Desmond Chiam

Last updated

Desmond Chiam
Desmond Chiam by Gage Skidmore.jpg
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present
Spouse
Samantha de Castro
​
(m. 2015)​

Desmond Chiam is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Wyatt Cole on Reef Break, General Riga on The Shannara Chronicles , and Dovich on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Contents

Early life and education

Chiam was born to parents of Chinese Singaporean descent. [1] As a child, he spent a third of the year in Singapore due to his father's job. [2] He holds a law degree from the University of Melbourne and a master's degree in screenwriting from University of Southern California. [3] [2]

Career

Chiam began working as a lawyer after he graduated from the University of Melbourne. After becoming unsatisfied with a law career, he decided to pursue breakdancing and acting. [3] [4] [5]

He began acting in Australian short films before eventually appearing in Australian television series such as Neighbours and Better Man. He eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. [6] [7] Chiam has had roles in multiple American television series including NCIS: Los Angeles and Bones . He has also appeared in Con Man , a webseries by Alan Tudyk. [8]

In February 2017, he joined the main cast of Spike TV's The Shannara Chronicles (the series was formerly on MTV) in the show's second season where he played the villain, General Riga. [9] In 2018, he was cast as Jethro in the Starz series Now Apocalypse starring Avan Jogia. [10] He then joined the cast of the Manila-set film Empty by Design, which featured alongside Chris Pang, Osric Chau, and Yoshi Sudarso. [11]

In December 2018, he was cast as Wyatt Cole, the male lead in ABC and M6's 2019 crime series Reef Break opposite Poppy Montgomery. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Following Reef Break's cancellation, Chiam joined the cast of the Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as Dovich. [17]

Chiam appears as Nick Zhao in Amazon's With Love , a romantic comedy television series that aired from 2021 to 2023. [18] He provided the English voice of Werewolf Cookie in the video game Cookie Run: Kingdom. [19]

In 2022, he appeared in Netflix's Partner Track, which starred Arden Cho. [20] Chiam starred alongside Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Ashley Park, and Sabrina Wu in Joy Ride (2023), Adele Lim's directorial debut. [21]

Personal life

Chiam was CLEO Singapore's Bachelor of the Year in 2011. [22]

As of 2019, he resides in Los Angeles with his wife. [6] [23]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotesRefs
2012 Neighbours Jack Dutton1 episode
2013 Better Man HongFilm
2016 Bones 1 episode [8]
2016 NCIS: Los Angeles Edward Lee1 episode
2016 Con Man 1 episode [8]
2017 The Shannara Chronicles General RigaMain cast (season 2)
2018 Hawaii Five-0 Kazuya Nemoto1 episode
2018Asian Bachelorette 2AdenYouTube film from Wong Fu Productions [8]
2018We Were TomorrowKuo4 episodes
2019Empty by DesignChance [8]
2019 Now Apocalypse JethroMain cast
2019 Reef Break Wyatt ColeMain cast; lead role
2020 Magic Camp XerxesFilm [8]
2021 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier DovichMiniseries; 6 episodes [24]
2021 Cookie Run: Kingdom Werewolf CookieVideo game [25]
2021–2023 With Love Nick ZhaoMain cast [18]
2022 Partner Track Z Min [20]
2023 So Help Me Todd Peter ChenEpisode: "Wall of Fire"
2023 Joy Ride Clarence [21]
2024Five Blind DatesApolloAmazon Prime
2025 Mortal Kombat II King JerrodFilm; post-production

References

  1. ↑ "How 'bad guy' roles have evolved for people of color". Public Radio International. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Desmond Chiam on Landing His Childhood Fantasy Role in 'Shannara Chronicles'". Kore Asian Media. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Exclusive Interview: Talking Nerdy with Shannara Chronicles' Desmond Chiam". TalkNerdyWithUs. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "From Weekday Lawyer to War Lord: "The Shannara Chronicles'" Desmond Chiam Makes a Case for the Magic of Asian Elves". Hyphen Magazine. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Pop-Culturalist Chats with Desmond Chiam - Pop-Culturalist.com". Pop-Culturalist.com. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Desmond Chiam: The Asian-Australian Actor You Need to Follow Right Now". Cold Tea Collective. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "From Real-Life Lawyer To TV Detective: Here's Why Desmond Chiam Left The Law Behind". Character Media. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Desmond Chiam". IMDb. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  9. ↑ Petski, Denise (1 February 2017). "'The Shannara Chronicles' Rounds Out Season 2 Cast As Production Begins In New Zealand". Deadline. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  10. ↑ Petski, Denise (20 June 2018). "'Now Apocalypse': Desmond Chiam & Taylor Hart Set To Recur On Starz Comedy Series". Deadline. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (20 August 2018). "Danny Pudi Set For 'Babysplitters'; 'Crazy Rich Asians' Star Chris Pang Joins Osric Chau In 'Empty By Design'". Deadline. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Petski, Denise; Andreeva, Nellie (7 December 2018). "'Reef Break': Desmond Chiam To Star In ABC/M6 Crime Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  13. ↑ Anop, Nirat. "Reef Break - Desmond Chiam to Star in ABC Summer Series". SpoilerTV. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Nguyen, Hanh (20 June 2019). "'Reef Break' Review: ABC's Goofy Drama Rides the Crime Wave for Escapist Summer Fare". IndieWire. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "After 'Crazy Rich' smash, Hollywood embraces Asian faces". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "Want More Wyatt On 'Reef Break'? Me Too". Romper. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  17. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (13 December 2019). "'The Falcon And The Winter Soldier' Adds 'Reef Break' Star Desmond Chiam And 'The Terror's Miki Ishikawa". Deadline. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  18. 1 2 Petski, Denise (9 June 2021). "'With Love': Rome Flynn, Isis King, Todd Grinnell, Desmond Chiam Join Gloria Calderón Kellett's Amazon Series". Deadline. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "Werewolf Cookie". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  20. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (29 October 2021). "'Partner Track': Desmond Chiam And Tehmina Sunny Join Netflix Series As Recurring". Deadline. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  21. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (5 October 2021). "Desmond Chiam, Alexander Hodge & Chris Pang Board Adele Lim Comedy From Lionsgate & Point Grey". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  22. ↑ SPH Razor (25 July 2013), The most eligible bachelor in Singapore (Cleo 50 Most Eligible Bachelor 2011 Pt 1) , retrieved 19 November 2018
  23. ↑ "'With Love' Star Desmond Chiam Has 'Long Delayed' Wedding Ceremony 9 Years After Marrying Wife in Vegas". People.com. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  24. ↑ "Desmond Chiam talks 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier,' love of Marvel Universe". www.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Desmond Chiam (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
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