Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ...

'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

'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 a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

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 is starring in the FOX

first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or ...

drama series ''

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency n ...

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

Early life

Choi was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, to Korean immigrants. His father worked as 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. He then attended intermediate and junior high school at

Brookwood School District 167 Brookwood School District 167 is an elementary school district based in the southern Cook County, Illinois village of Glenwood; it serves a periphery Periphery or peripheral may refer to: Music *Periphery (band), American progressive metal ...

. Choi had his first taste of performing as a break dancer during his junior high years. He ran cross-country and was a gymnast at

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois. The district encompasses nearly 11.5 square miles drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, and Olym ...

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 measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

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

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

, but later decided to drop out in order to pursue his acting dreams. 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 a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

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

Acting career

Choi began his acting career in

. His first role was in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

television movie, '' Halloweentown'', with

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

. Choi moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in late 1999 to further pursue a career as an actor. Choi has appeared in over 25 films, most notably '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (as Chester Ming), '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (as Jim Morita), ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius with a screenplay by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance o ...

'' (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 in over 40 television shows. Most notably, 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 From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

.'' Choi played Judge Lance Ito in the Emmy Award-winning FX series, '' The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story''. He also appeared in various TV series, including '' Longmire'', '' The Newsroom'', '' The Last Man on Earth'', ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also 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 30 ...

'', ''

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'' ...

'', '' 24'', '' Lincoln Heights'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

House M.D. ''House'' (also called ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The series' main character is G ...

'' 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, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...

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

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

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

gangster A gangster 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 ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

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

.'' In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's new series, '' Counterpart.'' Also that year, he appeared in the feature films ''

Gringo ''Gringo'' (, , ) (masculine) (or ''gringa'' (feminine)) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner, usually an English-speaking Anglo-American. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. In Latin America, it is ge ...

,'' alongside

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...

and

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 20 ...

, and ''

Hotel Artemis ''Hotel Artemis'' is a 2018 American dystopian action crime film written and directed by Drew Pearce, in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Charlie Day, Brian Tyree H ...

'' with

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Kenneth American male actors of Korean descent 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