Shannon Xiao Lóng Kook-Chun (born 9 February 1987) is a South African actor based in

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 ...

. He is known for his roles as Zane Park on the television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (2010–11), Jordan Green on '' The 100'' (2018–20), and Tony Swan on '' Reacher'' (2023–present), as well as his role as Drew Thomas in the horror franchise '' The Conjuring Universe'' (2013–21).

Early life

Kook was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to a Mauritian father of Chinese descent and a South African mother of

Cape Coloured Cape Coloureds () are a South African group of Coloured people who are from the Cape region in South Africa which consists of the Western Cape, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Their ancestry comes from the interracial mixing between th ...

descent. He then moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in order to attend the National Theatre School of Canada.

Career

Kook's first on screen role was in the Canadian television series ''

Being Erica ''Being Erica'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC Television, CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as ''The Session'', but was later r ...

'' in 2009. He gained widespread popularity for his role as Zane Park on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' in 2010. In 2014, Kook, Alexandre Landry, Sophie Desmarais, and Julia Sarah Stone, were chosen for the Toronto International Film Festival's ''Rising Stars'' initiative, an annual distinction that spotlights four up and coming Canadian actors to talent developers and filmmakers at the festival. Between 2015 and 2016, Kook starred in the popular

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 ...

''Carmilla''. In 2017, he was featured in the web series '' Running With Violet''. That same year, he appeared in the '' Shadowhunters'' series as Duncan. In January 2018, it was announced that Kook has been cast as a mysterious new guest star, Lucas, on the fifth season of

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 ...

's '' The 100''. This was revealed to be a red herring by series

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

Jason Rothenberg. Kook's role was later revealed as Jordan Jasper Green, the son of Monty Green and Harper McIntyre. Kook had originally auditioned for the role of Finn Collins and Monty Green. Kook returned as a series regular in season six and seven. In 2023, Kook was cast as Tony Swan in season two of

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

's action crime series '' Reacher.''

Personal life

Kook resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kook, Shannon Living people 1987 births 21st-century South African male actors Coloureds Male actors from Johannesburg National Theatre School of Canada alumni South African emigrants to Canada South African male film actors South African male television actors South African people of Chinese descent South African people of Mauritian descent Canadian people of South African descent Canadian people of Mauritian descent Canadian people of Chinese descent