Ken Leung
Ken Leung | |
|---|---|
| 梁振邦 | |
_cropped.jpg) Leung at the 2019 FedCon | |
| Born | January 21, 1970 New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Children | 1[1] |
Kenneth Leung (born January 21, 1970)[2] is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has gained attention for playing Miles Straume in the ABC drama series Lost (2008–2010) and Eric Tao in HBO drama series Industry (2020–present).
Leung has had leading roles in television shows such as the CBS crime series Person of Interest (2012–2013), the NBC medical series The Night Shift (2014–2015), and Marvel series Inhumans (2017) as well as notable guest roles on the HBO crime series The Sopranos (2007) and the CBS legal series The Good Wife (2011). He also played in supporting roles in Rush Hour (1998), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Red Dragon (2002), Saw (2004), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Inside Man (2005), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Old (2021).
On stage, Leung made his Broadway debut playing a Chinese immigrant in the musical revival Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002). He has also taken roles in the Terrence McNally play Corpus Christi (1998) and the Dustin Lance Black play 8 (2011).
Early life and education
[edit]Leung was born on January 21, 1970, in New York City,[3] to Chinese parents, and was initially raised in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[3] His family moved to Midwood, Brooklyn,[3] where he grew up before finishing high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey.[3] Leung had a brother, Kevin, who drowned in Thailand in 2013.[4]
Leung attended New York University studying physical therapy.[5] He discovered acting in his junior year, studying with Catherine Russell and Nan Smithner,[3] and then briefly with Anne Jackson at HB Studio.[3] During this time, he acted mostly in downtown spaces and black box theaters, working with groups such as Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Perspectives, and STAR, a troupe of actors-educators based at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2002.[3]
Career
[edit]1998–2007: Early roles
[edit]In 1998, Leung made his debut as the villainous henchman Sang opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Brett Ratner's Rush Hour.[5] He would later work with Ratner in the films Red Dragon, The Family Man, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Edward Norton cast Leung in his directorial debut Keeping the Faith in 2000.[6] In 1998, he played James the Less and God in Terrence McNally's passion play, Corpus Christi, and in 2002 made his Broadway debut in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, also appearing on the cast recording. In 2007, he starred in the independent film Shanghai Kiss,[6] with Hayden Panettiere. That same year he guest-starred in the final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos.[6]
2008–present: Lost and Industry
[edit]From 2007, he starred as Miles Straume in 45 episodes of the ABC drama Lost,[6] from the series' fourth season, through the rest of its run.[6] From 2014, Leung starred as Topher Zia in the series The Night Shift.[7] In 2022, Leung landed a main role playing Eric Tao, a Managing Director (MD) on the CPS desk at Pierpoint, in HBO's Industry.[8] In 2024, he played Commander Zhao in the Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender.[8]
Personal life
[edit]Leung understands Cantonese. He is married to Nancy Bulalacao, who is of Filipina descent.[9] They have one son, born 2015.[10]
Acting credits
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Pictures of Baby Jane Doe | Shopkeeper | |
| Welcome to the Dollhouse | Barry | ||
| 1997 | Red Corner | Peng | |
| Kundun | (voice) | ||
| 1998 | Fly | Jeremy Kim | |
| Rush Hour | Sang | ||
| 1999 | Man of the Century | Mike Ramsey | |
| 2000 | Keeping the Faith | Don | |
| Maze | Dr. Mikao | ||
| The Family Man | Sam Wong the Deli Clerk | ||
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Syatyoo-Sama | |
| Home Sweet Hoboken | |||
| Spy Game | Li | ||
| Vanilla Sky | Art Editor | ||
| 2002 | Face | Willie | |
| Red Dragon | Lloyd Bowman | ||
| 2004 | Saw | Detective Steven Sing | |
| 2005 | The Squid and the Whale | School Therapist | |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Wing | |
| X-Men: The Last Stand | Quill | Incorrectly credited as Kid Omega[11] | |
| 2007 | Year of the Fish | Johnny | |
| Shanghai Kiss | Liam Liu | ||
| Falling for Grace | Ming | ||
| 2009 | Works of Art | John Kim | |
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Admiral Statura | |
| 2021 | Old | Jarin | [12] |
| 2023 | Missing | Kevin | [13] |
| 2024 | Joker: Folie à Deux | Dr. Victor Liu | |
| TBA | The Last Days of John Allen Chau | TBA | Post-production[14] |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995, 2000, 2002 | Law & Order | Chung; Tommy Wong; Stephen Wong | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | New York Undercover | David Kwan | Episode: "Vendetta" |
