Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

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Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

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Celebrate some of the most iconic Asian actors from film and television, from [link=/name/nm1231899/]Priyanka Chopra Jonas[/link] to [link=/name/nm0702841]Ke Huy Quan[/link], plus many more.

Asian Icons of Film and Television

Celebrate some of the most iconic Asian actors from film and television, from <a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm1231899/?ref_=nmvg_eds_right-7_lk">Priyanka Chopra Jonas</a> to <a class="ipc-md-link" href="/name/nm0702841?ref_=nmvg_eds_right-7_lk">Ke Huy Quan</a>, plus many more.

Born Kenneth Mark Bhan, in Washington, DC, he began acting in school plays in elementary school, and started doing close up magic in middle school. However, during high school he was recruited by the United States Navy to join a special program at the United States Naval Academy, in his hometown of Annapolis, Maryland. Ken was a gifted student and his math scores attracted the military. Here, he began training to be an engineer on a nuclear submarine, and continued for three consecutive years during high school, taking evening classes usually at Michaelson or Rickover Hall, at the United States Naval Academy. In a couple of years he was endorsed by a Maryland State Senator to officially enlist, however his eyesight which required glasses, prevented him from serving active duty in the Navy, even with years at the Academy. Before long he became an acting major at Howard University and earned a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy (BADA) at Balliol College at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A trifecta of polar opposites when it comes to universities across the globe, and I attribute Ken's ability to explain just about anything, to his diverse background. Back to the arts, while training in Oxford, his teachers included John Barton, Sir Derek Jacobi, Fiona Shaw, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Turner and Ian Wooldridge. He was cast as the lead "Aimwell" in George Farquhar's "The Beaux Stratagem" performed at Balliol College. Ironically, months later, he elected to have eye surgery, correcting his eyesight to twenty twenty. Today, he holds a B.F.A. in acting from Howard University, where he took "Creative Drama" class with the late Chadwick Boseman, who offered Ken a role in his original play, "Hieroglyphic Graffiti."

He's worked with Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard, Patricia Heaton and Josh Gad directed by James Burrows in "Back to You" at Twentieth Century Fox. He also played a resident doctor in "The Good Doctor" directed by Lance Daly and winner in the Tribeca Film Festival. He supported fellow doctors, Orlando Bloom, Rob Morrow, Troy Garity and nurse Taraji P. Henson in this feature film thriller, written by John Enbom. He was cast as series regular "Sterling Raffey" in the television sitcom "The Trainer" opposite Barry Williams, Alex Petrovitch, Tarneisha Stimage and Alice Walker. The project was created, written and directed by Richard Alan Elias, who later gave Ken a 'producer' credit for going above and beyond. He appeared in the popular TV series "Lie to Me" where he played a lab technician opposite Tim Roth and Erica Christiansen. He plays a spiritual life coach "Pradeep" in the feature film "Bad People" written and directed by Alex Petrovitch. Alex noted audiences often commented Ken's scenes are among the funniest parts of the movie. He's a villain in feature film "Kings of L.A." portraying "Samir" opposite actor William L. Johnson, Duane Finley with Michael Paré, Paula Jai Parker, Alimi Ballard and directed by Van Elder. It's a gritty crime action adventure set in Los Angeles. Ken's also an automotive enthusiast and an expert in "drifting" cars, which means skidding them sideways around a turn in a controlled manner. Ken's driving skills have been featured in a number of film and television projects. Early in his career, he appeared in "Sex and the City" playing a taxi driver, giving Sarah Jessica Parker and Bridget Monaghan a ride.

