Star Wars Samurai (proposed film idea based on the Seven Samurai)
Actors to play the parts in a possible Star Wars version of the Seven Samurai which has been mentioned in the press.
There's been talk it would be 7 Jedi, but personally I think it should be 7 Mandalorian warriors, ideally including Boba Fett.
Judging by the responses on this page, it would appear that this concept could prove to be very popular. Zac Snyder was the director rumoured to be working on this particular project.
There's been talk it would be 7 Jedi, but personally I think it should be 7 Mandalorian warriors, ideally including Boba Fett.
Judging by the responses on this page, it would appear that this concept could prove to be very popular. Zac Snyder was the director rumoured to be working on this particular project.
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Hiroyuki Sanada was born on October 12, 1960 in Tokyo. He made his film debut when he was 5 in Rokyoku komori-uta (1965) (Shin'ichi Chiba played the lead role.) His father died when he was 11. He joined Japan Action Club, organized & run by Sonny Chiba, when he was 12. He 1st became famous as an action star for his role in Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978) but is now known as one of the most talented actors in Japan. From 1999-2000, he played the fool in an English-language production of "King Lear" w/ members of the Royal Shakespeare Co as the 1st Japanese actor to act w/ the RSC. He received an honorary MBE (Member of the British Empire) for this work. He & Satomi Tezuka split after 7 years in 1997.- Actor
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Ray Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He moved with his parents, younger brother and sister to London, UK, at the age of seven. Ray always wanted to be in the movies, and be like their heroes. He also began to nurture a love for martial arts from the age of seven, when his father's fondness for Bruce Lee films sparked a fire in the youngster's mind that would never extinguish. Specializing in the traditional Chinese Northern Shaolin Kung-fu (in the Chin Woo style), Park moved on to master other styles, most notably Wushu. In 1991, at age 16, Ray became a member of the Great Britain Wushu team, competing in his first international in Beijing, China at the 1st World Wushu Championships. Ray was the first Wushu athlete from Great Britain and Europe to place in the top seven in the world, and went on to compete for Great Britain for another six years. He became a fixture at martial arts exhibitions and tournaments, Nationally, European and Internationally, attaining Gold Medal for the Great Britain Wushu and the Chin Woo Martial Arts team.
Ray began teaching himself gymnastics at a young age but felt he was missing the correct training to achieve a higher level. At fifteen, he found a school that was willing to allow him to practice and use the floor space. The gymnastic training helped to improve his martial arts training and began to sit in and take seminars in coaching gymnastics. It was when he was nineteen that he relocated to another gymnastic gym and became one of the boys' squad coaches. He further went on to be in charge of coaching recreational gymnastics throughout schools in London. Ray's boys squad won 1st in The London Youth Games for Hendon Gymnastics Club. During one of his frequent visits to Malaysia, he was approached to audition for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997). Ray became martial arts advisor to one of the stunt coordinators and later landed playing one of the Reptiles, Baraka, and doubling for Rayden.
Conjuring memories of his youthful cinematic martial arts passion, Park attempted to learn as much as possible about the process of filmmaking. Soon being given more scenes and becoming more natural on set, he was contacted by stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to audition for George Lucas' prequel Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Offered the job by producer Rick McCallum, Park was given the creative freedom to develop his choreography by an impressed Lucas, and soon gained the confidence to develop his role to the best of his abilities.- Actor
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Will Yun Lee was born in Arlington, Virginia, to Jung Ja Lee and Soo Won Lee, who had recently emigrated from Korea. He was raised by both immediate and extended family and moved often, exposed to life on the tough Bronx streets and idyllic Hawaiian beaches. By his teens he was living in the San Francisco area with his father, a Korean Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster. Lee also became an accomplished martial artist and won an athletic scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley.
While in school, Lee worked at the East Bay Asian Youth Centre teaching high-risk teens from ghetto neighborhoods not unlike those he had known as a child in the Bronx. It was there that his ongoing commitment to young people began, a commitment that continues to play an important role in his life.
It was also at this time that he became seriously interested in acting, and after landing a role in Nash Bridges he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. Guest star roles in series such as "Profiler" and "Brimstone" led to a role in the TV movie The Disciples for UPN, and soon after to "What's Cooking" and TNT's "Witchblade".
In 2002 he was named by People as one of their "50 Most Beautiful People" which quickly lead to high profile roles in "Die Another Day", "Torque" and "Elektra". He has also acted on FX Network's television series "Thief", ABC Family's "Fallen" and was one of the main characters of NBC's science fiction television drama "Bionic Woman".
In November 2007, he was again recognized by People, this time as one of the members of their list of the 15 "Sexiest Men Alive". Most recently he appeared as Sang Min in the pilot of the hit CBS series "Hawaii Five O".
In August 2010, Will Yun Lee starred alongside Miguel Ferrer in the indie thriller "Far Away Eyes", which was shot entirely on location in Hong Kong.- Actress
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On February 13th, 1968, a girl of Chinese, English, and Hawaiian ancestry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father, Herbert, was a salesman and her mother, Juanita, worked many odd jobs to help support the family. She has one older brother, Glenn. She is a former Miss Teen USA, and modeled in Japan and Italy for several months before deciding to relocate to L.A. and try her hand at show business. She received her break on TV's Growing Pains (1985) in 1987 and never looked back.- Actor
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Lee Byung-hun was born in 1970 in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in a wealthy family, thanks to his father, who was a successful businessman. He never dreamed of pursuing acting until a friend of his mother's suggested it. He auditioned for the KBS television network in 1991 and was accepted. His first project was a short lived TV series called "Asphalt My Hometown". Lee became popular, especially with the female crowd, in his next KBS project, "Tomorrow Love", in 1992. Though he continued to do TV series' throughout the 90s, he also tried his luck in feature films. Many of his earlier films were flops, until 2000, when he appeared in "J.S.A. Joint Security Area". The film became his first major blockbuster. Unfortunately, Lee's father passed away that same year. Over the years, Lee's popularity continued to grow, with successful TV series', like "Beautiful Days" and "All In", and features, such as "A Bittersweet Life" and "The Good, The Bad, The Weird". Lee was becoming an international celebrity. His success continued rising with the highly anticipated TV show "Iris" and his other feature films "I Saw the Devil" and "Masquerade". Having solidified his position as one of Asia's biggest stars, he is the only actor to sell out the Tokyo Dome with 45,000 screaming fans. In 2012, he was one of the first two Korean actors ever to be honored with a hand and foot print ceremony at The TLC Chinese Theater.
