Christopher Pang (born 29 December 1984) is an Australian actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Colin Khoo in ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on h ...

'' (2018) and Lee Takkam in '' Tomorrow, When the War Began'' (2010).

Early life

Pang was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and is the son of

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is pronounced "Yong Chun. ...

instructors. His paternal grandparents are from Canton, China while his father, Barry Pang, was born and raised in Australia. His mother, Anne Pang, was born in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and migrated to Australia in the 1970s. He was educated at Scotch College. Pang is distantly related to Bruce Lee as Lee's father was a cousin of Pang's paternal grandmother, and both came from the same village in Canton. Through his mother Anne Pang, Pang is a descendant of

Wong Nai Siong Wong Nai Siong (; Bàng-uâ-cê: Uòng Nāi-siòng) (1849—1924) as a Chinese revolutionary leader and educator from Minqing county in Fuzhou, Fujian province, China. He served in The Methodist Episcopal Church for many years and participa ...

, the Chinese revolutionary leader, Christian reformer and humanitarian who was key in the Fujian province in overthrowing the propaganda machine of the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. He later enrolled in a university and majored in multimedia studies. Unsatisfied with his studies, he later took a year off and sold phones to businesses before going into acting. Pang is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Career

While selling phones, Pang began his career incidentally after walking into a casting agency who were looking for a performer to do a Chinese accent for a voice over, Pang booked the role dubbing as

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

's brother in ''

New Police Story ''New Police Story'' is a 2004 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Benny Chan, and also produced by and starring Jackie Chan. The film was released in the Hong Kong on 24 September 2004. The film is a reboot of the ''Police Story' ...

4''. This started his acting career. Shortly afterwards he began studying at TAFTA in Melbourne. He temporarily moved to Beijing and Hong Kong to pursue an acting career. His big break would come in 2010, booking one of the lead roles in Australian film adaptation of the young adult dystopian novel '' Tomorrow, When the War Began'' and would star opposite

Caitlin Stasey Caitlin Jean Stasey (born 1 May 1990) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Rachel Kinski in ''Neighbours''. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in '' The Sleepover Club'', although her breakthrough movie role ca ...

, the film was a box office success in Australia. Later he acted in the feature film ''Citizen Jia Li''. Despite the success of ''Tomorrow'', he received little traction and in 2013 moved to Hollywood to further pursue his acting career. He reunited with his ''Tomorrow'' co-star Caitlin Stasey in ''

I, Frankenstein ''I, Frankenstein'' is a 2014 American science fantasy action film written and directed by Stuart Beattie, based on the digital-only graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the f ...

''. In 2016, he appeared in the martial arts film '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny'', in which he played the character Flying Blade. He also recurred in the season two of drama series '' Marco Polo''. In 2018, he co-starred in the film adaptation ''

'', directed by Jon M. Chu and starring

Constance Wu Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, fo ...

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

and

Henry Golding Henry Ewan Golding (born 5 February 1987) is a Malaysian-British actor and television host. Golding has been a presenter on BBC's ''The Travel Show'' since 2014. He is known for his film work, playing the role of Nick Young in ''Crazy Rich Asia ...

. He portrayed Colin Khoo. He later produced and starred in the Manila-set independent film ''Empty by Design'' alongside

Osric Chau Osric Chau (; born July 20, 1986) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Kevin Tran in the CW series ''Supernatural'', Vogel in the BBC America series ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'', and Ryan Choi in the TV shows set in th ...

and Filipina actress

Rhian Ramos Rhian Denise Ramos Howell (; born October 3, 1990), professionally known as Rhian Ramos, is a Filipino actress, commercial model, singer, host and race car driver. She is an exclusive talent of GMA Network Career Ramos started working in co ...

. ''Empty by Design'' was his first feature film as a producer. Pang co-starred in the 2019 reboot and continuation of '' Charlie's Angels'', directed by

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

. In June 2019, he was cast in a

Jason Katims Jason Katims (born November 30, 1960) is an American television writer, producer, and playwright. He is best known as the creator of several television series, including '' Relativity'' (1996), '' Roswell'' (1999–2002), '' Friday Night Lights' ...

pilot for

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

. He also joined the cast of ''

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

*Asians On Film ''"Best Actor"'', 2013 *GQ "Breakout star of the year", 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pang, Chris Male actors from Melbourne Living people 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian people of Chinese descent Australian people of Taiwanese descent 1984 births