peoplepill id: john-cho
JC
United States of America South Korea
1 views today
8 views this week
John Cho
Korean-American actor

John Cho

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
Korean-American actor
A.K.A.
John Yohan Cho
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Seoul, South Korea
Age
52 years
Stats
Height:
1.778 m
John Cho
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

John Cho (born Cho Yo-han; June 16, 1972) is an American film and television actor and musician. He is best known as Harold Lee in the Harold & Kumar films; as the character John, MILF Guy No. 2, who popularized the term "MILF" in the American Pie films; and as the character Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek reboot film series. Early in his career he also starred in the Asian-American films Better Luck Tomorrow, Shopping for Fangs, and Yellow.

On television, he played FBI agent Demetri Noh in the science fiction television drama FlashForward; as Chau Presley on the sitcom Off Centre; and, in a recurring role, Andy Brooks in the horror drama Sleepy Hollow. He played Henry Higgs in the 2014 sitcom Selfie, co-starring Karen Gillan.

Early life

Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States in 1978 as a young boy. He was raised in Los Angeles, where his family settled after living in Houston, Seattle, Daly City, California, and Monterey Park, California. His father was a minister in the Church of Christ, and was originally from North Korea. Cho graduated from Herbert Hoover High School, in Glendale, California, in 1990. He then attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1996 with a BA degree in English, and taught English at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, California while working at East West Players's theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Acting career

Cho began his career after graduating from Berkeley, when he moved to Los Angeles and worked with the Asian American theatre company East West Players. There, he appeared in Edward Sakamoto's The Taste of Kona Coffee in 1996, and in Euijoon Kim's movie My Tired Broke Ass Pontificating Slapstick Funk in 2000. He gained attention with a small role as "MILF Guy #2" in the 1999 comedy American Pie, in which he popularized the slang term "MILF". Cho reprised the role in three sequels: American Pie 2, American Wedding, and in the latest installment American Reunion in which he has a much larger role. The character initially had no name but he was given the name "John" in the third film, named after Cho himself.

He had a successful starring role as Harold Lee in 2004's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and reprised the role in 2008's Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, which raked in $38 million at the theaters, and again in 2011's A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas which made $35 million. Cho's role in the popular franchise was written specifically for him by Hayden Schlossberg, and Cho has recounted that when Schlossberg first approached him with the role, he was initially suspicious.

Cho guest-starred on Charmed as a ghost in 1998 and was one of the stars of the short-lived situation comedy Off Centre in 2001–2002. He was a costar of the now-defunct Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential based on Anthony Bourdain's best-selling book. He had supporting roles in Evolution, a sci-fi comedy directed by Ivan Reitman, Down to Earth, starring Chris Rock, and Bowfinger, with Steve Martin.

In 2002, he had a starring role in the ensemble cast of Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, a drama focusing on the travails of a group of Asian Americans living in Southern California who are academically successful but socially discontented, and as a result engage in wantonly violent, criminal behavior. It was well received by critics, with the New York Times's Elvis Mitchell describing Cho's character's "lazy magnetism of which he is charmingly aware." Later that year, the movie Big Fat Liar was released, in which Cho played a Hong Kong-based movie director. He refused to do the accent scripted for his character. The director worked with him to re-develop the role.

Cho appeared on July 2004 issue of KoreAm Journal and in September 2006 was cast in NBC's new comedy The Singles Table, but the series never aired due to changes in scheduling and production. In 2006 and again in 2009, Cho was selected as one of the sexiest men alive in People Magazine.

In 2007, Cho was added to the cast of Ugly Betty as a recurring character. Cho plays Kenny, a best friend of accountant Henry Grubstick (played by Christopher Gorham). Cho played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in J. J. Abrams's feature film Star Trek. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised him, along with Anton Yelchin, Chris Pine, and Zachary Quinto, for making their roles "ultimately and rather wonderfully their own".

Cho appeared in Nas' "Be a Nigger Too" music video along with various celebrities, and had a guest appearance on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, in the episode "I'm Not That Guy" where he played a partner in an evil law firm. Of the latter, Staci Krause of IGN, wrote that Cho was "the scene stealer in this episode" and that she would "definitely like to see more of him" in the series.

From 2009 to 2010, Cho starred in the television series FlashForward as FBI Special Agent Demetri Noh. His character was originally slated to be killed off during what turned out to be the show's only season, but after his turn as Sulu in Star Trek boosted his popularity, the producers revised the show's storyline so that he survived, in an attempt to boost declining ratings.

He starred as Henry Higgs in the short-lived sitcom Selfie, a retooling of the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, becoming a rare Asian-American romantic male lead in American television.

Musical career

He is the lead singer for Viva La Union (formerly known as Left of Zed), a Los Angeles garage rock band composed of former Berkeley and USC students. They have one album, self-titled, while their song "Chinese Baby" is featured on the Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay soundtrack.

Personal life

Cho married actress Kerri Higuchi in 2006 and has a son, born in 2008, and a daughter, born in 2013. As of at least 2015, reside in Los Angeles, California. He supported the 2012 re-election campaign of Democratic U.S President Barack Obama.

He is very close to his father, a former preacher, and would like to play a role in the story of his father's generation in North Korea when growing up through the Korean War in times of hardships. In a tweet he said, "Dear Dad: sometimes I need advice, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I am just telling you stuff. Thanks. Love you." He is acquainted with other fellow Korean actors, such as Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, and his "hero" Margaret Cho.

