Brian Tee

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the actor. For the politician, see Brian Tee (politician).
Brian Tee
Okinawa, Japan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present
SpouseMirelly Taylor
Children1

Jae-Beom Takata (高田 ジェボム, Takata Jebomu, born March 15, 1977), known professionally as Brian Tee, is a Japanese-born American film and television actor. He is known for playing Dr. Ethan Choi on the NBC medical drama Chicago Med and its spin-offs from 2015 to 2022, and has starred in such films as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), The Wolverine (2013), Jurassic World (2015), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).

Early life and education

Tee was born Jae-Beom Takata (Japanese: 高田 ジェボム, Korean: 다카타 재범) in Okinawa Prefecture. His father was Japanese-American and his mother was from South Korea.[2][3] His father was born in an internment camp during World War II. His mother was living in Japan working as a reporter.

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 an 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

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

Burn Notice. He appeared in the season 4 episode "The Girl in the Mask" as Ken Nakamura on the series Bones. He played Dwayne Archimedes in the indie Feature film Roswell FM. Tee appeared in an episode in the first season of the television series Dark Blue as a Korean criminal. He has a short part in Austin Powers in Goldmember as a pedestrian who has a brief comic exchange with another man (played by Masi Oka) over the legality of calling a giant monster "Godzilla". Tee 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

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 & Furious series The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).

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. In October 2022, it was confirmed that Tee would be exiting Chicago Med after 8 seasons.[13]

Personal life

Besides English, Tee speaks fluent Japanese and proficient Korean.[3][14] He is married to actress Mirelly Taylor, with whom he has a daughter born in 2015.[15]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 What Planet Are You From? Alien Uncredited
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 Takashi "D.K."
2007 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
2017 The Beautiful Ones Casper

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
2005–2008 Zoey 101 Kazu 6 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
Pandemic
 		Danny Miniseries
2008 Jericho Cheung Episode: "Patriots and Tyrants"
2008–2009
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"
2012–2013 Grimm Akira Kimura 3 episodes
2012
Shake It Up
 		Mr. Itou "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"
One Christmas Eve Dr. Chen TV movie
2015 Chicago P.D. Jesse Kong Episode: "The Three Gs"
Baby Daddy Tommy Kwan Episode: "It Takes a Village Idiot"
2015–2022,

2023 & 2024

Chicago Med Dr. Ethan Choi Series regular,

Director: 2 episodes

2016–2022 Chicago Fire Recurring character
Chicago P.D.
2018 Lucifer Ben Rogers Episode: "Once Upon a Time"
2021 Star Wars: Visions Ronin (voice) Short film: The Duel: English language dub[16]
2024 Expats Clarke Miniseries, Main Cast
TBA The Scapegoat — Anthology series, producer

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. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b c 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. ^ Stanhope, Kate (July 20, 2015). "'Chicago Med' Adds 'Jurassic World' Actor as Series Regular'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. ^ Cordero, Rosy (October 12, 2022). "'Chicago Med' Star Brian Tee To Exit After 8 Seasons; Will Return To Direct". Deadline.
  14. ^ "Chicago Med's Brian Tee: Balance Is the Key to Life". Parade. November 9, 2016.
  15. ^ "Brian Tee Welcomes Daughter Madelyn Skyler". People. August 13, 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16.
  16. ^ "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts". StarWars.com. August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brian_Tee&oldid=1215329449"