Lee's first foray into Hollywood films came in 2009 with a starring role in "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra." Following the global success of that film, he signed on for "G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation," which was released in March 2013. His first period piece feature, "Masquerade" was released in late 2012, and was met with stellar reviews from both audiences and critics, and became the highest grossing period piece in Korean history. He next starred in "Red 2" opposite Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and Anthony Hopkins. The film premiered in Korea on July 18, 2013. Korea became the second highest grossing market for the film behind the US. In 2015, Lee has two Korean films, "Insiders" and "Memories of the Sword", along with Hollywood blockbuster Terminator Genisys (2015), where he plays a T-1000 robot. Lee has since filmed an independent US film, "Misconduct", opposite legendary actors Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino, which is due for a 2016 release.- Actor
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Louis Ozawa was born in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. Louis is an actor and producer, known for Pachinko (2022), Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018) and Hunters (2020).- Actor
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Ken Watanabe was born on October 21, 1959 in Uonuma, Japan. Both of his parents were teachers: his mother taught general education and his dad taught calligraphy. He became interested in acting at the age of 24, when a director of England's National Theater Company, where he was studying, told him that acting was his special gift. In 1978, he moved to Tokyo to pursue acting. He drew the attention of the critics when Yukio Ninagawa, a famous Japanese director, chose him for the lead role in one of his plays, even though Ken was still an acting student. He made his first TV appearance in 1982. His big career breakthrough came when he was chosen to play the lead in the Japanese national TV drama series called "Dokugan ryu Masamune". He played a samurai leader hero, making him a household name in Japan. In 1989, he collapsed while filming a movie in Canada due to leukemia. He made a miraculous comeback & co-starred with Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai (2003), which pushed him to the center stage of Hollywood.
Ken has a daughter, model, actress, & singer Anne Watanabe, & a son. He's an avid fan of Hanshin Tigers (Japanese professional baseball team) & Kobe Steel rugby team. He loves noodles.- Actress
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Jamie Chung was born and raised in California, the daughter of Korean parents. She studied Economics at the University of California, Riverside. Chung's break came in 2004, when she was working in a sports bar. MTV held auditions for The Real World (1992) there, she tried out, and was successful, appearing in the San Diego based fourteenth season.
Chung went on to successfully launched an acting career, making her debut with a small part in Veronica Mars (2004). Roles in other TV series followed, including Days of Our Lives (1965) and Greek (2007). She also transitioned into feature films with such projects as Sorority Row (2009), Sucker Punch (2011) and The Hangover Part II (2011).- Actor
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Rick Yune was born on 22 August 1971 in Washington D.C., USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Fast and the Furious (2001), Die Another Day (2002) and Olympus Has Fallen (2013).- Actor
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Sung-Ho Kang is a Korean-American actor and producer from Clarkston, Georgia who is widely known for playing Han Lue from the Fast & Furious series of films and Better Luck Tomorrow. He also acted in Raya and the Last Dragon, Pearl Harbor, Ninja Assassin and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is married to Miki Yim.- Actor
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Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand actor.
After training in drama under the New Zealand Special Performing Arts Training Scheme. One of his earliest starring roles was in the 1988 film Never Say Die, opposite Lisa Eilbacher. In 1994, he received attention for his role as the violent and abusive Maori husband Jake "The Muss" Heke in Once Were Warriors, a film adaptation of Alan Duff's novel of the same name. The film became the most successful local title released in New Zealand, and sold to many countries overseas. The role won him international acclaim and he received the award for best male performance in a dramatic role at the 1994 New Zealand Film and Television Awards. He reprised the role in the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, for which he received the Best Actor award from the New Zealand Film Awards. Despite the acclaim he received for his performance, Morrison said in 2010 that he felt typecast by the role, to the point that it was "a millstone round my neck".
In 1996, Morrison played opposite Marlon Brando in The Island Of Dr. Moreau. He has appeared in supporting roles in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Beautiful Country (2004). In 1988 he got to show some comic flair in the James Bond parody Never Say Die. In 2005, Morrison became the host of the talk show The Tem Show on New Zealand television.
In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to drama.
He started writing an autobiography in 2009, which he hoped would inspire others to "reach for the stars".
He released his debut album, Tem, through Sony Music Entertainment NZ in late November 2014. The album consists of covers of songs that his father, and uncle Sir Howard Morrison, used to perform at local venues when he was growing up.
Morrison has gained attention for his role as the bounty hunter Jango Fett in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Part of the film's plot involves an army of clones created with Jango's DNA; Morrison also provided the voice acting for the clones.[7] He reappeared as a number of clones in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and re-recorded the lines of the character Boba Fett (Jango's "son") and another clone in the 2004 DVD re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, replacing the voice of Jason Wingreen.
Most recently, he became known for voicing Chief Tui, the father of the title character in Disney's Moana (2016). Morrison is currently playing Aquaman's father in the Warner Bros. Feature Aquaman 1 & 2.- Actor
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Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens, he was already a national coach, and before he was 20 he had starred in his first movie: The Shaolin Temple (1982), which started the 1980s Kung-Fu boom in mainland China. He relocated to Hong Kong, where he was the biggest star of the early 1990s Kung-Fu boom. His first directorial effort was Born to Defense (1988).- Daniel Logan, born in New Zealand, started acting when he was 10 years old. He got his break when Auckland children's rugby teams were being scouted to find a boy for a TV commercial. After auditioning with hundreds of other young rugby players, Daniel got the part, his first acting role, playing a little boy who gets knocked into the mud by Auckland rugby star Michael Jones. He was noticed by other casting agents and that break led to more commercials and TV appearances, including a recurring role in episodes of the New Zealand medical series "Shortland Street" and a guest appearance in international hit "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys."
Daniel also starred in the short film, "Falling Sparrows" and provided the lead & supporting voices in 2 animated series' "Tamota" and "Takapu." He also had a part in "The Legend of Johnny Lingo." At the top of this young actors growing resume sits "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," with the coveted role of Boba Fett.
