Save The Cheerleader, Save The World!
We know, we know, Masi Oka who plays Hiro in the hit American series Heroes is Japanese-American. However, the actor who plays his best friend and cohort Ando, is Korean American.
James Kyson Lee was born in Seoul but his family migrated to New York when he was 10. His middle name – Kyson – is apparently made up from the first letters of his parents’ surnames – “K” & “Y” – and the word “son” (hmm, so how come he is a Lee?). On the whole, the name means “Child of the Spirit”.
James studied Communications at Boston University and at the New England Institute of the Arts.
In the summer of 2001, James decided to pack everything he owned into a suitcase, sell his used car for US$1,800 (RM6,220) and jet off to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket. Once there, he began training in jazz singing, musical theatre and yes, acting.
His very first TV audition landed him a guest-starring role on JAG! Since then, he has appeared in many other series such as Las Vegas and The West Wing.
If you can’t get enough of James in Heroes, then watch out for the actor in 2008. Lined up for the 32-year-old are starring roles in four feature films! They are Shutter, Do Over, The Roel and Sleeping Room Only.
Apart from that, James has voiced a character in the video game The Darkness for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Name: James Kyson Lee
Date of birth: Dec 13, 1975
Height: 178cm
Official site: http://www.jameskysonlee.com/
Myspace site: http://myspace.com/jameskysonlee
Complete filmography at IMDb.com
awk
he’s a great actor
ando is just AWESOME. xD
hehe, i was actually just watching heroes there now (:
“K” & “Y” – and the word “son” (hmm, so how come he is a Lee?)
Did anyone answer your question? He’s probably a Lee because his father’s last name is Ee (Yi, Yee, I, Li) and the Y in Kyson is an alternate romanization of the Korean last name. 🙂
korean american or canadian always can act as the chinese or japanese! hik…
@liz, since you like request, i would like to request for actor Dennis Oh or his full name Dennis Joseph O’neil. he’s a mix korean-american just like daniel henney. he stared in Yu Hee The Witch and as a hot spy in Sweet Spy…
I gave this profile a quick run thru and wondered how come I have never heard of him and then I saw “Heroes” *grin* I dont watch it so no wonder O_o
Good to know this 😉 Yea Sandra Oh is a good actress ^^
Oh and clammy, thanks for the concept of degrees of separation. Know your own people while at foreign land 😉
Orchid Actually, it’s not that unusual, especially in L.A., New York, and Chicago (and apparently Colorado) for Koreans to know each other. You know how there’s that supposed 6 degrees of separation for everyone to know each other on the planet. Well, in the U.S. we say that Koreans all know each other within 2 or 3 degrees of separation. Also, Koreans out here all go to church, and so people tend to know each other socially through churches as well. It’s mainly because we all end up congregating and hanging out in the same places and events.
I can give you an example of how absurd it can get. I met a girl from colorado through another friend who became my friend. She then introduced me to a bunch of her friends from Colorado in Los Angeles whom I became friends with. Then it turned out that one of those girls met someone in Chicago through one of their friends who was going to school out there. That person in Chicago was a friend of mine from L.A. from years ago that I had gone to church with! We only found out about this because Those Colorado girls all hung out with this particular group who promotes a lot of Korean American artists, and one of the main guys from there was the twin brother of the Chicago girl and also my friend! Small world!
Another time, I was in New York for my friends birthday who had attended an international school in Korea called SFS (Seoul Foreign School). Because that school was so small, everyone knew eachother. It turned out one of the girls at that party knew the sister of a close friend of mine from Los Angeles. When I got back to L.A., That friend asked me if I had met this one girl, because her sister had called her and said that her friend met a guy from L.A. that knew someone who sounded like you. I showed a picture, and sure enough everyone knew each other.
So Yeah… it’s a really small world for Korean Americans out here sometimes!!
Gosh Clammy, you seem to know a lot of people!
One of my friends went to highschool with this guy (in New York) and another one went to college with him. While in college, he was a part of this band/music group that a lot of asian americans knew about, but I think that was the extent of their popularity.
oh my.. never knew that he’s a korean american… i thought that he’s the same as masi oka, a japanese american…! haha…
Yeah, so there are more Koreans in Hollywood showbiz than we think! 🙂
Dr Yang’s Korean? Ando is Korean?
Wow. Very the educational, this blog is.
There were references in the show (Grey’s Anatomy) that Christina says she’s Korean not Chinese. I think it was Season 1 or Season 2, definitely not Season 3.
Yeah, Orchid, I thought Sandra was Chinese too but apparently not.. =)
Oh yes, I forgot…THANKS ROOSTER, for telling us James Kyson Lee is Korean-American.
*muaks*
Yeah, I’ve learnt so much as well preparing all the entries.
God bless the internet. 😉
Hey Ni-Choon,
I did not know that Sandra Oh is a Korean-Canadian. All these while i thought she is of Chinese descent – with a surname like “Oh”. And she plays Christina Yang in Grey’s. I assumed she is Chinese.
Plus i thought James Kyson Lee in Heroes is Japanese…didn’t know he is a Korean American.
Oooh request, I like requests…it shows that someone’s reading our stuff 😛
Yes ni-choon, your wish is my command. Look out for Sandra Oh in K-popped! soon.
Whoops… she’s Canadian not American, but still Korean lah… Hehe
Hey Liz,
Since you are doing profiles on Korean Americans, would it be possible if you could also write one on Sandra Oh, one of the lead interns for Grey’s Anatomy? She’s Korean American too. And the character she plays in Grey’s, Dr Christina Yang is also Korean American.
Thanks ya =)