M.A.R.A.

Who's the Asian Temple boss on 'Lost: The Final Season'?

Are we supposed to surmise he’s Japanese because he keeps a Bonsai Tree and won’t speak English because the language tastes bad in his mouth? (Ok, fine. He speaks Japanese too.)

(This is from tonight’s episode ‘What Kate Does”)

So…he’s also barefoot. Why is everyone barefoot? Is that supposed to add to the mystery? Or make them more earthy and hippie-like? Eh. Iz cool. I’m down. Let’s see what happens…

(So is this one!)

This new badass Temple boss is Dogen, played by veteran actor and only Japanese actor ever to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company Hiroyuki Sanada. You might recognize him from his roles in films such as The Last Samurai, Sunshine, and Rush Hour 3. Sanada will next star opposite Anthony Hopkins in James Ivory’s The City of Your Final Destination, out in March 2010.

Other Keywords: japanese actors, famous asians, famous asian, hiro sanada, new asian guy on lost, bossy asian guy on lost, new japanese guy on lost
Photos: Lost publicity photos via TVign
Info: IMDB, TVign, LostTV

Daniel Dae Kim stays on the island for Hawaii Five-O remake

Congrats!!! to Korean talent (and hottie) Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin Kwon on ABC’s hit show Lost, for landing one of the leading roles in CBS’ remake of the groovy classic Hawaii Five-O. Kim will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly while Moonlight star Alex O’Loughlin continues to be in talks for the part of Detective Steve McGarrett.

Kim’s POV on Asians in acting per the latest issue of DaMan magazine:

“I take a little bit of pride in that I don’t feel like I’ve taken any roles that I regret in terms of cultural representation…I’ve never done the stereotypicalAsian nerd or anything like that. But that’s not to say that there isn’t that kind of dynamic in Hollywood. There is definitely a categorization of Asian males, in particular. What I mean to say is though the roles might not be overtly offensive, they are definitely secondary and exist only to serve another character. For instance, a lot of roles that I have played have been in support of the leads and I was there to deliver exposition. They’re not stereotypical roles but they are representative of a ceiling that a lot of us face.”

The remake features writers and “Fringe” co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and “CSI: NY” executive producer/co-showrunner Peter Lenkov.

THR reports that Kim is the “first actor from the show’s core cast to book a new series project this pilot season as the ABC mystery drama heads to its May finale.” The 2nd episode of this 6th and FINAL (sigh) season airs tonight on ABC @ 9pmET.

More Info: Daniel Dae Kim on IMDB, Wiki, Official Website
Other Keywords: famous asians, famous asian actors, famous koreans, korean americans, korean actors, hawaii 5, lost final season, 6th season, jj abrams, jin kwon

Julia Ling

currently stars as Anna Wu on NBC’s Chuck, which premieres its 3rd season with 2 hours tonight at 9pmET. Ling had recurring roles in two other NBC television shows: Mae Li Park in ER (2006-2007) and Kim Tao in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007, also starring Matthew Perry).

Ling was born February 13, 1983 in Southern Cali and is of Chinese descent. Her accomplishments are a must read. See below.

Joshua Gomez and Julia Ling as Morgan and Anna on NBC’s Chuck

Fun Facts:

Speaks Mandarin, German and English fluently
Artwork published at age 6
Wrote and narrated a story that won her “Best Story Teller Award” by Chinese World Newspaper also at age 6
Her dances were aired on national television and was performing award-winning solo dances by age 9

Check out what she did in high school and beyond…I’m burnt out just reading it [via]

In high school, Ling was student body president and president of German Club, Amnesty International, Literature Society and Junior Statesmen Debate Team. She competed in dance, varsity tennis and swimming. In 1997, Congressman David Dreier recognized Ling for her community service at the local hospital. At age 16, she was selected as a state finalist in the Miss America Pageant and after nine years of playing the piano, graduated from the Royal Board of Music. She graduated high school second in her class with a 4.0 GPA and perfect SAT scores.

Pursuing a career in medicine, Ling majored in biomedical chemical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was Treasurer of Chemical Engineering Society, Vice President of the Engineering Society of UCLA and honorary member of the Society of Women Engineers. She left it all to pursue her love of performing.

In 2003, Julia Ling made her network television debut on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar. Over the next two years, she starred in over 20 independent short films and returned to prime time television in roles on House (FOX) and ER (NBC) in 2006. She guest starred in the recurring role of Kim Tao on the critically acclaimed Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip (NBC). Her next major guest starring role was on the television drama ER, playing the recurring character of Mae Lee Park, a surgical intern. She also guest starred in The O.C., and Grey’s Anatomy.

In the summer of 2007, Ling competed in the Jackie Chan Disciples, a martial arts competition. She was selected as one of the top four finalists representing the U.S. at the International Top 100 competition in Beijing, China. In addition, her Kung Fu performance, portraying her as an adventurer ambushed by bandits, won her the Best Acting Award. She was unable to compete in Beijing because of her role as Anna Wu on NBC’s Chuck.

So I’m just going to pause here and go deal with my feelings of inadequacy…

Keywords: famous asians, asian, famous asian actresses, famous asian actors, asian girl on chuck
Sources: TVGuide, JuliaLing.net, IMDB, Wiki
Photos

Lovely Bones premiere in LA 12/7/09

Premieres The Lovely Bones, NYC 12/2/09

Fashion @ the Viceroy (CA) July 09

Nikki Soohoo

is an Asian American actress (specific ethnicity unconfirmed) who most recently appears in the film based on Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones, in theaters this Friday, December 11th.

