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Jason Tobin

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Jason Tobin
Born
To Jun Wai (杜俊緯)

(1975-07-12) 12 July 1975 (age 49)
British Hong Kong
OccupationActor
Known forBetter Luck Tomorrow
Warrior
MovementAsian American Film
SpouseMichelle Lau
Children3
Jason Tobin
Traditional Chinese杜俊緯
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingdou6 zeon3 wai5

Jason Tobin (born 12 July 1975), credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai (Chinese: 杜俊緯) is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor.[1] He is known for his role as Young Jun in the HBO MAX series Warrior.

Early life and education

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Tobin was born in Hong Kong,[2] where he attended the King George V School in Kowloon. He also attended boarding schools in the UK. His father is English and his mother, a Chinese-Australian.[3] After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career.[4]

Career

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Tobin has appeared in several films and television productions. His breakout film was Better Luck Tomorrow by Justin Lin, starring alongside Parry Shen, Sung Kang, Roger Fan and John Cho, which debuted at Sundance Festival. In New York Magazine, critic Bilge Ebiri described enjoying "...one cracker jack performance, in Jason Tobin’s unbridled portrayal of a hyper, horny, and confused brat." Featuring the adventures of four overachievers, the film is widely praised for breaking the model minority stereotype of Asian Americans on screen.[5][6][7][8] 17 years later, Los Angeles Times named it the best Asian American film of all time after review by critics.[9]

Tobin was one of several Better Luck Tomorrow cast members alongside Sung Kang to appear in the Fast & Furious franchise movies starting with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, where he portrayed one of Han's crew members and Sean's friend named Earl. He later reprised the character in F9.

He starred as the Eddy Tsai, the lead role in the Asian American "serial killer" film Chink, directed by Stanley Yung, written by Koji Steven Sakai and produced by Quentin Lee. For his performance in Chink (re-titled as #1 Serial Killer), Tobin won a "Best Actor" or "Breakout Performance for an Actor" award at the 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.[10][11] He also received a "Best Actor - Dramatic" award at the 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in the film Jasmine (2015).

In 2018, he reunited with director Justin Lin to star in the Cinemax series Warrior, a martial arts drama based on an original idea by the late Bruce Lee and produced by his daughter Shannon Lee.[12] The Hollywood Reporter described Tobin "as a source of both unpredictable line-readings and humor",[13] while The New York Times pointed out his charismatic performance.[14] The series was renewed for a second season and third season until it was eventually cancelled in December 2023.[15]

In February 2021, Tobin was cast as William Pan in the Netflix film Fistful of Vengeance.[16] It was released on 17 February 2022.[17]

Personal life

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Tobin resides in Hong Kong and London, England. He has a wife and three children.[4]

He was influenced by Bruce Lee saying that he's the ultimate badass and inspired him when he was a kid.[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1998 Yellow Yo-Yo Directed by Chris Chan Lee
2002 Better Luck Tomorrow Virgil Hu Directed by Justin Lin[18]
2005 House of Fury Rocco's fighter Directed by Stephen Fung
2006 Rob-B-Hood Debt Collector Directed by Benny Chan
The Heavenly Kings Sandy Directed by Daniel Wu
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Earl Directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan
2012 Chink Eddy Tsai Directed by Stanley Yung, written by Koji Steven Sakai, produced by Quentin Lee (Winner of Best Actor Award at the 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival)
2015 Jasmine Leonard To Directed and written by Dax Phelan (Winner of Best Actor - Dramatic Award at the 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival)
2015 Pound of Flesh Liam Directed by Ernie Barbarash
2019 Sonora: The Devil's Highway Lee Wong Directed by Alejandro Springall, written by Guillermo Munro Palacio and John Sayles
2021 F9 Earl Directed by Justin Lin, written by Justin Lin and Daniel Casey
2022 Fistful of Vengeance William Pan Directed by Roel Reiné, written by Cameron Litvack, Jessica Chou and Yalun Tu

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2019–present Warrior Young Jun[12]
TBA A Thousand Blows TBA Filming

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Award Winning Hollywood Actor & Director Jason Tobin takes the CMHK Stage". Savvy Creative. 2016.
  2. ^ "Interview (Part 1): Jason Tobin on Honoring Bruce Lee and Coming "Home" to Warrior | POC Culture". 12 February 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "How Bruce Lee-inspired series Warrior gave Hong Kong actor Jason Tobin a second life". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b "INTERVIEW (Part 2) - Jason Tobin Explains What Happened After Better Luck Tomorrow, Who the Biggest Badass on 'Warrior' and So Much More! | POC Culture". 23 September 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Death of the 'model minority'". Los Angeles Times. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (11 April 2003). "FILM REVIEW; Teenagers Determined to Damage Their Résumés". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. ^ Kim, Jane Yong (21 August 2018). "The Film to Watch Alongside 'Crazy Rich Asians'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  8. ^ "How Dare You Represent Your People That Way: The Oral History of 'Better Luck Tomorrow'". GQ. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. ^ "The 20 best Asian American films of the last 20 years". Los Angeles Times. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  10. ^ Visual Communications, FESTIVAL AWARDEES RECOGNIZED
  11. ^ Kilday, Gregg. "Lee Isaac Chung Takes Two Top Prizes at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  12. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (11 October 2017). "'Warrior': Cinemax Sets Cast & Director For Bruce Lee-Inspired Martial Arts Series". Deadline. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  13. ^ "'Warrior': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. ^ Hale, Mike (3 April 2019). "Review: 'Warrior,' Pitched by Bruce Lee and Made by Cinemax". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (24 April 2019). "'Warrior' Renewed For Season 2 By Cinemax". Deadline. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. ^ Petski, Denise (26 February 2021). "'Wu Assassins' Standalone Movie Set At Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  17. ^ Massoto, Erick (20 January 2022). "'Fistful of Vengeance' Trailer Reveals the 'Wu Assassins' Standalone Movie Coming to Netflix". Collider. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  18. ^ Oliver Wang and Hua Hsu (11 April 2003). "Taking on Tomorrow". PopMatters. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
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