We recently had lunch, talked about interesting vehicles, entertainment projects and he shared a few magic tricks while gabbing extensively about his favorite four letter word, which I'll come to later. I began scribbling notes about his acting work, which began in Theatre. He was offered the lead role of Aladdin in Klassika Theatre's production of "Aladdin" while at Howard University and was in "Julius Caesar" at the Washington Opera, part of the Kennedy Center Complex in Washington, DC. Later he was back at the Kennedy Center as "Malik" along with fellow Howard student, Ronald Hysten, in the world premiere of "Chump Changes" an original play written and directed by Alan Sharpe. This time the stage was the prestigious AFI Theater which is also part of the Kennedy Center Complex. His acting professor, Dr. Vera J. Katz would later praise his work as organic, vulnerable with humor throughout. Commenting, "He's good at improvisation." He joined the Screen Actors Guild while working on the television show "The Young Americans" on the WB Network, a spin-off of "Dawson's Creek." He was given the lead role in "Dancing with the Devil" in Washington, DC, where he was able to play a version of Mephistopheles, the devil himself. Ken assures me, the "devil" is a challenging role. He was able to develop his acting technique with the aid of professors Mike Malone, Kim Bey, Mark Jolin, Timmy Ray James and Dr. Vera J. Katz within the Fine Arts program at the university. Ken's first television commercial was for professional basketball team the "Washington Wizards" and he would go on to book three more commercials the next year. His commercial credits include Wendy's, AT&T, Geico, Cox Communications and more. Upon graduating from Howard University with a B.F.A. in acting he set off on a cross country drive to Los Angeles settling in Venice Beach. He trained with Bernard Hiller in Burbank, California and prompted Bernard to describe his work as "an Oscar-worthy performance" during a scene portrayal from the popular play "Boy's Life" in Bernard's scene study workshop, where Ken played a mentally challenged character.

When he's not on a film or television set, you can find him performing stand-up comedy in local comedy clubs such as The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, Improv, Flapper's and The Ice House. He also relishes in tinkering with cars, adding custom features that can do things like brew a cup of tea, inflate your tires, and keep all your stuff in place while "drifting" using "power oversteer" to slide the vehicle around turns, while maintaining control. He possesses the rare ability to "drift" cars which he tells me is called "power oversteer" and started when he was fifteen years old. He assures me, it's just math. He enjoys stunt driving and his skills were featured in a video by hiphop artist "ScHoolboy Q" and aired at a recent Coachella event, where Ken does a massive burnout. Obviously he's an avid car enthusiast, and oddly, has an immaculate driving record with zero tickets over the last fifteen years, even though he often drives from Los Angeles to Washington DC, and back again. I asked him how many times have you driven across the country? He answered, "At least fifty, maybe a hundred. Every time you drive across the country, you usually have to drive back, so you double the number. " I replied, "Let me guess, math?" Who taught Ken math? It's mostly, his father. He's the son of mechanical engineer Chander Bhan and writer, Esme Evelyn Bhan. Chander Bhan has been recognized in "Who's Who in the World" as well as "Who's Who in the East" and "Men of Achievement" for his work in engineering efficiency with IBM and Honeywell. His mother, Esme, was selected to be a fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge and is a published writer and archivist. She also worked at the Smithsonian Institute for a number of years.

Over fifteen years ago Ken was involved in a near tragic automobile accident, requiring two surgeries on his left arm and shoulder and months of physical therapy. This left him dependent on prescription painkillers. Once fully recovered, he made a resolve to never take prescription pain killers again and returned to his childhood hobby of close up magic to help exercise his mind, and get his brain back to normal. These days he likes to keep a deck of cards in his pocket and does magic spontaneously, wherever he goes. He was invited and eventually performed at the world famous Magic Castle after his submission tape was watched by Jack Goldfinger, Director of Entertainment at the Castle. His magic is all based on quantum physics and his favorite four letter word, which is math. Yes, math. He says "Math never lies" and underneath his quirky persona, he's an incredible problem solver. He's the only person I know who quit prescription pain killers by doing magic. If you have a chance to meet him and he asks if you want to see a magic trick, my advice is to say yes. I'm not very good at math like Ken, but I consider it a mathematical certainty, he'll blow your mind.

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