Brian Tee

Jaebeom Takata (Japanese: 高田 ゼボム, Takata Zebomu; born March 15, 1977), known professionally as Brian Tee, is a Japanese American actor best known for his starring role as Dr. Ethan Choi in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med and its spin-offs and has appeared in numerous films and television series including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Wolverine, Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Jurassic World and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

This article is about the actor. For the politician, see Brian Tee (politician).
Brian Tee
Tee in April 2011
Born
Jaebeom Takata[1]

(1977-03-15) March 15, 1977
Okinawa, Japan
NationalityJapanese
American
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present
Spouse(s)Mirelly Taylor
Children1

Early life

Tee was born Jaebeom Takata in Okinawa, to a Korean (Zainichi Korean) mother and a Japanese American father.[2][3] At the age of two, he moved to Hacienda Heights, California, and was raised in Southern California. He attended Glen A. Wilson High School where he was Associated Student Body president and captain of the football team. While in high school, he worked at Blackjack Pizza in Hacienda Heights.

Tee graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in theater and performing arts.[4] Not long after graduating he adopted his "culturally ambiguous" stage name Brian Tee after being rejected by a Korean director at an audition for having a Japanese last name.[5][3]

Career

Tee played Kazu, the owner of Sushi Rox, on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. He played Eddie Choi in Crash.[6] He also starred as Akira Kimura on Grimm and Takeda on Burn Notice. He also appeared in the season 4 episode "The Girl in the Mask" as Ken Nakamura on the series Bones. He has also played Dwayne Archimedes in the indie Feature film Roswell FM. Tee has also appeared in an episode in the first season of the television series Dark Blue as a Korean criminal. He also had a short part in Austin Powers in Goldmember as a pedestrian ("Run! It's Goldzilla!"; "Still we should run like it is Godzilla!"). Brian can also be seen as a contestant on an episode of Hollywood Squares hosted by Tom Bergeron. He played in 1999 against a woman named Heidi.

Tee was also in the music video "Dance Like Michael Jackson" by Far East Movement.

In James Mangold's The Wolverine (2013), starring Hugh Jackman, Tee played Noburo Mori, a sadistic minister of justice arranged to marry the daughter of Yakuza Boss Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada).[7]

Tee took on the role of Liu Kang in the YouTube series Mortal Kombat Legacy.[8]

One of Tee's most famous roles was as "D.K." Takashi "Drift King" in the 3rd installment of the Fast and the Furious series (Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift)

Tee appeared in the Television film The Gabby Douglas Story on October 18, 2013, where he played her coach Liang Chow, which aired in 2014 on Lifetime.

Tee co-starred in the 2015 film Jurassic World where he played Hamada, a high-ranking commander who works for the Asset Containment Unit (ACU).[9]

Tee played Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the 2016 sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where the role was previously portrayed by Tohoru Masamune.[10][11]

On July 20, 2015, Tee signed on to co-star in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi.[12] He had previously appeared on its sister show Chicago P.D. as a Chinese gangster in season 2.

Personal life

Besides English, Tee speaks fluent Japanese and Korean.[13] He is married to actress Mirelly Taylor and has a daughter named Madelyn Skyler Tee, born in 2015.[14]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 We Were Soldiers Pfc. Jimmy Nakayama
Austin Powers in Goldmember Japanese Pedestrian
2004 Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation Cpl. Thom Kobe
2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Sushi Chef
2006 All In Rosenbloom Player 2
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift "D.K." Takashi "Drift King"
2007 Pandemic Danny Miniseries
Finishing the Game Mac Chang
2008 The Trade Mr. Cho
2009 Deadland Jax
Chain Letter Brian Yee
Wedding Palace Jason
2013 The Wolverine Noburo Mori
2014 The Gabby Douglas Story Liang Chow
No Tears for the Dead Chaoz
2015 Jurassic World Hamada
2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Oroku Saki/The Shredder

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2000 The Pretender Male Agent Episode: "The Agent of Year Zero"
The Invisible Man Mallon Episode: "The Value of Secrets"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Intern Episode: "Family"
2001 Family Law DEA Agent Episode: "Liar's Club: Part 1"
18 Wheels of Justice Host Episode: "The Game"
The Chronicle Neo Episode: "Here There Be Dragons"
2002 Flipside Lance Episode: "Pilot"
2003 JAG North Korean Soldier Episode: "Close Quarters"
2004 Passions Young Asian Man 1 episode
Cracking Up Frat Guy #1 Episode: "Daddy's Home"
Monk James Lu Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather"
Tiger Cruise MA2 Chan Television film
2005–06 Zoey 101 Kazu 3 episodes
2005 Without a Trace Kirk Episode: "Transitions"
Wanted Jin-Lee Park Episode: "Rubbing One Out"
2006 The Unit Rebel Leader Episode: "200th Hour"
Entourage Fukijama's Bodyguard Episode: "What About Bob?"
2007 Grey's Anatomy Andy Meltzer 2 episodes
2008 Jericho Cheung Episode: "Patriots and Tyrants"
2008–09 Crash Eddie Choi 13 episodes
2009 Lie to Me Han Yong-Dae Episode: "Love Always"
Bones Ken Nakamura Episode: "The Girl in the Mask"
Dark Blue Kang Episode: "K-Town"
2010 Sym-Bionic Titan Mike Chan (voice) Episode: "Roar of the White Dragon"
2011 Burn Notice Takeda Episode: "Bloodlines"
2012–13 Grimm Akira Kimura 3 episodes
2012 Shake It Up Concierge "Made in Japan"
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Ryu Nabushi/Hideaki Kuroda Episode: "Kupouli 'la"
2014 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Toshiro Mori Episode: "A Fractured House"
2015 Chicago P.D. Jesse Kong Episode: "The Three Gs"
Baby Daddy Tommy Kwan Episode: "It Takes a Village Idiot"
2015–present Chicago Med Dr. Ethan Choi Series regular
2016–present Chicago Fire Dr. Ethan Choi Recurring character
Chicago P.D. Dr. Ethan Choi Recurring character
2018 Lucifer Ben Rogers Episode: "Once Upon a Time"

Web
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Mortal Kombat: Legacy Liu Kang 4 episodes

Video games
Year Title Voice role Notes
2008 Saints Row 2 Jyunichi

Music videos
Year Title Artist Notes
2006 "Conteo" Don Omar
2008 "Dance Like Michael Jackson" Far East Movement

References
  1. Han, Brian (15 January 2015). "'Jurassic World' actor Brian Tee feels 'career starting to hit stride'". The Korea Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  2. Sanders, David Lee (29 September 2009). "Interview with Brian Tee". HalfKorean.com. HalfKorean.com. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  3. Weik, Taylor (August 1, 2017). "From 'The Fast And The Furious' To 'Chicago Med,' Actor Brian Tee Is Paving His Own Path". NBC.
  4. Half-Korean.com Interview with Brian Tee
  5. "'Jurassic World' actor Brian Tee feels 'career starting to hit stride'". The Korea Times. January 15, 2015.
  6. interviews Brian Tee of Crash, 13/12/2008
  7. indieWire, Brian Tee Joins The Wolverine,, 10/07/2012
  8. "Web Series 'Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2′ Hitting February 17th". Latino Review. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  9. Reera Yoo, "Brian Tee Cast as 'Hamada' in Jurassic World" Archived 2014-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Prudom, Laura (April 27, 2015). "'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2' Casts Brian Tee as Shredder". Variety.
  11. Gomez, Luis (November 11, 2015). "Interview: Brian Tee says his Shredder in 'Ninja Turtles' sequel is 'more grounded in reality'". Chicago Tribune.
  12. Kate Stanhope (July 20, 2015). "'Chicago Med' Adds 'Jurassic World' Actor as Series Regular'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. "Chicago Med's Brian Tee: Balance Is the Key to Life". Parade. November 9, 2016.
  14. "Brian Tee Welcomes Daughter Madelyn Skyler". People. August 13, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.