Playing Boba Fett required more then a love of action, it also required patience. Daniel recalls being next to blue and green screen back drops through seemingly endless special effects takes. At one point, a series of 82 different shots of Daniel were done for a special effects sequence of clones that would only last a few seconds on-screen. He knows all the work was worth it, and is very proud and honored to be a part of the Star Wars legacy. - Actor
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The 1/2 Taiwanese and 1/2 Japanese Takeshi Kaneshiro may have started out as a puerile teen idol in the Chinese entertainment scene, but he's since become a proper film star in his own right. Whether by his own design or not, the boyishness that marked his first steps into showbiz has evolved into a cool, somewhat reticent demeanor that has now become his trademark. Despite being effortlessly good-looking, he chooses to strike a sometimes uneasy balance between the commercially pleasing and the quirky in his choice of film roles -- a move that's unusual for Asian leading men. But whether he's the faithful lover in the Japanese AIDS drama Kamisama mousukoshi dake (1998), the canned-pineapple-eating cop in Chungking Express (1994) or awkward in his role in Misty (1996), a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), Asian audiences love his style. Other memorable roles include his turn as a lovelorn student in Tempting Heart (1999), an angel in Lavender (2000) and the leader of a trio of robbers in Space Travelers (2000). There hasn't been an Asian actor quite as versatile as Kaneshiro, who is able to straddle the Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japanese film industries because of his proficiency in various languages. Still, one wonders if the reason why he's so sought after is because he is so elusive. No one really knows what he does outside of film commitments, and his reluctance towards being in the spotlight is legendary.- Actor
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Andy Lau Tak-wah, (born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter, presenter, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. Lau was entered into the Guinness World Records for the "Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards. In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years. In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company.- Actor
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Ken Leung was raised in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side in New York City. His family moved to Midwood, Brooklyn where he grew up before finishing high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey. He attended NYU and studied acting with Catherine Russell and Nan Smithner, then briefly with Anne Jackson at HB Studio.
He emerged from Manhattan's downtown theater community in the 1990s and flourished in non-traditional productions that included Jeff Weiss' Hot Keys; Terrence McNally's passion play Corpus Christi; and as Buckingham opposite Austin Pendleton's Richard III.
His early career is defined by the relationships he established with theater groups like Ma-Yi, New Perspectives, and STAR, a traveling troupe of actors-educators based in Mount Sinai Hospital. In 2002, he made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Leung has gone on to establish himself in mainstream features including two films with Spike Lee.- Actress
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Olga Kurylenko is a Ukrainian-French actress and model, went from sharing a cramped flat with her aunt, uncle, grandparents and cousin to starring as a Bond girl opposite Daniel Craig.
She was born Olga Konstantinovna Kurylenko on November 14, 1979, in Berdyansk, Ukraine, Soviet Union. Her mother, Marina Alyabysheva, divorced her father, Konstantin Kurylenko, soon after her birth. After the divorce her mother struggled to survive as an art teacher. Young Olga was brought up by her mother and her grandmother, Raisa. During her youth Olga had the humbling experience of living in poverty; she had no choice but to wear rags and had to darn the holes on her sweater. During her years in Ukraine she studied art and languages and spent seven years studying piano at a local school of music in Berdyansk. She also went to a ballet studio until 13.
At age 13 Olga and her mother made a trip to Moscow. There she was spotted by an agent, who approached her at a subway station and offered her a job as a model. Initially Olga's mother was suspicious, but she checked the agent's credentials and eventually allowed Olga to accept training as a model in Moscow, which turned out to be a good career choice.
By age 16 she was ready for the next step. She moved to Paris, learned French in six months and was signed by the Madison agency. At age 18 she appeared on the cover of Glamour, and in short order graced the covers of Elle, Madame Figaro, Marie Claire, and Vogue. She also became the face of Lejaby lingerie, Bebe clothing, Clarins and Helena Rubinstein cosmetic companies.
In 1999 Olga married French photographer Cedric Van Mol, but divorced him 3-1/2 years later. One day Olga presented herself to an acting agency. Eventually she swapped the catwalk for the movie screen, and her acting career took off. In 2005 she made her film debut as "Iris", a sensual beauty, in The Ring Finger (2005), by director Diane Bertrand.
Olga's cinematic roles have been notably steamy, and her natural beauty and explicit nudity attracted the attention of the male audiences. She appeared opposite Elijah Wood in Paris, I Love You (2006) and as "Sofia" in The Snake (2006), then co-starred as Russian beauty "Nika Boronina" opposite Timothy Olyphant in Hitman (2007). She also appeared as "Mina Harud" in the indie surveillance-thriller Tyranny (2008). On Christmas Eve 2007, Olga was offered to play what will become her biggest hit: co-starring as "Camille", the Bond girl, opposite Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace (2008), a sequel to Casino Royale (2006).
With the international success as Bond Girl, Olga also made appearances on various TV productions in Russia and Ukraine. In 2012, Olga Kurylenko was cast as Julia, supporting role in the Sci-Fi adventure Oblivion (2013) opposite Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman.- Actress
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Rinko was born Kikuchi Yuriko in Hadano just south of Tokyo. The town is known mainly for its green tea and public baths. She is the youngest of three siblings. After being scouted on the street, she began modeling in her hometown and subsequently began acting under her birth name before switching to Rinko. She appeared in the cult film The Taste Of Tea, but came to mainstream audiences' attention for her role in Babel, for which she had learned sign language. She played a deaf-mute. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for the Oscars in 50 years, since Miyoshi Umeki. Other than that she had appeared in commercials, including ads for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as Japanese soap operas. As a result, her popularity rose outside her native country. She moved to New York City and lived for a time with director Spike Jonze, whom she had met in Tokyo at a film festival in 2009. That's when she began taking English lessons. While she had appeared in the acclaimed film version of Norwegian Wood, her later American were mostly popcorn flicks like 47 Ronin and Pacific Rim. Her success and foray into American entertainment continued with her castings in Kumiko, and Westworld. Rinko married Japanese actor Sometani Shota in 2014 and gave birth to a son in October 2016. She is a capable rider of horses and motorcycles and grew up watching samurai films.- Actress
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Margaret Denise Quigley was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a father of Polish and Irish descent (originally based in New York) and a Vietnamese mother. Her parents met during the Vietnam War. Maggie has two older half-siblings from her mother's previous marriage, and two older sisters. The family moved to Hawaii and settled in Mililani.