| 2000 | Wonderland | Episode: "Spell Check" | |
| Deadline | Fung | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2001 | Oz | Bian Yixue | Episode: "Conversions" |
| 2004 | The Jury | Ken Arata | Episode: "Memories" |
| Whoopi | Terrence | Episode: "Identity Crisis" | |
| Strip Search | Liu Tsung-Yuan | Television film | |
| Sucker Free City | Lincoln Ma | ||
| 2005 | Hate | Mo | |
| 2007 | The Sopranos | Carter Chong | Episode: "Remember When" |
| 2008–2010 | Lost | Miles Straume | Series regular; 45 episodes |
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Shen Yuan | Episode: "Great Firewall" |
| 2012–2013 | Person of Interest | Leon Tao | 4 episodes |
| 2013 | Zero Hour | Father Reggie | 8 episodes |
| 2013 | Deception | Donald Cheng | 2 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | The Night Shift | Topher Zia | Main, Seasons 1–3, 35 episodes[7] |
| 2017 | Inhumans | Karnak | Main role, 8 episodes[15] |
| 2019 | High Maintenance | Gene | Episode: "Fingerbutt" |
| 2019 | The Blacklist | Michael Sima | 6 episodes |
| 2020–present | Industry | Eric Tao | Main role[16] |
| 2022–2023 | Pantheon | Bai Fu, Lieutenant, Protester, Triumvirate (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | Velma | Darren (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Commander Zhao | 6 episodes [17] |
Theatre
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Corpus Christi | James | Manhattan Theatre Club, Off-Broadway | [18] |
| 2002 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Ching Ho | Marquis Theatre, Broadway | [19] |
| 2011 | 8 | Dr. William Tam | Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway | [20] |
| 2022 | Evanston Salt Costs Climbing | Basil | Pershing Square Signature Center, Off-Broadway | [21] |
References
[edit]- ^ Hertz, Barry (27 November 2020). "Industry's Ken Leung delivers the breakout HBO performance of the year". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Rose, Mike (January 21, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 21, 2023 includes celebrities Luke Grimes, Geena Davis". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ken Leung: Movies, TV & Bio". amazon.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ "The Water in May, Ken Leung on the Death of His Brother and the Journey to Bring Him Home". GQ.
- ^ a b Walter Dawkins (May 25, 2008). "Ken Leung: Quiet Actor, Always Kept to Himself". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b c d e "Ken Leung Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (November 22, 2016). "'The Night Shift': Ken Leung Not returning for Season 4". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
- ^ a b William Goodman (August 23, 2022). "Ken Leung Talks 'Industry' and Eric Tao's Big Episode". complex.com.
- ^ "Ken Leung Wife: The Mystery Behind the Actor's Personal Life". Career Gear.
- ^ "NANCY A. BULALACAO-LEUNG". Filipino American Museum.
- ^ Brett Ratner, Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn (2006). Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (June 22, 2020). "M. Night Shyamalan's Next Film Rounds Out Ensemble". Variety. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (April 7, 2021). "Nia Long Joins Storm Reid In Next Installment Of Searching Franchise". Deadline. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (May 15, 2024). "Radhika Apte, Naveen Andrews & Ken Leung Join Justin Lin's Last Days". Deadline. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ Petski, Denise (March 2, 2017). "Marvel's Inhumans: Ken Leung To Play Karnak In ABC Series". Deadline. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ "Cast announced for new drama Industry coming soon to BBC and HBO". www.bbc.co.uk. December 20, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (November 16, 2021). "Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix Live-Action Series Casts Its Uncle Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao". Variety. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
- ^ "Corpus Christie (1998)". abouttheartist. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway, 2002)". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "8 (Broadway, 2011)". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (2022)". abouttheartist. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Ken Leung at IMDb
- Ken Leung at the Internet Broadway Database
- Interviews
- Asia Pacific Arts - UCLA Asia Institute, May 30, 2008
- Hillis, Aaron. "Interview: Ken Leung on 'Year of the Fish'", IFC.com, August 27, 2008
- 1970 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Actors from Middlesex County, New Jersey
- American male actors of Chinese descent
- American male film actors
- American male musical theatre actors
- American male television actors
- Living people
- Male actors from New Jersey
- Male actors from Manhattan
- Male actors from Brooklyn
- Musicians from Brooklyn
- New York University alumni
- People from Midwood, Brooklyn
- People from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey
- People from the Lower East Side