Ken Kirby is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

actor and screenwriter. He has played the recurring characters Ben on Freeform's '' Good Trouble'', Evan Tate in

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

series ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

'', and Lenjamin McButtons in the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

'' The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo''. Kirby has also appeared in the independent film ''

Straight Up Various unique terms are used in bartending. Definitions and usage Straight, up, and straight up In bartending, the terms "straight up" and "up" ordinarily refer to an alcoholic drink that is shaken or stirred with ice and then strained and ...

'',

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

's '' The Gifted'', and Freeform's ''

Famous in Love Famous may refer to: Companies * Famous Brands, a South African restaurant franchisor * Famous Footwear, an American retail store chain * Famous Music, the music publishing division of Paramount Pictures * Famous Studios, the animation division ...

''.

Early life and education

Kirby was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

to a British father and a Chinese mother. He grew up between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Kirby studied business in college. Kirby, who has a passion for comedy, decided that he wanted to entertain people professionally after 1100 people attended his one-man show at the Vancouver Comedy Festival in 2010. After completing formal training at the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Ad ...

and

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improv techniques we ...

, Kirby entered CBS's Diversity Showcase in 2015 and then signed with

The Gersh Agency Gersh (also known as The Gersh Agency) is an international entertainment and sports agency headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, New York City, and Madrid, with offices and representatives in 14 countries. Established in 1949 by Phil Gers ...

Career

Kirby had a minor speaking role in the 2006 comedy film ''

She's the Man ''She’s the Man'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy teen sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Loosely inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Twe ...

'', and voiced Kenji in the video game '' Need for Speed: Carbon'' the same year. In 2016, Kirby played Lenjamin McButtons in the

''The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo'', and portrayed Bryan in Freeform's ''

'' in 2018. In 2019, Kirby appeared as Byron in '' Grand Hotel'', began playing Ben in Freeform's '' Good Trouble'', and Evan Tate in

season three A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

and season four of

series ''

''. Kirby has also appeared as Craig in the independent film ''

'' (2019), and as Noah in

's '' The Gifted'' (2018).

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Personal life

Kirby resides 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, ...

. He hopes to utilize comedy as a way to bring Asian American stories "to the forefront in both TV and film."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Ken 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Living people Canadian people of Chinese descent Year of birth missing (living people)