| Kenneth Choi | |
| Birth Date: | October 20, 1971 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1998–present |
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 (2016).[1] He is also known for his roles as Jim Morita and Principal Morita in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films (2011) and (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 drama series 9-1-1, playing LAFD firefighter Howie "Chimney" Han.
Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants.[3] His father worked as 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. He attended intermediate and junior high school at Brookwood School District 167. Choi performed as a break dancer during his junior high years. 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 in order to pursue his acting dreams.[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 a career in acting. He had no prior work experience so he gained employment at a local Blockbuster video store. He spent the next five years training with local Portland acting teachers, most notably with Paul Warner.
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 a career as an actor. In film, Choi appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street (as Chester Ming),[1] (as Jim Morita), Red Dawn (as Smith) and Suicide Squad. In the 2017 film , he plays a grandson of his Captain America character.
Choi has appeared in 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 . He 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 has provided his voice as Jim Morita for the video game .[4] He has voiced the role of a gangster in the 2004 video game .[5]
In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on Fox TV's show 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]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Halloweentown | Hip-Sales-Creature | ||
| 2000 | Deep Core | Wayne Lung | ||
| 2001 | Beyond the Pale | Douglas | [10] | |
| 2002 | Woman on Fire | Janitor | ||
| 2003 | Professor Josh Chan | |||
| 2004 | The Terminal | CBP Officer | ||
| 2005 | The Road to Canyon Lake | Pong | ||
| Harsh Times | Fujimoto | |||
| 2006 | South Korean Ambassador Li Sung Park | |||
| Only the Brave | Dave Fukushima | |||
| Undoing | Danny | |||
| The Heart Specialist | Mitchell Kwan | |||
| 2007 | Baby | Mike | ||
| Walk the Talk | Dave | |||
| War | Takada | |||
| Koreatown | Sil The Well Dressed Drug Dealer | |||
| 2008 | Street Kings | Boss Kim | ||
| 2011 | Jim Morita | |||
| 2012 | Dr0ne | Jay | ||
| Red Dawn | Corporal Smith | |||
| The Real St. Nick | Jack | |||
| 2013 | Five Thirteen | C.I.A. | ||
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Chester Ming | |||
| 2016 | Suicide Squad | Yakuza Boss | ||
| 2017 | Stephanie | |||
| Principal Morita | ||||
| Bright | Yamahara | |||
| 2018 | Gringo | Marty | ||
| Hotel Artemis | Buke | |||
| Office Uprising | Freddy Wong | |||
| 2025 | Post-production |
| Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Martial Law | Biohazard Driver | Episode: "Blue Flu" | |
| 2000 | The West Wing | Secret Service Agent #1 | Episode: "Six Meetings Before Lunch" | |
| The Huntress | Douglas Ho | Episode: "Scattered" | ||
| Arliss | Tommy Takega | Episode: "Where There's a Will..." | ||
| V.I.P. | Desmond Kusari | Episode: "Magnificent Val" | ||
| Roswell | Ken | Episode: "Skin and Bones" | ||
| 2001 | The Division | Louis Tang | Episode: "Absolution" | |
| The Brothers García | Alec Lind | Episode: "Band on the Run" | ||
| Kristin | 'Smoove' | Episode: "The Escort" | ||
| Dead Last | Syd The Junkie | Episode: "Heebee Geebee's" | ||
| 2002 | Reba | Officer Aoki | Episode: "Brock's Swan Song" | |
| The King of Queens | Todd Ling | Episode: "Holy Mackerel" | ||
| 2003 | Presidio Med | Dennis | 2 episodes | |
| Crossing Jordan | Garma | Episode: "Fire and Ice" | ||
| Becker | Nam | Episode: "Dates & Nuts" | ||
| 2003–04 | Dragnet | Criminal Investigator Burrell | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | According to Jim | Lab Technician | Episode: "A Vast Difference" | |
| 2004–05 | House | Dr. Lim | 2 episodes | |
| 2005 | Las Vegas | Duncan Sabusawa | Episode: "Fake the Money and Run" | |
| 2006 | Jason Tua | Episode: "Post Mortem" | ||
| 2007 | Shark | Kirk Bagley | Episode: "The Wrath of Khan" | |
| Lincoln Heights | Anthony Moon | Episode: "Tricks Treats" | ||
| 24 | Cheng's Operative | 4 episodes | ||
| 2008 | Samurai Girl | Sato | 6 episodes | |
| 2008–09 | Crash | Mikey Han | 3 episodes | |
| 2008–14 | Sons of Anarchy | Henry Lin | 14 episodes | |
| 2009 | Without a Trace | Agent Philip Shen | Episode: "Once Lost" | |
| Heroes | Sam Douglas | Episode: "Chapter Nine 'Turn and Face the Strange'" | ||
| Glee | Dr. Wu | 2 episodes | ||
| 2010 | Hawthorne | Dr. Paul Hyun | 3 episodes | |
| 2011 | Last Man Standing | Dr. Wong | 2 episodes | |
| 2012 | The Newsroom | Dr. Lee | Episode: "The Greater Fool" | |
| 2013 | Ironside | Captain Ed Rollins | 9 episodes | |
| Longmire | Dr. Bloomfield | Episode: "Tuscan Red" | ||
| 2014 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Jim Morita | Episode: "Shadows" | |
| 2015 | Allegiance | Sam Luttrell | 13 episodes | |
| 2016 | The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story | Judge Lance Ito | 7 episodes | |
| 2016–17 | The Last Man on Earth | Lewis | 10 episodes | |
| 2017 | Chicago Med | Dr. David Kwon | 2 episodes | |
| Dimension 404 | Kojima | Episode: "Impulse" | ||
| 2018–present | 9-1-1 | Howie 'Chimney' Han | Main Role | |
| 2018 | Counterpart | Bob Dwyer | 4 episodes | |
| 2019 | Snowfall | Bobby 'Bob-Bob' Kim | Episode: "Cash and Carry" |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Gangster | |
| 2011 | Jim Morita | |
| Artist | Song title | Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | OneRepublic | "Wherever I Go" | Joseph Kahn |