Ki Hong Lee (born September 30, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Minho in the ''Maze Runner'' film series and Dong Nguyen 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 fi ...

sitcom ''

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' is an American streaming television sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, starring Ellie Kemper in the title role. It premiered on March 6, 2015, on Netflix and ran for four seasons, ending on January 25 ...

''.

Early life and education

Lee was born 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, on September 30, 1986. When he was six years old, his parents moved the family to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. When he was eight, his family moved 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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Lee studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

from 2004 to 2008. In college, Lee was part of a college chapter of

Liberty in North Korea Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It has offices in Long Beach, California, United States, and Seoul, South Korea. The organization rescues refugees hiding in China and resettles them in South Korea or the ...

(LiNK) and interned at their headquarters. He was also an elected

Associated Students of the University of California The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) is the autonomous and officially recognized students' association of the University of California, Berkeley. It is the only students' association within the University of California ...

Senator from 2005 to 2006, under the Student Action party. He ran for re-election for the 2006 to 2007 year under "The Mario Party" as 'Ki Hong "Donkey Kong " Lee' but failed to garner the necessary votes for the position. Lee began acting in middle school, doing skits at church retreats. He initially wanted to become a teacher but was inspired to pursue acting after watching

Aaron Yoo Aaron Yoo (born May 12, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for appearing in the films '' Disturbia'' (2007), '' 21'' (2008), and ''Friday the 13th'' (2009), as well as playing Russell Kwon in the sci-fi series ''The Tomorrow People'' ( ...

in the film '' Disturbia'' (2007) while in college. After college, he worked at his parents'

sundubu jjigae ''Sundubu-jjigae'' * (, -豆腐--) is a ''jjigae'' in Korean cuisine. The dish is made with freshly curdled soft tofu (dubu) which has not been strained and pressed, vegetables, sometimes mushrooms, onion, optional seafood (commonly oysters, ...

restaurant, Tofu Village, in Little Tokyo while pursuing acting.

Career

Since 2010, Lee has guest starred in many different TV shows such as ''

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'', ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to som ...

'',

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day ( Zoo ...

, and ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

'' before landing a main role in ABC Family's ''

The Nine Lives of Chloe King ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'' is an American supernatural drama television series which premiered on ABC Family on June 14, 2011, and ended on August 16, 2011. The one-hour drama is based on the book series of the same name by Liz Braswell. ...

''. Lee made his stage debut in ''Wrinkles,'' presented by

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

and directed by

Jeff Liu Jeff Liu is an American writer, screenwriter, theater director, composer, and film director. His theatrical productions include the world premieres of: ''Texas'', ''Solve for X'' by Judy Soo Hoo, ''Murderabilia'', ''Terminus Americana'' (Ovation ...

. It opened on February 16, 2011 and closed on March 13, 2011 at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 2012, Lee has collaborated with

Wong Fu Productions Wong Fu Productions is an American filmmaking group founded by Wesley Chan (born April 27, 1984), Ted Fu (born October 26, 1981), and Philip Wang (born October 28, 1984). The trio met at the University of California, San Diego in 2004 and prod ...

(WFP) featuring in more than five short videos including the ''Away We Happened'' mini-series. On June 26, 2014, it was announced that Lee was cast in WFP's first feature film ''

Everything Before Us ''Everything Before Us'' is a 2015 Canadian–American romantic drama film, directed by Philip Wang and Wesley Chan and produced by Christine Chen, Chris Dinh, and Preston Clay Reed. The film marks the first feature film of Wong Fu Productions. ...

'', which focuses on "two couples at different stages of their relationships, set in a world where "all relationship activity is documented and monitored by the Department of Emotional Integrity (DEI)" and is assigned a number like a credit score." The film also featured ''

The Tomorrow People ''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979. The theme music was ...

''s

and ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep' ...

'''s

Randall Park Randall may refer to the following: Places United States *Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community * Randall, Indiana, a former town *Randall, Iowa, a city *Randall, Kansas, a city * Randall, Minneso ...

. In 2013, Lee made his feature-length film debut in the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, two-part film adaptation of ''Yellowface'', from playwright

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yell ...

. It was published by the Asian American-centric

YOMYOMF YOMYOMF, whose name is an acronym for "You Offend ME, You Offend My FAMILY," is a YouTube channel aggregating talent from various performers. Even though the YOMYOMF Network is an Asian American pop culture channel, the channel is intended to sho ...

network . On April 18, 2013, director Wes Ball announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that Lee had been cast in the film adaptation of the young-adult dystopian science fiction novel, ''

The Maze Runner ''The Maze Runner'' is a 2009 young adult dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the first book released in ''The Maze Runner'' series. The novel was published on October 6, 2009, by Delacorte Press, an ...

'', as Minho, the keeper of the Runners in charge of navigating and mapping out the Maze. This was Lee's feature film debut. He reprised the role in the sequel, '' Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials'', which was released on September 18, 2015, and the final film in the franchise, '' Maze Runner: The Death Cure'', which was released on January 26, 2018. In fall 2017, he played the lead in

Julia Cho Julia Cho (born July 5, 1975) is an American playwright and television writer. In March 2020 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. Select full length plays ''99 Histories'' (2002) ''99 Histories'' is a drama portraying th ...

's play, ''Office Hour'', alongside actress Sue Jean Kim in the New York premiere of the production at the

Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American ...

Personal life

Ki Hong Lee married his childhood friend Hayoung Choi on March 7, 2015. Their daughter was born in late 2016. Choi played Lee's character's new girlfriend in the 2013 short film ''She Has a Boyfriend'', by

Filmography

Film

Short film

Television

Stage

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ki Hong 1986 births American male actors of Korean descent American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors South Korean emigrants to the United States South Korean emigrants to New Zealand Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Seoul People from Auckland University of California, Berkeley alumni Living people 21st-century American male actors