Maggie dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but modeled and found herself bursting onto the Hong Kong movie scene - eventually becoming a full-fledged superstar in Asia. She changed her name to the easily pronounceable "Maggie Q" (for the Chinese audience). She had a cameo in the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker smash hit Rush Hour 2 (2001) and is part of the supporting cast in Mission: Impossible III (2006), starring Tom Cruise.- Actor
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Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa got his first big break as an actor when he was cast in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987). A US Army brat, he was born in Tokyo and lived in various cities while growing up. His father was in the army, stationed at Ft. Bragg (NC), Ft. Polk (LA) and Ft. Hood (TX). His mother was an actress from Tokyo. The family finally settled in Southern California, where Tagawa began acting in high school. He was an exchange student in Japan while studying at the University of Southern California. He has recently been involved off-screen in addressing student groups (at SFSU and Stanford). He has also been coaching the martial artist portraying Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat Live Tour, and in his free time developing his new form of martial arts, called "Chun Shin."- Actor
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Benedict Wong is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Kublai Khan in Netflix's Marco Polo (2014-2016), Bruce Ng in The Martian (2015), and Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Doctor Strange (2016). Wong was born on 3 July 1971 in Eccles, Greater Manchester, the son of Hong Kong immigrant parents who had traveled through Ireland before settling in England. He was brought up in Eccles, and attended Salford City College (then called De La Salle Sixth Form College) in the surrounding area of Salford. He then took a two-year performing arts course at Salford City College.- Actress
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She rose to fame in the drama Kimi wa petto (2003) with Jun Matsumoto and gained huge popularity.
Her first international film was The Last Samurai (2003) where she played Taka, wife of a Samurai slain by the character Nathan Algren, portrayed by Tom Cruise, Koyuki was well-known in Japan for years before that. She first caught the attention of the public in 1997 by winning an exclusive modelling contract with the magazine Non-no, but quickly grew beyond modelling and has earned acclaim as an actress through her many roles on Japanese television and in several Japanese films.
She has been appeared in many commercials, including Coca-Cola Japan's Sokenbicha, P&G Max Factor SK-II, and Suntory Kakubin.- Actress
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Born in Thailand, half-Thai, half English Sonia, or Pim, as warmly known amongst friends and family, has been working as a professional model since being discovered at age 13. She attended boarding school and University in the UK and worked with Storm Agency landing ads for L'Oreal UK and many fashion spreads. After returning home, she appeared in countless Thai TV dramas, TV talk shows, movies, magazine covers, magazine spreads and fashion shows.
She landed a job as the 1st Thai VJ for MTV Asia and launched her career into the pan-Asian stage. That X-tra factor was spot on once she stepped into that limelight years ago and there was no stepping out. Sonia has only one way to go and that's all the way up. She's much sought after in Asia. Film, TV, endorsements and an endless list of offers anxiously await her. Recently having a show on HBO Asia, Challenger Muaythai on AXN and appeared on Jessica Simpson's show "Price of Beauty" as one of 6 worldwide beauty ambassadors on VH1.
She has been the face of L'Oreal Asia, Clairol Shampoo Worldwide, Olay Asia, 1st Asian Ambassador for Rado watches, Singapore Telecom, Sunsilk Thailand signed her for 4 years and Physical Gym Hong Kong with Aaron Kwak, Eucerin and plenty more.
Sonia also works behind the cameras producing quality shows like "Thailand's Next Top Model" and another one in the pipeline. She is, also, a dual language MC, hosting many high profile events across Asia like the APEC Convention, Asian TV Awards, Miss Universe Thailand and Formula 1 just to name a few.
Sonia has recently expanded her work into the International market and has been received with open arms. Shooting a US movie called Glory Days, been a has guest star in the hugely popular French film "Largo Winch 2", she's the executive producer on "A Stranger in Paradise" starring Stuart Townsend, Colin Egglesfield and Catalina Sandino Moreno... And is the lead role in 3 other movies with Eric Roberts and Craig Scheffer.- Actress
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Ko Shibasaki was born on August 5, 1981 in Tokyo. Her real name is Yukie Yamamura (Ko Shibasaki is a main character of her favorite manga). She started her career at 14 when her talent was discovered by a star agent. She has worked in many TV shows and commercials, starting to become more famous thanks to her excellent performance in the movie Battle Royale (2000) as Mitsuko Soma. She has reached a star status not only in Japan, but all over East Asia. She has also been singing since 2002, releasing her first single, "Trust My Feelings". However, her singing skills were only recognized with her second single, "Tsuki no Shizuku", a song used for the movie Yomigaeri (2002) that was one of the best J-Pop hits of 2003. She is considered one of the glamorous queen of drama, earning millions of yens and going out with bad boys.- Khan Bonfils was born in 1972 in the UK. He was an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Skyfall (2012). He died on 7 January 2015 in London, England, UK.
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Born in Shenyang, grew up in Jinan, the daughter of an economics professor. Loved music from childhood, and dreamed of a singing career. After failing to gain entrance to China's top music school in 1985, applied for and was admitted to the Central Drama Academy in Beijing, from which she graduated in 1989. While still a student, was cast as the female lead in Red Sorghum (1988)(aka "Red Sorghum"), the initial directing effort by Yimou Zhang. China's best-known actress in the West, she was named Best Actress at the 49th Venice International Film Festival for her role in The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) (aka "The Story of Qiu Ju"). Made a series of successful films with Yimou Zhang, a collaboration that apparently ended with the breakup of their personal relationship in 1995 and Gong's subsequent marriage to a tobacco company executive.- Actress
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Born in New York but raised in California, Devon Aoki is no stranger to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Her father is former Olympic wrestler and Benihana restaurant magnate Rocky Aoki and her mother is Pamela Hilburger, a jewelry designer. Devon is of Japanese (from her father) and German and English (from her mother) ancestry. She started modeling when she was 13, the same year her godmother introduced her to modeling legend Kate Moss. She is now the face of Lancome and is one of the top earners at her agency, Women.- Actress
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Ming-Na ("enlightenment") was born on the island of Macau, forty miles from Hong Kong. Her mother, Lin Chan Wen, divorced her father when Ming-Na was only a toddler. She has an older brother named Jonathan. After the divorce, they moved to Hong Kong where her mother became a nurse. There her mother met Soo Lim Yee, a U.S. businessman. They soon married, and at four years, Ming-Na moved with her family to Queens, New York. Five years later, they transferred to Yee's hometown of Pittsburgh where his family runs the Chinatown Inn restaurant. Jonathan and half-brother, Leong, now manage this restaurant. Struggling to fit in at school, she changed her name to Maggie & Doris. She found a love for acting while appearing in a third grade Easter play, where she played a klutzy bunny. Her mother was not excited about her desire to pursue acting, She preferred that she go into medicine. Nonetheless, Ming-Na graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in theatre. She got her first acting job in 1988 on the soap As the World Turns (1956). Her big break came when she was cast in The Joy Luck Club (1993). When she needed a ride to the premiere of the film, her acting instructor sent one of his students, Eric Michael Zee. The two started dating in 1994 after Ming-Na moved permanently to Los Angeles and married in 1995, dropping her last name, Wen, at that time. She says she is now like Ann-Margret. Zee is a screenwriter and, with Ming-Na, manages At Last, a boy band.- Actor
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Tadanobu Asano's a Japanese film actor. His father suggested he take on what became his first role in the TV show Kimpachi Sensei at 16. His film debut was Swimming Upstream (1990) though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's Fried Dragon Fish (1993). His first critical success in the West was in Kore-eda Hirokazu's Maborosi (1995), in which he played a man who inexplicably throws himself in front of a train, widowing his wife & orphaning his infant son. His best known works internationally are the samurai films Taboo (1999) & The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003). It was on the set of Iwai's Picnic (1996) that he met & fell in love with J-Pop idol Chara. They married soon after learning she was pregnant with their first child, Sumire. While best known for characters who are psychologically offbeat, if not downright psychotic (e.g. Kakihara in Ichi the Killer (2001)), he has been described by those who know him as a down-to-earth family man. He has directed commercial TV spots for Chara. Hesistant to identify himself as an actor, he most readily describes himself as a vocalist, referring to Mach 1.67, the band he has w/ director Gakuryû Ishii. He's also an artist & sometimes works as a model, most notably for the Japanese designers Takeo Kikuchi & Jun Takahashi.- Actor
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Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry, and Keanu's mother is originally from Essex England. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister, Kim Reeves, to New York City, then Toronto. Stepfather #1 was Paul Aaron, a stage and film director - he and Patricia divorced within a year, after which she went on to marry (and divorce) rock promoter Robert Miller. Reeves never reconnected with his biological father. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey (as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall") and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career.
After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the Rob Lowe hockey flick Youngblood (1986), which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River's Edge (1986), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with director Stephen Frears.
His first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted "Theodore" Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. He then joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy, Parenthood (1989) and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990).
Over the next few years, Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma with a series of highbrow projects. He played a slumming rich boy opposite River Phoenix's narcoleptic male hustler in My Own Private Idaho (1991), an unlucky lawyer who stumbles into the vampire's lair in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and Shakespearean party-pooper Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
In 1994, the understated actor became a big-budget action star with the release of Speed (1994). Its success heralded an era of five years in which Reeves would alternate between small films, like Feeling Minnesota (1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), and big films like A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and The Devil's Advocate (1997). (There were a couple misfires, too: Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996).) After all this, Reeves did the unthinkable and passed on the Speed sequel, but he struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski siblings' cyberadventure, The Matrix (1999).
Now a bonafide box-office star, Keanu would appear in a string of smaller films -- among them The Replacements (2000), The Watcher (2000), The Gift (2000), Sweet November (2001), and Hardball (2001) - before The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) were both released in 2003.
Since the end of The Matrix trilogy, Keanu has divided his time between mainstream and indie fare, landing hits with Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Lake House (2006), and Street Kings (2008). He's kept Matrix fans satiated with films such as Constantine (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). And he's waded back into art-house territory with Ellie Parker (2005), Thumbsucker (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Henry's Crime (2010).
Most recently, as post-production on the samurai epic 47 Ronin (2013) waged on, Keanu appeared in front of the camera in Side by Side (2012), a documentary on celluloid and digital filmmaking, which he also produced. He also directed another Asian-influenced project, Man of Tai Chi (2013).
In 2014, Keanu played the title role in the action revenge film John Wick (2014), which became popular with critics and audiences alike. He reprised the role in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), taking the now-iconic character to a better opening weekend and even more enthusiastic reviews than the first go-around.- Actress
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Ziyi Zhang is a Chinese actress and model. She is best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
She made her feature film debut in The Road Home (1999).
For her work in Memoirs of a Geisha she was nominated for an Golden Globe for Best Actress.- Actor
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John Yohan Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Los Angeles, California as a child. His father was a Christian minister. Cho was educated at Herbert Hoover High School at Glendale, before moving on to the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied English literature. Upon graduation, he moved back to Los Angeles, working for a while as a teacher at Pacific Hills School where he taught 7th grade English. He also began acting with the famed Asian American theatre company East West Players.
A screen acting career began with small roles in projects such as Wag the Dog (1997), Bowfinger (1999), and the critical favorite Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). His breakthrough came when he appeared in the teen romance comedy American Pie (1999) and helped coin the phrase "MILF". Other roles followed, and he scored another hit in the slacker comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). Cho also starred in the hugely successful franchise reboot Star Trek (2009), in the sought-after role of Hikaru Sulu, and has continued working steadily in Hollywood, starring in the indie drama Columbus (2017), thriller film Searching (2018), and the horror follow-up The Grudge (2019). As well as acting, Cho is also a singer and performs in the band Viva La Union.
He is married to actress Kerri Higuchi, and they have two children.- Actress
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Daniel Dae Kim has made a career of creating multifaceted and stereotype-breaking roles as an actor, director and now, producer. Prior to his seven-season portrayal of Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii Five-0," Kim was best known for his role as Jin Soo Kwon on the hit TV series "Lost," for which he shared a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble, and was individually honored with an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award and a Vanguard Award from the Korean American Coalition, all for Outstanding Performance by an Actor. In 2009, he was recognized with the prestigious KoreAm Achievement Award in the field of Arts and Entertainment, and has twice been named one of "People" Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive."
Most recently, he received a Broadway Beacon Award for his role as the King of Siam in Lincoln Center's Tony Award-winning production of "The King and I," as well as the Theater Legacy Award from New York's Pan Asian Repertory Theater. Outside of his artistic endeavors, he actively pursues interests in the community at large, having most recently served as Cultural Envoy and Member of the U.S. Presidential Delegation for the United States at the World Expo in Korea.
Born in Busan, South Korea, and raised in New York and Pennsylvania, Kim discovered acting while a student at Haverford College. After graduation, he moved to New York City, where he began his career on stage, performing in classics such as "Romeo and Juliet," "Ivanov," and "A Doll's House." Despite early success, he deepened his knowledge of the craft by enrolling at New York University's Graduate Acting Program, where he earned his Master's Degree.
After receiving his MFA, Kim's film career began in earnest with roles in "The Jackal," "For Love of the Game," "The Hulk," "Spider-Man 2" and "The Cave," as well as the Academy Award-winning "Crash." Most recently, he created the role of Jack Kang in "The Divergent Series films, "Insurgent" and "Allegiant." Kim is set to star as Ben Daimio in the highly anticipated feature: "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen".
Kim has also lent his voice talents to animated series and films, such as the award-winning Studio Ghibli film, "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," as well as the PBS nature documentary series, "Big Pacific". He's also voiced characters for several video games, including Johnny Gat in the bestselling series, "Saints Row."
On camera, he has guest-starred on numerous TV shows, including "CSI," on the network, "ER" and two seasons on "24" as CTU Agent Tom Baker. In 2008, he starred in the Emmy Award-nominated miniseries "The Andromeda Strain."
In addition to his onscreen career, Kim spearheads his production company 3AD, established in 2014 by Daniel Dae Kim to produce premier content for TV, film and digital media - in development partnership with ITV Studios America. Committed to storytelling that features characters and cultures traditionally underrepresented in today's media, 3AD produced projects include this season's acclaimed new series The Good Doctor (ABC),where he serves as Executive Producer. Daniel Dae Kim can be found on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @danieldaekim and is repped by UTA and KlevanLongarzo LLP and EPR. 3ADmedia.- Actress
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Tao Okamoto born in Chiba, Japan on May 22, 1985, known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. She made her film debut in 2013 as Mariko Yashida, the female lead, in The Wolverine (2013). She also had recurring roles in the television series Hannibal (2013), The Man in the High Castle (2015) and Westworld (2016). . She started modeling as a teenager in Japan, when she was 14 years old. In 2006, she made a decision to move to Paris and develop her career on an international level. Soon after that, Tao made her debut on the European runways, breaking barriers as one of the very few prominent East Asian models of that era. Through her long catwalk career, she has walked for numerous top brands, including Alexander Wang, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Miu Miu, Ralph Lauren, and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2009, Tao moved to New York City and made waves in the industry by donning a unique bowl haircut. It became an inspirational look and even prompted designer Phillip Lim to model the hairstyle of his entire Fall/Winter 2009 show's cast after Tao's cut.] Tao has been involved with various advertising and editorial projects. She has fronted campaigns such as Dolce & Gabbana with Mario Testino, Emporio Armani by Alasdair McLellan, Kenzo with Mario Sorrenti, and Tommy Hilfiger with Craig McDean. Editorially, she has shot for i-D Magazine, V Magazine, W Magazine, and various international editions of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. The November 2009 issue of Vogue Nippon (Japanese Vogue) is dedicated to Tao, with her featured exclusively inside as well as on the cover - the first Japanese model to do so in nearly a decade. Tao is widely recognized as one of the top models to ever come from Japan, having won honors such as "Model of the Year" from the Japan Fashion Editor's Club and being dubbed as one of Vogue Nippon's "Women of the Year" in 2010. In 2013, Tao made her film debut as the female lead, Mariko Yashida, opposite Hugh Jackman, in 20th Century Fox's The Wolverine (2013), also known in some parts of Asia as Wolverine: Samurai. In October 2014, it was announced that Tao had joined the cast of Hannibal (2013) as Chiyoh, Hannibal Lecter's family servant. In January 2015, it was announced that Tao would be starring in the film Crossroads (2015) with Filipino actress/cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao In 2015, Tao starred in The Man in the High Castle (2015) as Betty Kasoura, wife of lawyer Paul Kasoura and a customer at Robert Childan's American Artistic Handcrafts. Tao played Mercy Graves in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).- Actress
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Liza Lapira is a film, television, and theater actress. She was raised in Queens, N.Y. In New York, she acted on stage and in independent films. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue work in television. Her first theatrical film appearance was in the romantic drama Autumn in New York and since then she has been cast in a myriad of television and film roles. Lapira is a supporter of children's organizations, like LA's Best and Impact Theatre in Harlem, and she also participates in the annual Children's Hospital Los Angeles Charity Triathlon.- Actor
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Brian Tee will star opposite Nicole Kidman in the prestige limited series "Expats," as "Clarke Woo" husband to "Margaret" (Kidman), directed by the acclaimed Lulu Wang for Amazon Prime. Tee also stared as Dr. Ethan Choi, on NBC's hit drama "Chicago Med," produced by Dick Wolf and won a 2020 NAMIC Vision Award (Best Performance - Drama) for his work on "Chicago Med."
On the big screen Tee has shared his talents in many giant blockbuster movies. Tee is known around the world for his starring role as "D.K. The Drift King," in Universal's franchise "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," directed by Justin Lin. He was a lead in FOX's summer hit "The Wolverine," starring Hugh Jackman and Directed by James Mangold. He played "Hamada," the head of park security in Universal Pictures' and Amblin Entertainment's box office smash "Jurassic World." And continuing his tent-pole career, Tee starred in Paramount Pictures' and Michael Bay's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2," as the iconic villain "Shredder."
As a character leading man, Tee romanced audiences as the lead opposite Anne Heche in the Hallmark movie "One Christmas Eve." He starred in the series "Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2," as "Liu Kang," produced by Warner Brothers, took on a lead role in Lifetime's "The Gabby Douglas Story" as the inspirational Coach "Liang Chow," and also gave a standout comedic performance in Justin Lin's comedy, "Finishing the Game," as the insanely hilarious Vietnam Vet, "Mac Chang."
A talent in all genres, Tee gave an unforgettable, heart wrenching performance as "Jimmy Nakayama," in the action drama "We Were Soldiers," opposite Mel Gibson. And on the comedy side, Brian has featured in big budget comedies "Austin Powers: Goldmember," alongside Mike Myers and "Fun with Dick and Jane," with comedy great Jim Carrey.
On the small screen, Tee was a series regular playing "EMT Eddie Choi," in "Crash," a STARZ TV series based on the Academy Award winning film. He recurred on the hit NBC series "Grimm," CBS's "Hawaii 5-O," and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." Tee has made memorable guest star appearances on shows such as "Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Lucifer, ZOO, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Lottery, Legends, Beauty and the Beast, Burn Notice, The Good Guys, CSI, Dark Blue, Bones, Lie To Me, Jericho, Entourage, The Unit, Wanted, Without A Trace, JAG, Family Law, The Pretender, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer," among others.
As the consummate artist, Tee continued to stretch his range Internationally. He starred in the Korean American romantic comedy indie feature "Wedding Palace," and was the lead villain in Korea's highly anticipated action film "No Tears for the Dead," opposite, Jang, Dong-Gun and Kim, Min-Hee, Directed by the acclaimed Lee, Jeong-Beom ("The Man from Nowhere.")
In love with his craft, Tee never stops honing his talents and embraces all mediums. Brian returned to the stage to rave reviews for his lead performance in "Snow Falling on Cedars" at the prestigious Hartford Stage.
A Los Angeles native and mixture of multiple Asian descents, Tee is proficient in both Japanese and Korean, and holds a bachelor's degree in Dramatic Arts - Acting from the University of California, Berkeley. His muse is his Family, his amazing wife Mirelly Taylor and magical daughter Madelyn Skyler who are his life's love and inspiration.- Actress
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Singapore-born, Houston-raised Tila "Tequila" Nguyen has become a pop culture sensation. She is one of the most popular personalities in cyberspace, breaking records on MySpace, with a record breaking 1.4 million friends, as well as Facebook.
Raised in a Buddhist temple, the Vietnamese teenager soon rebelled against her strict upbringing, developing into an outspoken tomboy before being discovered by international magazine editors. Since then, this Texan beauty has graced the covers of numerous magazines including Maxim UK and Stuff, was listed on Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100" list, and has been featured in Rolling Stone's "Hot Issue".
A musician at heart, Tila's has recorded with numerous platinum and multi-platinum producers such as Lil Jon, Junior Sanchez and Leor Dimant (aka DJ Lethal). A versatile artist, Tila has made numerous television and film appearances, including a cameo opposite Adam Sandler in the Universal Pictures feature I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007). Her "Tequila" nickname originates from a near fatal drinking experience. Ironically, Tila is allergic to alcohol.- Actress
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Deborah S. Craig is best known for originating the role of Marcy Park on Broadway in William Finn's Tony award winning musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", dir. by James Lapine. Based on her own over achieving childhood, it earned her critical acclaim, a Drama Desk Award and the distinction of creating the first Korean American character on Broadway.
On television, Craig has guest starred on the new Pamela Adlon / Louis Ck show "Better Things" for FX, "Son of Zorn" on Fox and Jill Solloway's critically acclaimed Golden Globe winning comedy series "Transparent" for AmazonTV. She has also recurred as James Spader's mysterious love interest Luli on the hit NBC drama, "The Blacklist", as the wise cracking southern waitress Shelley on the CW's "Hart of Dixie" and Melanie, the comic relief on the JJ Abrams' drama "Six Degrees" on ABC. Other notable guest stints include the Lauren Lungerich pilot "Dumb Girls" for MTV (dir. David Katzenberg), the CBS/"The Bold and the Beautiful" spin off web series "Room8" and Disney's "Dog with a Blog".
On the big screen she was featured in Fullscreen's "The Outfield", Dreamworks comedy "Ghost Town", indie farce "Bad Actress", "Just Wright" with Queen Latifah, "Hysterical Psycho" (written and dir. by Dan Fogler) and "Big Daddy" starring Adam Sandler.
As an writer/director/producer/comedian, Craig's original work has been featured on the homepage of FunnyorDie, Huffpo, Buzzfeed, TheBlush and ChannelApa. She has guest starred on the web series "Stupid Hype" for the CW Network (written by Hart of Dixie's Wilson Bethel and dir. by Dugan O'Neal), "Unicorn Plan-It" for Autostraddle.com, "Honest Andy" for SoNatural and on FunnyorDie exclusives "Call Me Doctor" and "Ryan Gosling's Acting Ranch".
A sought after talent for her versatility, Craig has workshopped Tony Kushner's "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide..." for The Public Theatre (dir. Michael Greif) and original work for Center Theatre Group Writers' Workshop Retreat, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Chalk Rep, Barrington Stage Co., Red Bull Theatre Co., Target Margin Theatre Co., Ma-Yi Theatre Co., Soho Rep, New York Theatre Workshop, NAATCo and Project 400. Additionally, Miss Craig was the first actor/writer accepted into the Obie winning Ma-Yi Theatre Co. Writers Lab, the largest resident company of Asian-American playwrights ever assembled.
A singer, songwriter Craig's original songs have been licensed for the feature films "Reading by Braille" and "Purity". Her original song "I'm a L-L-L-L Lesbian for you" was her fifth video to go viral on youtube. She has also been a featured vocalist at Lincoln Center, concerts for BC/EFA, Rockwell/ShowatBarre, new work by Adam Gwon, Thomson and Mann, John Bucchino, Kinosian and Blair and Musical Mondays in LA and NY.
