Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American Action film, action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX (TV channel), FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-k ...

'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in

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 ...

's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance Ito in '' The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story'' (2016). He is also known for his roles as Jim Morita and Principal Morita in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

films '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011) and '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017) respectively, and Lewis on the Fox comedy series '' The Last Man on Earth'' (2016–2017). Since 2018 he has been starring in the ABC drama series ''

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

'', playing LAFD firefighter Howie "Chimney" Han.

Early life

Choi was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, to Korean immigrants. His father was 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 and intermediate and junior high school at Brookwood School District 167. Choi performed as a breakdancer in junior high. 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 Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

. Choi followed the advice of his parents and majored in accounting at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, but decided to drop out to pursue his acting dream. 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." Choi moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

to pursue acting. He had no work experience so he gained employment at a Blockbuster video store. He spent the next five years training with Portland acting teachers, most notably Paul Warner.

Acting career

Choi began his acting career in

. His first role was in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

television film, '' Halloweentown'', with

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

. Choi moved to

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, ...

in late 1999 to further pursue acting. In film, he appeared in '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (as Chester Ming), '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (as Jim Morita), '' Red Dawn'' (as Smith) and ''

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

''. In the 2017 film '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', he plays a grandson of his ''Captain America'' character. Choi has appeared on television. He played Henry Lin in ''

'', Captain Ed Rollins on the NBC TV series '' Ironside'' and Sam Luttrell for the NBC TV series ''

Allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology The word ''allegiance'' comes from Middle English ' (see Medieval Latin ', "a liegance"). The ...

.'' Choi played Judge Lance Ito in '' The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story''. He has appeared in various TV series including '' Longmire'', '' The Newsroom'', '' The Last Man on Earth'', ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'', '' Heroes'', '' 24'', '' Lincoln Heights'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', '' House M.D.'' and ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

''. Choi provided his voice as Jim Morita for the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Captain America: Super Soldier''. He voiced the role of a

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

in the 2004 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on Fox TV's ''

.'' In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's '' Counterpart''. Also that year, he appeared in the feature films '' Gringo'' and '' Hotel Artemis''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Kenneth American male actors of Korean descent Gymnasts from Chicago Male actors from Chicago 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people American male voice actors 20th-century American male actors 1971 births Krannert School of Management alumni Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni