John Cho Biography

John Cho (born Cho Yo-han; June 16, 1972) is a Korean American actor and musician. He is best known as Harold Lee in the Harold & Kumar films; John (MILF Guy No. 2), who popularized the term "MILF" in the American Pie films; and Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek reboot film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian American centered films Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), Shopping for Fangs (1997), and Yellow (1998).

On television, Cho played FBI agent Demetri Noh in the science fiction television drama FlashForward; Chau Presley on the sitcom Off Centre; Andy Brooks in the horror drama Sleepy Hollow, Henry Higgs in the 2014 sitcom Selfie, and Andrew Kim in The Exorcist.

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.

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 do not 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.

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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Wag the Dog	Aide #3
1997	Shopping for Fangs	Clarence
1998	Yellow	Joey
1999	American Beauty	Sale House Man #1
1999	Bowfinger	Nightclub Cleaner
1999	American Pie	MILF Guy #2
2000	The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas	Parking valet
2001	Delivering Milo	Mr. Hugo
2001	American Pie 2	John (MILF Guy #2)
2001	Evolution	Student
2001	Down to Earth	Phil Quon
2001	Pavilion of Women	Fengmo Wu
2002	Better Luck Tomorrow	Steve Choe
2002	Solaris	DBA Emissary #1
2002	Big Fat Liar	Dustin Wong
2003	American Wedding	John
2004	In Good Company	Petey
2004	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Harold Lee
2004	See This Movie	Larry Finkelstein
2006	American Dreamz	Frank Ittles
2006	Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas	Tom
2007	West 32nd	John Kim
2007	Smiley Face	Mike
2008	Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist	Hype Man
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Harold Lee	Nominated-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
2008	Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam		Short film
2009	Star Trek	Hikaru Sulu	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast Nominated-Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2009	Saint John of Las Vegas	Carnival Human Torch
2011	A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	Harold Lee
2012	American Reunion	John
2012	Total Recall	Bob McClane
2013	Identity Thief	Daniel Casey
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	Hikaru Sulu
2015	Zipper	EJ
2015	Grandma	Chau
2016	Get a Job	Brian Bender
2016	Star Trek Beyond	Hikaru Sulu
2017	Columbus	Jin
2017	Gemini	Detective Edward Ahn
2017	Literally, Right Before Aaron	Mark

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episodes
1997	The Jeff Foxworthy Show	Pizza Delivery Man	Episode: "Twister of Fate"
1998	Felicity	Larry	Episode: "The Last Stand"
1998	Charmed	Mark Chao	Episode: "Dead Man Dating"
2001–2002	Off Centre	Chau Presley	28 episodes
2002	The Jamie Kennedy Experiment	Himself	1 episode
2003	Kim Possible	Hirotaka	Episode: "Exchange"
2005	The Men's Room	Bob	4 episodes
2005	House M.D.	Harvey Park	Episode: "Love Hurts"
2005–2006	Kitchen Confidential	Teddy Wong	10 episodes
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Marshall Stone	Episode: "Damage Case"
2006–2013	American Dad!	Vince Chung	4 episodes
2007	How I Met Your Mother	Jefferson Coatsworth	Episode: "I'm Not That Guy"
2007	Ugly Betty	Kenny	3 episodes
2007	'Til Death	Lucas Bender	Episode: "Come Out and Play"
2008	Hollywood Residential	Himself	Episode: "It Happens"
2009–2010	FlashForward	Demetri Noh	22 episodes
2010	Childrens Hospital	Park	Episode: "Frankfurters. Allman Brothers. Death. Frankfurters"
2011	30 Rock	Lorne	Episode: "Double-Edged Sword"
2011	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Chip	Episode: "The Birthday Part That Was Neither"
2012–2013	Go On	Steven	22 episodes
2013–2014	Sleepy Hollow	Andy Brooks	7 episodes
2014	Selfie	Henry Higgs	Main Cast
2015	BoJack Horseman	Lead Improv-er	Episode: "Yes And"
2015	The Mindy Project	Big Murder	Episode: "Lahiri Family Values"
2016	New Girl	Daniel	Episode: "Jury Duty"
2016	House of Lies	Sean Chew	Episode: "Holacracy"
2016	Drunk History	William Shakespeare	Episode: "Landmarks"
2016	The Hindenburg Explodes!	Reggie	Pilot
2017	Difficult People	Todd Ross	2 episodes
2017	The Exorcist	Andrew Kim

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit	Agent Nick Morgan	Voice role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Star Trek	Hikaru Sulu	Voice and likeness