Top Rising Asian-American Leading Men Actors
As there continue to be more and more Asian-American actors redefining the entertainment industry, I decided to create a list of rising Asian-American leading men actors to watch out for in the film and television industry. I listed them in no particular order and tried to include up and coming actors as well as veterans.
List activity
23K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
20 people
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
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.- Actor
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Aaron Yoo was born on 12 May 1979 in New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for 21 (2008), Disturbia (2007) and Friday the 13th (2009).- Actor
- Soundtrack
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.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
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
- Soundtrack
Daniel Henney was born on 28 November 1979 in Carson City, Michigan, USA. He is an actor, known for Big Hero 6 (2014), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Last Stand (2013).- Godfrey Gao was born on 22 September 1984 in Taiwan. He was an actor, known for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013), The Jade Pendant (2017) and Toy Story 3 (2010). He died on 27 November 2019 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
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.- Actor
- Producer
Yila Timothy Kang is an American actor. He is known for his role as Kimball Cho in the television series The Mentalist and Gordon Katsumoto in the CBS/NBC reboot series Magnum P.I. Kang was born in San Francisco, California, and is the eldest of three brothers. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Fine Arts from Harvard's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at the American Repertory Theater and the Moscow Art Theatre- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is a Costa Rican-born Chinese American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series Glee (2009-15) and as Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series Shadowhunters (2016-19). He was nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance in Glee, winning once. He won the award for The Male TV Star of 2018 in the E! People's Choice Awards for Shadowhunters.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Steven Yeun was born in Seoul, South Korea, to June and Je Yeun. His family first immigrated to Canada and stayed there for one year, and then moved to the U.S. He has a brother named Brian. He began acting while at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI, where he studied Psychology as a major (BS in Psychology, 2005). When he realized his love for acting he went to study theatre in college instead of med school. He was a member of Stir Friday Night, a sketch-comedy group made up of Asian-American performers, and was also a member of the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. He earned roles on The Big Bang Theory (2007) (as Sebastian), in Jerry (2009) (as Chaz) and in different commercials for Best Buy, Apple, and Milky Way. He lives in L.A.
Steven enjoys playing guitar. His parents own beauty supply stores in Detroit, MI.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Dominic Zhai is a Chinese-American actor with native level fluency in American English and Mandarin Chinese. He studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Aaron Speiser Acting Studio, Upright Citizens Brigade and graduated with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with an emphasis in Biology, Chinese, Theatre & Drama.
Dominic worked as an actor in his debut Chinese-market feature film, "Lost in the Pacific" starring Zhang Yuqi and Brandon Routh. In addition, he has starred in many other upcoming Chinese theatrical films.
In addition to being a professional acting coach, dialect coach and translator for Chinese stars' Tang Wei (Blackhat, dir. Michael Mann) and Zhang Yuqi (Lost in the Pacific 2015), he is also a mixed martial artist well versed in Muay Thai Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Location Management
Tim Chiou was born in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Tim is an actor, known for The Company You Keep (2023), SEAL Team (2017) and iZombie (2015).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Randall Park is an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. He was born in Los Angeles, California, to Korean parents, and graduated from the Humanities Magnet Program at Hamilton High School. Park went on to receive a Bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing and a Master's degree in Asian American Studies from UCLA. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jake Choi is an American actor born and raised in Queens, New York.
Choi received his training at The Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. He also studied with renowned teachers Bob Krakower and Ted Sluberski.
He has performed throughout New York on stage, film and TV. Choi currently resides in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ivan Shaw is known for Dear Edward (2023), The Cleaning Lady (2022) and That Dirty Black Bag (2022).- Actor
- Producer
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
E-Kan Soong grew up in South Jersey at the top of his class while playing both classic piano and tennis competitively, which also happens to be every Asian parents' dream. However, when he arrived for his first day at University of Chicago and said, "Hi, my name is E-Kan, and I'm an econ major," he knew he was meant to be on a bigger stage. He soon began writing and performing in original sketch and stage shows on campus, and eventually moved to Los Angeles.
E-Kan has worked with the likes of Tom Hanks, Zooey Deschanel, and Titus Welliver as well as appeared on hit shows like New Girl, NCIS, The Rookie, and Mindy Project. Most recently, E-Kan can be seen on Grey's Anatomy and Amazon Prime's Bosch: Legacy. He also has shot numerous national commercials and print for major brands and continues to write and develop his own projects, including the award winning web series "Born Losers" and short film "No Laughing Matter: Tears of a Clown".- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
One of today's most exciting & versatile actors, voted by Buzzfeed as a Top 10 Asian-American Leading Man, and by TV Guide as "Hollywood's 25 Hottest", James is next appearing in the feature Year 2, and was recently seen in Netflix movie Yes Day, and the HBO show Lovecraft County. He recently guest starred in AMC's Preacher (2016), CBS' Elementary (2012) and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016), and FOX's Sleepy Hollow (2013). He also recently starred in NCIS: Los Angeles (2009), the new Nickelodeon sitcom School of Rock (2016), the FX drama Justified (2010), and is beloved to many for his 5-year run on NBC's Heroes (2006) as 'Ando'.