Being an Asian American in Hollywood

Cho has indicated he has found freedom in being Harold in the Harold and Kumar films because the stoner character goes against the grain of Asian Americans onscreen. He has said he has experienced racism throughout his career in Hollywood and that he tries to take roles that don't perpetuate Asian stereotypes.

When asked to do an Asian accent for Big Fat Liar, Cho refused. “I don’t want to do this role in a kid’s comedy, with an accent, because I don’t want young people laughing at an accent inadvertently”, he wrote. In a 2015 tweet he said, "Stop turning Asian roles white. It's bullshit and we all know it." On being the first Asian to play a romantic lead on a U.S. television series, he described it as being “revolutionary” and a “personal revolution” for him because of its uniqueness in Hollywood. “Asians narratively in shows are insignificant. They’re the cop, or waitress, or whatever it is. You see them in the background. So to be in this position ... is bit of a landmark,” he has said on the inability of Asians getting offered such roles.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1997Wag the DogAide #3
1997Shopping for FangsClarence
1998YellowJoey
1999American BeautySale House Man #1
1999BowfingerNightclub Cleaner
1999American PieMILF Guy #2
2000The Flintstones in Viva Rock VegasParking valet
2001Delivering MiloMr. Hugo
2001American Pie 2John (MILF Guy #2)
2001EvolutionStudent
2001Down to EarthPhil Quon
2001Pavilion of WomenFengmo Wu
2002Better Luck TomorrowSteve Choe
2002SolarisDBA Emissary #1
2002Big Fat LiarDustin Wong
2003American WeddingJohn
2004In Good CompanyPetey
2004Harold & Kumar Go to White CastleHarold Lee
2004See This MovieLarry Finkelstein
2006American DreamzFrank Ittles
2006Bickford Shmeckler's Cool IdeasTom
2007West 32ndJohn Kim
2007Smiley FaceMike
2008Nick and Norah's Infinite PlaylistHype Man
2008Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo BayHarold LeeNominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance (with Kal Penn)
Nominated-MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team (with Kal Penn)
Nominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rockstar Moment
2008Harold & Kumar Go to AmsterdamShort film
2009Star TrekHikaru SuluBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast
Nominated-Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2009Saint John of Las VegasCarnival Human Torch
2011A Very Harold & Kumar 3D ChristmasHarold Lee
2012American ReunionJohn
2012Total RecallBob McClane
2013Identity ThiefDaniel Casey
2013Star Trek Into DarknessHikaru Sulu
2015ZipperEJ
2015GrandmaChau
2016Get a JobBrian Bender
2016Star Trek BeyondHikaru Sulu
2017ColumbusJin
2017GeminiDetective Edward Ahn
2017Literally, Right Before AaronMark

Television

YearTitleRoleEpisodes
1997The Jeff Foxworthy ShowPizza Delivery ManEpisode: "Twister of Fate"
1998FelicityLarryEpisode: "The Last Stand"
1998CharmedMark ChaoEpisode: "Dead Man Dating"
2001–2002Off CentreChau Presley28 episodes
2002The Jamie Kennedy ExperimentHimself1 episode
2003Kim PossibleHirotakaEpisode: "Exchange"
2005The Men's RoomBob4 episodes
2005House M.D.Harvey ParkEpisode: "Love Hurts"
2005–2006Kitchen ConfidentialTeddy Wong10 episodes
2006Grey's AnatomyMarshall StoneEpisode: "Damage Case"
2006–2013American Dad!Vince Chung4 episodes
2007How I Met Your MotherJefferson CoatsworthEpisode: "I'm Not That Guy"
2007Ugly BettyKenny3 episodes
2007'Til DeathLucas BenderEpisode: "Come Out and Play"
2008Hollywood ResidentialHimselfEpisode: "It Happens"
2009–2010FlashForwardDemetri Noh22 episodes
2010Childrens HospitalParkEpisode: "Frankfurters. Allman Brothers. Death. Frankfurters"
201130 RockLorneEpisode: "Double-Edged Sword"
2011NTSF:SD:SUV::ChipEpisode: "The Birthday Part That Was Neither"
2012–2013Go OnSteven22 episodes
2013–2014Sleepy HollowAndy Brooks7 episodes
2014SelfieHenry HiggsMain Cast
2015BoJack HorsemanLead Improv-erEpisode: "Yes And"
2015The Mindy ProjectBig MurderEpisode: "Lahiri Family Values"
2016New GirlDanielEpisode: "Jury Duty"
2016House of LiesSean ChewEpisode: "Holacracy"
2016Drunk HistoryWilliam ShakespeareEpisode: "Landmarks"
2016The Hindenburg Explodes!ReggiePilot
2017Difficult PeopleTodd Ross2 episodes
2017The ExorcistAndrew Kim

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015Parallel Man: Infinite PursuitAgent Nick MorganVoice role

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Star TrekHikaru SuluVoice and likeness
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Menu John Cho

Basics

Introduction

Early life

Acting career

Musical career

Personal life

Being an Asian American in Hollywood

Filmography

Lists

Also Viewed

Lists
John Cho is in following lists
comments so far.
Comments
From our partners
Sponsored
John Cho
arrow-left arrow-right instagram whatsapp myspace quora soundcloud spotify tumblr vk website youtube pandora tunein iheart itunes