I wish I could say I liked the recent 2014 movie The Maze Runner. Nevertheless, while I walked out of the theater disappointed, I could think of one good thing about the movie: the incredibly badass (not to mention cute *swoon*) keeper of the runners Minho, played by none other than UC Berkeley alumnus Ki Hong Lee.
The 24-year-old Seoul-born/SoCal-native graduated in 2008 with an undergraduate degree, but decided to pursuing acting as a career (though his only previous experience with theater was in middle school performing skits with his church). He played small roles and had cameo appearances in shows such as Victorious, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Modern Family before landing a lead role in the ABC Family series The Nine Lives of Chloe King.
In addition to acting in TV shows, films and staged performances, he has an active YouTube presence, appearing in a variety of Wong Fu Productions channel and even posting a few of his own videos, including a behind-the-scenes–esque Maze Runner “updates” one alongside Maze Runner co-star Will Poulter (and a hilarious outtakes video.)
Breaking the mold in terms of what roles Asian-American actors play in Hollywood, I can’t wait to see Ki Hong back in theaters next year both as Minho again in The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials and as Gavin Chan in the psychological thriller The Stanford Prison Experiment based on the 1971 experiment of the same name.
Picture Sources:
http://ihdwallpapers.com/ki_hong_lee_in_the_maze_runner-wallpapers.html
http://www.mediabang.org/tv-95970-the-nine-lives-of-chloe-king