“It is the story of a teenage girl [Susie] who, after being brutally raped and murdered, watches from heaven as her family and friends go on with their lives, while she herself comes to terms with her own death.”

Oscar nominated (at 13yo for Atonement) Saoirse Ronan plays Susie, while Soohoo plays her best friend Holly. The film also stars Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, and Michael Imperioli. (With Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson directing an awesome cast, an intriguing plot, and my lust for vintage costume design…I’m looking forward to seeing this.)

Saoirse and Soohoo in a Lovely scene.

Soohoo, who started out in television and crossed over to film, is most likely best known for playing gymnast Wei Wei in the 2006 Disney movie, Stick It, and for playing one of the main three cheerleaders in the 5th installment of the Bring It On series, Bring It On: Fight to the Finish. Soohoo was born August 20, 1988 and is currently attending UCLA in California.

Can you guess which Asian actress was in the 1st Bring It On? Clickit.
Also, here’s an actor who shares the same last name who starred with Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder.

Soohoo and scenes from Stick It on the right

Photos: Top-1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Mid; Mosaic-1, 2, 3, 4
Keywords: Asian girl in the lovely bones, holly in the lovely bones, asian girl in bring it on 5, famous asians, famous asian, ethnicity nikki soohoo

Alexa Chung

is a British model, DJ, contributing editor at British Vogue, and host of MTV’s It’s On With Alexa Chung (airs weekdays @3:30pm/ET). Get the scoop on her interview and photo shoot at V Magazine here.

Chung was born on November 5, 1983 and raised in Privett, Hampshire, England by her English mother and 3/4 Chinese father.[via] More on Wiki.

Kelly Miyahara

has enjoyed 5 seasons with the Jeopardy Clue Crew as of 2005 and has traveled to more than 200 cities, 25 countries, and 45 American states to tape video clues for the game show.

Miyahara grew up in California and Virginia, is fourth generation Japanese, and received a Business Administration degree from University of Washington in Seattle in 2000. [Via: 1, 2]

Miyahara on the Jeopardy Clue Crew site. Jeopardy airs weeknights at 7PM/ET on ABC.

The video below shows Miyahara giving a tour of the new Jeopardy set with featuring energy efficient LED monitors.

Aziz Ansari

-currently plays Tom Haverford on NBC’s Parks & Recreation, which airs Thursdays at 8:30pm-that’s TONIGHT!!! (Also starring Saturday Night Live veteran, Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation is brought to you by the producers of The Office.)

-also starred in films such as I Love You, Man and Observe and Report. He was most recently in Judd Apatow’s Funny People, with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, and is shown below on Jimmy Kimmel (July 2009) promoting the movie.

-writes for and performs in the MTV sketchcomedy series, The Human Giant.

-was born in Columbia South Carolina to Muslim Tamil Indian parents on February 23, 1983 and obtained an MBA in Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 2004. He began stand up comedy while at NYU, often performing at Upright Citizen’s Brigade, won a bunch of awards for being funny, and you can read the rest here.

Related Posts: Indian
Keywords: Aziz Ansari, Funny People, Parks & Recreation, The Human Giant, Live on Jimmy Kimmel, comedian, UCB
[photos 1, 2, 3,4]

Harry Shum Jr.

currently plays one pop-and-locking Mike Chang in the Fox hit series Glee, which airs Wednesdays (TONIGHT!!!) at 9pm. (See Fall TV Schedule of shows with Asians on primetime & regular network)

He will reprise the role of Cable in the next installment of the Step Up film series. Step Up 3-D will be in theaters 2010. (I actually saw part of this being filmed in NYC’s Grand Central a couple of months ago.) Shum Jr. has appeared as a dancer in several other films including 2004’s You Got Served.

Shum Jr. was born April 28, 1982 in Limon, Costa Rica and has not confirmed his ethnicity on any medium I can find. Definitely Asian, but not sure which heritage. From his name I’d guess Chinese, but I would really need to confirm before taking him out of the ‘suspected’ category.

UPDATE: Harry Shum JR. is Chinese

as of October 31, 2009…Harry Shum Jr. confirms on his twitter he is Chinese!

Shum Jr. started dancing with his high school company and continued formal training with several dance studios in San Fransisco. His dance career really began to take off when he was recognized for being the only male dancer on BET’s Comic View.

Have you noticed I’ve posted a bunch on Glee? It’s not only because the show happens to have cast not 1 or 2, but at least 6 Asians in main roles…SIX ASIANS, ONE SHOW, MAJOR NETWORK…How many primetime TV productions have done that?

Besides Mike Chang, there’s the football coach, Glee Club lead singer, OB/GYN Doc Wu, Principal Figgins, and pharmacy/CVS-type stock guy. Former 3 done, latter 3 to go…

Also, Jane Lynch’s delivery of Sue Sylvester’s lines are not to be missed. She’s brilliant in this role and her lines are priceless. Check out a 3 minute funny…

Related Posts: Chinese, Suspected, In TV Film, Dancer
Keywords: Famous Asians, Asian guy in Glee
[Shum Jr’s IMDB, photo]

★ M.A.R.A.★