James Kyson (born December 13, 1975) is a South Korean-born American actor best known for his television work. Best known for his role as Ando Masahashi on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television series ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

'', his guest appearances on television series include '' Hawaii Five-0'', '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', '' Sleepy Hollow'', ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

'', and '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''.

Early life and education

Kyson was born Lee Ji-Hoon (although his given name was later changed to Jae-Hyeok) in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. His father was an electrical engineer. He moved with his family to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

at age 10, where he later attended

The Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

. His English name, James, is derived from

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

. He studied communications at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

with the intent of being a sports broadcaster before later transferring to the

New England Institute of Art The New England Institute of Art (NEiA) was a private for-profit art school in Brookline, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1952 as the Norm Prescott School of Broadcasting and was one of the 45 Art Institutes in North America. The scho ...

. In summer of 2001, Kyson sold his car and bought a one-way ticket to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with the intent of entering the acting industry. He enrolled in performing arts classes at a community college while auditioning for roles and working as a

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

tutor to pay the bills.

Acting career

After three years in Los Angeles, Kyson landed his first acting role on the military legal television drama '' JAG'' in 2003. He landed guest roles in hit network television series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'' and ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'' amongst others before being cast as one of his more widely known roles, Ando Masahashi in the sci-fi series ''

''. The role required him to speak Japanese. He later stated that he had taken a semester of Japanese in college and did not find learning the language difficult as it was grammatically similar to

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, which he is fluent in. Since ''Heroes'' ended, he also guest-starred on '' Hawaii Five-0'', '' Justified'', '' Animals.'', '' Sleepy Hollow'', ''

'', and more recently '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''. His feature films work includes the romantic comedy ''Another Time'', the thriller ''The Livingston Gardener'' - and as a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter in the action feature ''Banana Season''. Kyson was a celebrity judge at the

Miss Universe 2007 Miss Universe 2007 was the 56th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico on May 28, 2007. At the end of the event, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned Riyo Mori from Japan as Miss Universe 2007. It is Ja ...

beauty pageant.

Personal life

Kyson is married to singer and neuroscientist Jamee Kyson () since 2015. He is fluent in Korean and learned Japanese to play Ando Masahashi in ''Heroes''.

Filmography

* '' JAG'' (2003) – Lieutenant Pak (1 episode, 2003) * ''

All About the Andersons ''All About the Andersons'' is an American sitcom television series that originally aired on The WB from September 12, 2003 to February 12, 2004. It was canceled after one season. Premise Anthony Anderson is a single father and struggling actor ...

'' (2003) – Josh * ''

Threat Matrix ''Threat Matrix'' is an American drama television series created by Daniel Voll that aired on ABC from September 18, 2003 to January 29, 2004 which lasted 16 episodes. The plot consisted of the events in a United States Homeland Security anti-t ...

'' (2004) – Vargas Killer * ''

'' (2004) – Chinese Translator Zheng * ''

Doberman The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany.Heist'' (2006) – Universal Studio Guide * ''

On the Rocks Various unique terminology is 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 ...

'' (2006) – Donald Park * ''

'' (2006–2010) – Ando Masahashi * ''

Big Dreams Little Tokyo ''Big Dreams Little Tokyo'' is a 2006 feature-length motion picture written and directed by Dave Boyle. The film premiered November 2, 2006 at the AFI Festival in Hollywood, California and is released on DVD through Echo Bridge on July 22, 2008. ...

'' (2006) – Murakami * '' Asian Stories'' (2006) – Jim Lee * ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

'' (2007) – Joon Ho Park * '' The Darkness'' (2007) – voices of Peter Chen, Cops * '' Shutter'' (2008) – Ritsuo * '' Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'' (2008) – voice of Shang Tsung * ''Akira's Hip Hop Shop'' (2008) – Akira * ''

'' (2009) – Korean Translator (1 episode – "Say Uncle") * ''

White on Rice ''White on Rice'' is a 2009 comedy film directed by Dave Boyle and starring Hiroshi Watanabe, Nae Yuuki, Mio Takada, James Kyson Lee, and Lynn Chen. The film had its world premiere at the 27th annual San Francisco Asian American Film Festival on ...

'' (2009) – Tim Kim * ''Hard Breakers'' (2009) – Evan * '' Necrosis'' (2009) – Jerry * ''

How to Make Love to a Woman ''How to Make Love to a Woman'' is a 2010 American sex comedy film directed by Scott Culver and written by Dennis Kao, both making their respective debuts, starring Josh Meyers (actor), Josh Meyers, Krysten Ritter, Eugene Byrd, James Hong, and I ...

'' (2009) – Aaron * '' Star Runners'' (2009) – Lei Chen * ''

WWII in HD ''World War II in HD'' is a History (U.S. TV network), History Channel television series that chronicles the hardships of World War II, using rare films shot in color never seen on television before. The episodes premiered on five consecutive d ...

'' (2009) – voice of Jimmie Kanaya * '' Celebrity Ghost Stories'' (2009) – Himself * ''Why Am I Doing This?'' (2009) – Eric * '' Despicable Me'' (2010) – Additional Voices * '' Hawaii Five-0'' (2011) – Sean Leung * ''

Plush Plush (from French ) is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or s ...

'' (2013) – Coat and Tie Fan * '' Grand Theft Auto V'' (2013) – voice of The Local Population * '' Justified'' (2014) – Yoon * ''Ragamuffin'' (2014) - Matt Gast * '' Fourth World'' (2015) – Legion * ''The Livingston Gardender'' (2015) – Pierce Lawrence * ''

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

'' (2016) – Boss * '' School of Rock'' (2016) – David Kwon * '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' (2016) – James Kang * ''Convenience Store Diet'' (2016) – voice of Jacked Bro * ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

'' (2017) – The Technician (Season 2 episode 6 - "Sokoasha") * ''Boone: the Bounty Hunter'' (2017) – Cameo * ''No Trace'' (2017) – Detective Phil Chung * '' Blade of Honor'' (2017) – John 'Hoss' O'Tekjac * '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2017) – Special Agent Mark Wong * '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'' (2017) – Inspector Joon-Ho Kim * ''

'' (2017) – Joey Ng * ''The High Life'' (2017) – Chevy Lee * ''Another Time'' (2018) – Kal * '' Breaking & Exiting'' (2018) – Peter * ''Banana Season'' (2018) – Sun * '' Walk to Vegas'' (2019) – Wing * '' Anthem'' (2019) – voice of Dr. Harken * ''

Lovecraft Country Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has since been elaborated on by other writers working in the ...

'' (2020) – Byung-Ho (1 episode – "Meet Me in Daegu") * ''Next'' (2020) - Bill Zhai (1 episode - "File #7")

Other activities

Kyson plays basketball for charity celebrity team The Hollywood Knights and participated in

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

' Soccer Aid for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

at ''Manchester United''s Old Trafford in England. He is also an Ambassador for the International Organization ''Good Neighbors'' and their Water for Life campaign. Kyson represented the

Rest of the World Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or countr ...

team in 2010

Soccer Aid ''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between t ...

, a British

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

soccer match in aid of

References

External links

* *
Interview with girl.com on ''White on Rice''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyson, James American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male actors of Korean descent 1975 births Boston University College of Communication alumni The Bronx High School of Science alumni Living people Male actors from New York City New England Institute of Art alumni People from Seoul South Korean emigrants to the United States