Kenneth Choi

Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Judge Lance Ito in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).^[1] He is also known for his roles as Jim Morita and Principal Morita in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 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).^[2] Since 2018 he has been starring in the Fox/ABC drama series 9-1-1, playing LAFD firefighter Howie "Chimney" Han.

Early life

Eventually I said, you know, "I'm going to give it a go, I’m going to try it" and so I dropped out of school, I packed up all of my belongings, which was not much, [I] saved up enough money to buy a one-way Greyhound ticket and I came out West.

— —Kenneth Choi^[3]

Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants.^[3] 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.^[3] Choi followed the advice of his parents and majored in accounting at Purdue University, but decided to drop out to pursue his acting dream.^[3] 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."^[3]

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),^[1] 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, ', House M.D. and The King of Queens.

Choi provided his voice as Jim Morita for the video game Captain America: Super Soldier.^[4] He voiced the role of a gangster in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.^[5]

In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on Fox TV's 9-1-1.^[6][7] In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's Counterpart.^[8] Also that year, he appeared in the feature films Gringo and Hotel Artemis.^[9]

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.^[10]

In April 2024, Choi joined Amazon MGM Studios' sci-fi thriller entitled Mercy.^[11]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

1. ^ "Movie Casting Roundup: 'Wolf of Wall Street', 'Twelve Years a Slave', 'You Are Here', 'Claire's Cambodia'". June 25, 2012. Archived October 12, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
2. ^ "'Last Man on Earth' Returns in Season 3 With a Major Short-Lived Guest Star". The Hollywood Reporter. September 25, 2016. Archived December 3, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
3. ^ "Kenneth Choi Brings Nisei Soldiers to the Big Screen in 'Captain America'". New American Media. 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
4. ^ "Captain America: Super Soldier (2011 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
5. ^ "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004 Video Game) Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Archived May 13, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
6. ^ "Ryan Murphy's '911' Fox Drama Adds Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi". The Hollywood Reporter. October 12, 2017. Archived January 3, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
7. ^ "9-1-1's Kenneth Choi Says Chimney Has a '50/50' Chance of Surviving Getting Stabbed | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
8. ^ "Stephen Rea and Kenneth Choi join the 'other side' in exclusive 'Counterpart' photos". EW.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
9. ^ Otterson, Joe (2017-10-12). "Ryan Murphy's '9-1-1' Adds Four to Cast, Including Rockmond Dunbar, Aisha Hinds". Variety. Archived February 2, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
10. ^ "King of the Hill Revival Reveals 5 New Cast Members Ahead of August Release Date". July 23, 2025.
11. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 1, 2024). "'True Detective' Star Kali Reis Joins Amazon MGM Studios' Chris Pratt & Rebecca Ferguson Sci-Fi Thriller 'Mercy'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
12. ^ "Beyond the Pale (2001)". IMDb. 2001. Archived November 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 8, 2019.

External links

• Kenneth Choi at IMDb