in films including '' Escape Plan: The Extractors'' and '' Burn''. In 2018, Shum was cast as Charlie Wu in Jon M. Chu's '' Crazy Rich Asians''. Despite most of his scenes from the lattermost being cut due to the desire to focus on one romantic pairing, he appears briefly in a mid-credits scene, hinting at a romantic link to one of the characters, Astrid Leong-Teo.

2019–present

In 2019, Shum appeared in 4 episodes of '' Tell Me a Story'' which premiered in December 2019. In March 2020, Shum guest starred in an episode of Comedy Central's '' Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens''. On December 4, the romantic drama ''All My Life'' was released in US theaters, followed by a premium video-on-demand release on December 23, and a streaming release on HBO Max on August 7, 2021. Conspiracy thriller '' Broadcast Signal Intrusion,'' in which Shum starred and served as an executive producer, premiered to critical acclaim at South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2021 and was released On Demand and in select theaters on October 22, 2021. In March 2022, Shum appeared in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning film '' Everything Everywhere All at Once''.

Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...

called Shum "the most incredible physical comedian ever", referring to his performance in the film. On May 6, 2022, ''Deadline Hollywood'' reported that a '' Crazy Rich Asians'' spinoff is in early development at Warner Bros. and is set to focus on the relationship between Astrid Leong-Teo and Charlie Wu, played respectively by Gemma Chan and Shum. Starting October 2022, Shum joined the cast of ''

'' season 19 as surgical intern Dr. Benson "Blue" Kwan. Shum also turned to voiceover work. He made a guest appearance in the

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

animated series '' Star Trek: Lower Decks'', voicing the character of Rawda. In 2022, Shum starred in and executive produced Realm's fiction podcast series ''Echo Park'', which was nominated for Best Fiction Podcast at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. In 2023, Shum voiced Brainiac 5 in DC Studios's animated film set in the Tomorrowverse, ''

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

''. Also, in 2023, he narrated the PBS ''Nature'' documentary ''The Hummingbird Effect''. In 2024, Shum will portray a drag queen in the short ''Shimmer - Inspired by Eva Young'', set to premiere at the Sun Valley Film Festival.

Personal life

Shum began a relationship with actress and dancer Shelby Rabara in 2007. The two were engaged in October 2013 while on vacation in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and were married on November 22, 2015, in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. They have a daughter. According to Shum, his father currently lives in

, and he regularly visits the nation. As well as stating the fact that his family has historically lived in Costa Rica, dating back at least 3 generations. Shum has stated that he identifies as being somewhat Latino. He said, "It's strange that I am full Chinese and born in a Latin country, but I love the fact that I was immersed in that culture at birth while maintaining my Chinese roots."

Filmography

Film

Television

Other

Awards and nominations

Discography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shum, Harry Jr. 1982 births Living people American male actors of Chinese descent American dancers of Asian descent 21st-century American male actors American people of Costa Rican descent Male actors from San Francisco American choreographers American male film actors American actors of Chinese descent American people of Hong Kong descent American male dancers American musicians of Chinese descent American male television actors Costa Rican emigrants to the United States Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area People from Limón Province Costa Rican people of Chinese descent Costa Rican people of Hong Kong descent San Francisco State University alumni Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American dancers Hispanic and Latino American musicians Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners