Kenneth Choi

Early life

Greyhound]] ticket and I came out West.

Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants. His father was 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 and intermediate and junior high school at Brookwood School District 167. Choi performed as a breakdancer in junior high. He ran cross-country and was a gymnast at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, 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. Choi followed the advice of his parents and majored in accounting at Purdue University, but decided to drop out to pursue his acting dream. 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 to pursue acting. He had no work experience so he gained employment at a Blockbuster video store. He spent the next five years training with Portland acting teachers, most notably Paul Warner.

Acting career

Choi began his acting career in Portland, Oregon. His first role was in the Disney Channel television film, Halloweentown, with Debbie Reynolds. Choi moved to Los Angeles in late 1999 to further pursue acting. In film, he appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street (as Chester Ming), Captain America: The First Avenger (as Jim Morita), Red Dawn (as Smith) and Suicide Squad. In the 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming, he plays a grandson of his Captain America character.

Choi has appeared on television. He played Henry Lin in Sons of Anarchy, Captain Ed Rollins on the NBC TV series Ironside and Sam Luttrell for the NBC TV series Allegiance.

Choi played Judge Lance Ito in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He has appeared in various TV series including Longmire, The Newsroom, The Last Man on Earth, Glee, Heroes, 24, Lincoln Heights, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D. and The King of Queens.

Choi provided his voice as Jim Morita for the video game Captain America: Super Soldier. He voiced the role of a gangster in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on Fox TV's 9-1-1. In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's Counterpart. Also that year, he appeared in the feature films Gringo and Hotel Artemis.

Starting in season 14 of King of the Hill, Choi became the new voice of Ted Wassanasong who was previously voiced in earlier seasons by Toby Huss.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

References

1. (June 25, 2012). "Movie Casting Roundup: 'Wolf of Wall Street', 'Twelve Years a Slave', 'You Are Here', 'Claire's Cambodia'".
2. (24 July 2011). "Kenneth Choi Brings Nisei Soldiers to the Big Screen in 'Captain America'".
3. "Captain America: Super Soldier (2011 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew".
4. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew".
5. (October 12, 2017). "Ryan Murphy's '911' Fox Drama Adds Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi".
6. (2019-03-26). "9-1-1's Kenneth Choi Says Chimney Has a '50/50' Chance of Surviving Getting Stabbed {{!}} TV Guide".
7. "Stephen Rea and Kenneth Choi join the 'other side' in exclusive 'Counterpart' photos".
8. (2017-10-12). "Ryan Murphy's '9-1-1' Adds Four to Cast, Including Rockmond Dunbar, Aisha Hinds".
9. (July 23, 2025). "King of the Hill Revival Reveals 5 New Cast Members Ahead of August Release Date".
10. (2001). "Beyond the Pale (2001)". [[IMDb]].