James recently returned to the stage, in La Jolla Playhouse's production of Wild Goose Dreams, directed by Leigh Silverman (2x TONY nominee). He recently starred the comedy feature 7 Days to Vegas (2019), and Banana Season (2018), where he had to train as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter for six weeks. He also stars in the romantic comedy Another Time (2018), along side Justin Hartley and Arielle Kebbel.
A native of NYC, James graduated from Bronx H.S. of Science, then went on to study communications & broadcasting at New England Institute of the Arts. After a stint in a hip-hop group in college, James moved to LA on a one-way ticket & a suitcase, where he began his training in music, dance, and acting. His first ever TV audition landed him on CBS's JAG (1995).
An athlete & avid runner, James has ran the LA Half Marathon with his wife Jamee , plays basketball for The Hollywood Knights, a charity celebrity team, and participated in Robbie Williams' Soccer Aid for UNICEF, at Manchester United's Old Trafford in the UK. His favorite hobbies include scuba diving and ultimate frisbee, and he loves playing guitar and the piano.
James is an ambassador for the international non-profit Good Neighbors and their Water for Life campaign, as well as the Creative Coalition and their Arts Education program. His passion is to create media that promotes wellness, fitness, and consciousness.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
James Chen is an American actor who is known for his versatile work in TV, international film, and theater. He trained as an actor at the prestigious Yale School of Drama where upon graduation he led the School of Acting in commencement ceremonies and was awarded the Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize.
He first began acting professionally in Philadelphia theater after attending the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completing Yale, he resumed his professional career in New York City, where he quickly began working in Off Broadway theater, TV, film, commercials, and audiobooks. For 2 seasons he re-occurred as CSU forensics Detective Adrian 'Andy' Sung on Law & Order: Special Victims' Unit, opposite Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Ice-T. Other TV work includes the CBS police drama Blue Bloods with Donnie Wahlberg and Jennifer Esposito, NCIS: LA with Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah, and the NBC hit The Blacklist with Diego Klattenhoff and Megan Boone.
Comedically, he has worked with Will Arnett, Peter Serafinowicz, Maulik Pancholy, and Keri Russell in the FOX comedy Running Wilde. He has also filmed pilots for Comedy Central (Evan and Gareth Are Trying to Get Laid) as well as the Adult Swim pilot, Dumb American Family, by co-creators of the cult hit Childrens Hospital.
In film he's worked with Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Tilda Swinton, and Denis Leary in international studio films including Columbia Pictures' The Amazing Spiderman (dir. Marc Webb), 20th Century FOX's Mr. Popper's Penguins (dir. Mark Waters), Paramount Pictures' Labor Day (dir. Jason Reitman), and BBC Film's We Need To Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay).
On stage he has worked regionally at the Chautauqua Theater Company, The Guthrie Theater, and the Philadelphia Theater Company.
His co-narrated title, The Last Chinese Chef, won an AudioFile Earphones Award for exceptional audio performance. Over a dozen of his other titles can be found at Audible.com.
He is trained in classical piano, is conversational in Mandarin, and has studied martial arts for several years. He splits his time between New York and Los Angeles.- Actor
- Writer
- Editor
Roger Fan has been impressing audiences with his range and versatility since his remarkable one-two punch at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. While co-starring as the charismatic and manipulative Daric Loo in Justin Lin's breakout indie feature "Better Luck Tomorrow," Fan also starred in, co-produced, and co-wrote the racy 17-minute short subject, "The Quest For Length," one of the surprise hits of the festival.
Fan will soon be seen co-starring with James Franco in Lin's first studio feature, Touchstone Pictures' "Annapolis," which recently wrapped production on the East Coast.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Southern California, Fan graduated from Brown University with a degree in Economics. He initially worked on Wall Street and in San Francisco as a financial consultant, but found time to create inspiration and excitement in local theatre. Gifted with a natural ability to perform and a uniquely handsome, leading-man style, Fan incorporated his love of the performing arts with his entrepreneurial flair and quickly parlayed them into a successful film and television career, leaving the financial world behind.
Fan accumulated an extensive background in theatre and has performed in various classic and contemporary productions in Europe and the United States. His most recent stage credits include "Solve for X", "Terminus Americana", and "Texas" with the award-winning Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, and "Performance Anxiety" with San Diego's AART. He has also appeared in plays at Theatre 40, Playhouse West, East West Players and for the Exile's Theatre Ltd. in Ireland.
He made his feature film debut in "Rush Hour," and co-starred as Chris Kattan's FBI partner in the Disney/Touchstone comedy "Corky Romano." Fan recently completed a role in "D.E.B.S." starring Jordana Brewster, and has also appeared in the Farrelly Bros.' film, "Stuck on You." Among his numerous television credits are roles on "ER," "Frasier," "Party of Five," "News Radio," "Arli$$", "Diagnosis Murder."
Today, Roger Fan is one of the industry's most interesting and exciting young actors, redefining the leading man aesthetic through a wide variety of projects and roles on film and on stage. Rave reviews from critics such as Roger Ebert, Richard Roper, Peter Travers, and Elvis Mitchell have pointed out that Roger Fan is a "charismatic and fearless actor" with a limitless future.