Deborah is a certified yoga instructor, classically trained pianist, amateur chef, intense ping pong player and proud Korean american adoptee.- Actress
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Born to immigrants in New York City, Lucy Liu has always tried to balance an interest in her cultural heritage with a desire to move beyond a strictly Asian-American experience. Her mother, Cecilia, a biochemist, is from Beijing & her father, Tom Liu, a civil engineer, is from Shanghai. Once relegated to "ethnic" parts, the energetic actress is finally earning her stripes as an across-the-board leading lady.
She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986 & enrolled in NYU. However, she was discouraged by the dark and sarcastic atmosphere, so she transferred to the University of Michigan after her freshman year. She graduated w/ a degree in Asian Languages & Cultures, managing to squeeze in some additional training in dance, voice, fine arts & acting. During her senior year, she auditioned for a small part in a production of Alice in Wonderland and walked away with the lead. Encouraged by the experience, she decided to take the plunge into professional acting. She moved to L.A., splitting her time between auditions & food service day jobs. She eventually scored a guest appearance as a waitress on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). That performance led to more walk-on parts in shows like NYPD Blue (1993), ER (1994) & The X-Files (1993). In 1996, she was cast as an ambitious college student on Rhea Perlman's ephemeral sitcom Pearl (1996).
She first appeared on the big screen as an ex-girlfriend in Jerry Maguire (1996) (she had previously filmed a scene in the indie Bang (1995), but it was shelved for 2 years). She then waded through a series of supporting parts in small films before landing her big break on Ally McBeal (1997). She initially auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, which went to Portia de Rossi. However, writer-producer David E. Kelley was so impressed w/ her that he promised to write a part for her in an upcoming episode. The part turned out to be that of growling, ill-tempered lawyer Ling Woo, which she filled w/ such aplomb that she was signed on as a regular cast member.
The "Ally" win gave her film career a much-needed boost-in 1999, she was cast as a dominatrix in the Mel Gibson action flick Payback (1999) & as a hitchhiker in the ill-received boxing saga Play It to the Bone (1999). The following year brought even larger roles: first as the kidnapped Princess Pei Pei in Jackie Chan's western Shanghai Noon (2000), then as one-third of the comely crime-fighting trio in Charlie's Angels (2000).
When she's not hissing at clients or throwing well-coiffed punches, she keeps busy w/ an eclectic mix of off-screen hobbies. She practices the martial art of Kali-Eskrima-Silat (knife-and-stick fighting), skis, rock climbs, rides horses &plays the accordion. In 1993, she exhibited a collection of multimedia art pieces at the Cast Iron Gallery in SoHo (New York), after which she won a grant to study & create art in China. Her hectic schedule doesn't leave much time for romantic intrigue, but she says she prefers to keep that side of her life uncluttered.- Yunjin Kim (born November 7, 1973), also known as Kim Yun-Jin is a South Korean-American film and theater actress. She is best known for her role as Sun on the American television series Lost, and as the North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film Shiri. She also starred as Dr. Karen Kim in the ABC drama series Mistresses.
Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea on November 7, 1973. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1980. They lived in Staten Island, New York. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical My Fair Lady.
Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, a public high school located in Manhattan. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts and later earned her BFA degree in drama at Boston University. Kim has remarked that in her zeal to become Americanized quickly, she studied acting, academics and pronunciation with equal intensity. She is also a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.
After graduation, Kim devoted herself full-time to acting. She garnered several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the off-Broadway stage. In 1997, she starred in Splendid Holiday, a Korean TV drama shot on location in New York. Kim decided to return to Korea. She was cast in the TV drama Wedding Dress and was also invited to act in Lee Kwangmo's feature Spring in My Hometown, although she ended up not taking this role. Her breakthrough debut came in the 1999 film Shiri, South Korea's first blockbuster film. Shiri became the highest-grossing film in Korean history at the time. In November 2000, she continued her association with Kang Je-gyu in The Legend of Gingko.
After acting in a Japanese film and a feature set in Los Angeles, Kim appeared in the sci-fi feature Yesterday. Then in 2002, Kim took the lead role in Ardor, the feature film debut of documentarist Byun Young-ju. The film was invited to screen in a non-competitive section at the 2003 Berlin film festival.
In 2004, Kim started appearing in the U.S. television series Lost, which ran for six seasons.
In May 2006, Maxim named Kim number 98 on its annual Hot 100 List. In October 2006 she was featured on the cover of Stuff, as well as an inside spread.
In 2013, she had a leading role in the ABC drama series Mistresses.
In 2018, Kim returned to Korean television by headlining the series Ms. Ma, Nemesis. - Actress
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Bai Ling is recognized for unbridled freedom and creativity, Bai Ling has become undoubtedly one of the world's most diverse and captivating actresses! Born in the city of Cheng Du in southern China, Bai Ling began her career at age of 14. She enlisted In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, where she spent three years in a performance troupe entertaining soldiers stationed in Tibet. She first gained the attention of audiences and critics alike when she won the coveted lead role opposite Richard Gere in Jon Avnet's Red Corner (1997). She received numerous accolades including the prestigious Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review. She also garnered the Discovery Star awarded by the Hollywood Women's Press Club for their Golden Apple Awards. While developing her remarkable facility with the English language, she has worked with such prestigious filmmakers as Oliver Stone in Nixon (1995), George Lucas in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Barry Sonnenfeld in Wild Wild West (1999), Spike Lee in She Hate Me (2004), Andy Tennant in Anna and the King (1999), Ang Lee in The Wedding Banquet (1993), Alex Proyas in The Crow (1994) and Luc Besson' in )Taxi 3 (2003)_, in which she spoke French. She also starred in Terrence Malick's Broadway production of "Sansho the Bailiff". She dazzled audiences with her portrayal of the sexy, mysterious Achara in the hit TV series Lost (2004), and intrigued viewers with her seductive yet exhilarating role in HBO's Entourage (2004).
Bai Ling was awarded the Asian Oscar for her brilliant performance in her first Hong Kong film Three... Extremes (2004). It also earned her an additional three major awards in the Far East. She received the Spirit Diversity Award by The Hollywood Motion Picture Association. Her film Southland Tales (2006), directed by Richard Kelly was in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Bai starred in and executive-produced Shanghai Baby (2007). She has worked with Taylor Hackford in Love Ranch (2010), co-starring with Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, and had a leading role in the Jason Statham action comedy Crank: High Voltage (2009) with costar with Jason Statham.