Ki Hong Lee
| Ki Hong Lee | |
|---|---|
|
Ki Hong Lee at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International | |
| Born |
Lee Ki Hong September 30, 1986[1] Seoul, South Korea |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Spouse(s) | Hayoung Choi (m. 2015) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 이기홍 |
| Revised Romanization | I Gi-hong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Ki-hong |
Ki Hong Lee (born September 30, 1986) is a Korean American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Minho in The Maze Runner[2] and Dong Nguyen in the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Early life and education
Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, on September 30, 1986. When he was six years old, his parents moved the family to Auckland, New Zealand.[3] When he was eight, his family moved to Los Angeles, California.[4]
Lee studied psychology at University of California, Berkeley from 2004 to 2008.[3][4][5] While at college, Lee was part of a college chapter of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) and interned at their headquarters.[4][6] After college, he worked at his parents' restaurant in Little Tokyo while pursuing acting.[4]
Lee began acting in middle school, performing in church skits, and grew to love the stage and maintains a passion for theater.[7] Lee says he was inspired to further pursue acting when he saw Aaron Yoo acting in the film Disturbia while at college.[5]
Career
Lee debut on stage in Wrinkles presented by East West Players and directed by Jeff Liu which 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.[8]
Since 2010, Lee has guest starred in many different TV shows such as Victorious, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Modern Family before landing a main role in ABC Family's The Nine Lives of Chloe King.
Since 2012, Lee has collaborated with Wong Fu Productions (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, 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 will also star The Tomorrow People's Aaron Yoo and Veep 's Randall Park.[9][10]
In 2013, Lee made his full-length film debut in the YouTube, two-part film adaptation of Yellowface, from playwright David Henry Hwang.[11]
On April 18, 2013, director Wes Ball announced via Twitter that Lee had been cast in the film adaptation of the young-adult dystopian science fiction novel, The Maze Runner, as Minho, the keeper of the Runners in charge of navigating and mapping out the Maze.[12] 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.
Personal life
Ki Hong Lee married Hayoung Choi on March 7, 2015.[13] Choi played Lee's character's new girlfriend in the short film She Has a Boyfriend, by Wong Fu Productions.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Yellow Face | BD Wong | |
| 2014 | The Maze Runner | Minho | |
| 2015 | The Stanford Prison Experiment | Gavin Chan | |
| 2015 | Everything Before Us | Jay | |
| 2015 | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Minho | |
| 2016 | Special Citizen | ||
| 2018 | Maze Runner: The Death Cure | Minho | |
Short film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | All in All | Jeremy | |
| 2012 | Take It Slow | Brian | Wong Fu Productions |
| Fratervention: The End of Bro'ing Out | Keith | ||
| Away We Happened | Ben | Wong Fu Productions Mini-Series 6 episodes | |
| Always You | James | YOMYOMF Network | |
| MotherLover | Chaz Seong | YOMYOMF Network Mini-Series 6 episodes | |
| 2013 | The Master Chef | John Suh | Jubilee Project |
| This Is How We Never Met | Boy | Wong Fu Productions | |
| Somewhere Like This | Boyfriend | ||
| To Those Nights | Elijah bar friends | ||
| She Has a Boyfriend | Frank | ||
| 2014 | This Time | Manny Park | Jubilee Project |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Victorious | Clayton | 2 episodes: "Robarazzi" " The Diddly Bops" |
| The Secret Life of the American Teenager | Student #2 | 1 episode: "Which Way Did She Go?" | |
| Modern Family | Busboy | 1 episode: "Mother Tucker" | |
| 2011 | The Nine Lives of Chloe King | Paul | Main role 10 episodes |
| New Girl | Hector | 1 episode: "Bells" | |
| 2012 | The Client List | Delivery Guy | 1 episode: "Turn the Page" |
| 2013 | Blue Bloods | David Lin | 1 episode: "The Truth About Lying" |
| 2014 | NCIS | Chris Hoffman | S11 E15: "Bulletproof" |
| 2015–present | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Dong Nguyen | recurring role 8 episodes |
| 2015 | The Whispers | Peter Kim | 1 episode: "X Marks The Spot" |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Wrinkles | Jason | |
References
- ↑ "haha sept. 30". Twitter. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ Taylor, Ella (9 September 2014). "Film Review: 'The Maze Runner'". Variety. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- 1 2 Nalea J. Ko (June 25, 2011). "Actor Ki Hong Lee has been careful not to play into Asian American stereotypes on his journey to Hollywood". pacificcitizen.org. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 Ki Hong Lee (February 25, 2011). "Angry Reader of the Week: Ki Hong Lee". blog.angryasianman.com. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
- 1 2 Lee, Ki Hong (May 7, 2015). #IAm Ki Hong Lee Story (Video). Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Our friend, actor Ki Hong Lee stopped by". Liberty in North Korea Tumblr. May 19, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Ki Hong Lee in "The Maze Runner"". clickthecity.com. August 29, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ AsianWeek Staff (February 1, 2011). "East West Players Presents Wrinkles". asianweek.com. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ Reera Yoo (June 26, 2014). "Wong Fu Productions Announces Principal Cast for Their First Movie". Kollaboration. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ Diane Tsai (August 4, 2014). "Go Behind the Scenes of Wong Fu's First Feature Film". time.com. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ Philip (January 6, 2013). "The YOMYOMF Network: 'Yellow Face' or How We Spent Our Holiday Vacation". You Offend Me You Offend My Family. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ Wes Ball (April 18, 2013). "And while we're at it.... Everyone say hi to Ki Hong Lee. He's our Minho! Greatest cast EVAR!". twitter.com. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
- ↑ "'The Maze Runner's Ki Hong Lee is officially off the market!". allkpop. March 4, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
External links
- Ki Hong Lee at the Internet Movie Database
- Ki Hong Lee on Instagram
- Ki Hong Lee on Twitter
