Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Mary Tablante
As a college student unsatisfied with his decision to study to be an accountant, Kenneth Choi hopped on a Greyhound bus from Chicago to Portland to begin taking acting lessons without telling his parents where he was going.
Within three-and-a-half years of studying acting, Choi obtained a Screen Actors Guild card, an agent and a manager. But it turned out that all this was the easy part. The hard part was yet to come.
Choi moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 1999 in pursuit of getting into television and films, but like many other aspiring actors, had to work side jobs to make a living.
He recalls the struggles it took for him to get to the point of acting consistently, as well as the difficulties he went through to get his father to accept his chosen career path. His parents wanted him to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer and did not approve of his decision to go into acting.
“I remember emptiness [in college] because I was supposed to be studying something I didn’t want to do and I was so unhappy. I just came to a breaking point,” he said.
He broke off all contact with his family because he wanted to avoid fights and conflict that he said would have held him back from focusing on acting.
“I just had to take my life in my own hands,” he said.
When he moved to Los Angeles, Choi decided to call his father for the first time in many years to tell him why he ran away and what he was doing with his life.
After the phone call, Choi was surprised to hear that his father had a lot of respect for him; however, his father still did not fully accept his decision to become an actor. When Choi quit his side job in 2007, he said that was the first time his father had true respect for his chosen career.
However, Choi said he understands that his father was tough on him because his father just wanted to make sure his son was doing well.
“Some say [running away] was a bold step; some say it was irresponsible, [but] for me, it’s the way I had to do it. I came out a lot stronger,” Choi said.
Today, Choi is now a series regular on a new NBC fall TV show Ironside, in which he portrays Captain Ed Rollins. Choi has also appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger, Glee, 24 and the upcoming movie The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey.
How did he “make” it as an actor? Good old fashioned hard work.
“I tell people you have to train like an athlete,” he said. “Athletes become the best because they train every single day and the ones who train hardest should be the best. I think it’s the same with acting.”
In addition, the arts and entertainment scene has changed for Asian Americans since Choi started. When he first moved to Los Angeles, there were not as many Asian American series regulars as there are today. Choi says that many more TV shows and movie companies are comfortable with hiring Asian American male actors.
“Most of the roles [in the‘90s], you’re going to play the Yakuza or the Triad, you’re gonna be the guy who works in the Chinese restaurant or the one who knows martial arts,” he said. “Over the years, it’s completely changed,” he said.
Ironside
Choi fans will soon be able to catch him on a TV show remake of the show Ironside, which originally aired from 1967 to 1975, the show premiering this fall puts a completely new spin on the original series.
The story centers on Detective Robert Ironside (Blair Underwood) and his team as they solve the toughest crimes in New York City. A shooting two years prior to the beginning of the show caused Ironside to be paralyzed form the waist down and bound to a wheelchair, but the series shows this hasn’t stopped Ironside.
The pilot effectively lays out the show’s premise, complete with flashbacks from before the shooting that changed Ironside’s life. It also introduces Choi’s character’s relationship with Ironside, which can be described as a “push-pull” relationship that also carries some lighthearted moments.
Choi’s character, Captain Ed Rollins, is a detective and Ironside’s supervisor. As a series regular, Choi is looking forward to exploring the character of Ed Rollins in depth.
To research for his role as a police officer, Choi said he read several books, subscribed to American Police Beat Magazine and went on many ride-alongs with the Los Angeles Police Department. Through his research, he has gained insight on how the job affects a police officer’s personal life and how it affects them as a person.
He added that he is also trying to put more of a sense of humor into the character of Ed Rollins.
“What I have noticed in my research is that [police captains] have to delegate, be diplomatic and they have to be in charge,” Choi said. “They have to have a conservative tone about them. I’m kind of the opposite. I’m a little bit loose in my personality … I’m trying to infuse some of my characteristics into the character.”
Ironside premieres Oct. 2 and will air Wednesday nights at 10/9c on NBC.
