Jason Tobin, credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai (杜俊緯), is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

film and television actor best known for his work in the lead role of Young Jun in the

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent net ...

series ''Warrior''.

Early life and education

Tobin was born in

, where he attended the King George V School in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

. He also attended boarding schools in the UK. His father is English and his mother is Chinese. After graduating high school, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

Career

Tobin has appeared in over twenty films and television productions. His breakout film was ''

Better Luck Tomorrow ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' is a 2002 American crime film, crime-Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Justin Lin. The film is about Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and ma ...

'' by

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the ...

, starring alongside

Parry Shen Parry Shen (born June 26, 1973) is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and producer. Shen's first major acting role was in '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' as Ben Manibag, the film's leading character. He also starred in another Asian American film, ...

Sung Kang Sung-Ho Kang (born April 8, 1972) is an American actor. His first major role was as Han Lue in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, a character he first portrayed in '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002). Kang also played John Mak in the television seri ...

Roger Fan Roger Fan (born August 11, 1972) is a Taiwanese-American film, theater, and television actor best known for his collaborations with Justin Lin and his appearances in the films '' Annapolis'', '' Finishing the Game'' and '' Better Luck Tomorrow''. ...

and

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...

, which debuted at

Sundance Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. In New York Magazine, critic Bilge Ebiri described enjoying "...one crackerjack performance, in Jason Tobin’s unbridled portrayal of a hyper, horny, and confused brat." Featuring the adventures of four overachievers, the film is widely praised for breaking the model minority stereotype of Asian Americans on screen. 17 years later, LA Times named it the best Asian American film of all time, as judged by 20 Asian American critics and curators. Tobin was one of several ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' cast members alongside Sung Kang to appear in the ''

Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...

'' franchise movies starting with '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'', where he portrayed one of Han's crew members and Sean's friend named Earl. He later reprised the character in '' F9''. Both films were also directed by Justin Lin. He stars as the main character Eddy Tsai in the Asian American "serial killer" film ''Chink'', directed by Stanley Yung, written by

Koji Steven Sakai Koji Steven Sakai is an American screenwriter and producer. He has written the screenplay for '' The People I've Slept With'' (2009), a romantic comedy film directed by Quentin Lee and starring Karin Anna Cheung and Archie Kao as well as Wilson C ...

and produced by

Quentin Lee Quentin Lee (; born 1971) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian-American film writer, director, and producer. He is most notable for the television series ''Comedy InvAsian'' and feature films ''The People I've Slept With'' (2009), ''Ethan Mao'' (2004), ...

. The film also stars

Eugenia Yuan Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former rhythmic gymnast who has won a Hong Kong Film Award. Early life On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei-pei, an actress who ...

and

Tzi Ma Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as ''The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films, such as ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', ''Arrival'', '' The Farewell' ...

. For his performance in ''Chink'' (re-titled as ''#1 Serial Killer''), Tobin won a "Best Actor" or "Breakout Performance for an Actor" award at the 2013

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) – formerly known as VC FilmFest – is an annual film festival presented by Visual Communications (VC). It was established in 1983 by Linda Mabalot as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific Amer ...

. Tobin also received a "Best Actor - Dramatic" award at the 2015

for his performance in the film ''Jasmine'' (2015). In 2018, he once again reunited with director

to star in the

series ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

'', a martial arts drama based on an original idea by the late

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

and produced by his daughter Shannon Lee. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' described Tobin "as a source of both unpredictable line-readings and humor", while ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' pointed out his charismatic performance. The series was renewed for a second season. In February 2021, Tobin was cast as William Pan in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

film ''

Fistful of Vengeance ''Fistful of Vengeance'' is a 2022 American supernatural action thriller film directed by Roel Reiné, and written by Cameron Litvack, Jessica Chou and Yalun Tu. The film serves as a follow-up to the first season of the television series '' Wu A ...

''. It was released on February 17, 2022.

Personal life

Tobin resides in

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He has a wife and three children. He is an admirer of

"because he's the ultimate badass and he inspired me as a kid." He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, AFTRA and Equity. After filming season one of ''Warrior'', Tobin was diagnosed with

prediabetes Prediabetes is a component of the metabolic syndrome and is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold to diagnose diabetes mellitus. It usually does not cause symptoms but people with prediabetes often have obesit ...

and was close to having

Type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, ...

. In order to improve his health, he changed his diet and training by working with ATP Fitness, which helped him become physically fit and mobile for his role as Young Jun. Tobin successfully reversed his prediabetes and managed his

blood sugar level Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

before filming ''Warrior'' season two.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

*Best Actor, ''Chink (also known as #1 Serial Killer)'', 2013

*Best Actor - Dramatic, ''Jasmine'', 2015

*Best Actor - Jasmine, 201
London Independent Film Awards
*Best Actor - Jasmine, 201

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Jason Year of birth missing (living people) Hong Kong emigrants to England English male film actors English male television actors Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong male television actors Living people Hong Kong people of English descent British male actors of Chinese descent Alumni of King George V School, Hong Kong