He also made history in American television in the 21st century as the first Asian American actor cast as a romantic lead in a romantic comedy series when he starred as Henry Higgs in the 2014 sitcom Selfie.[3] In addition to his role in Selfie, Cho has had lead roles in series such as FlashForward, Off Centre, and The Afterparty, and recurring roles in Sleepy Hollow and Difficult People. In his early career, Cho attained recognition for his guest starring role in the fantasy television series Charmed.
After graduation, Cho taught English literature[14][9] at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, California, while acting at East West Players in downtown Los Angeles.[6][7][15] There, he appeared in Edward Sakamoto's The Taste of Kona Coffee in 1996 and in Euijoon Kim's film My Tired Broke Ass Pontificating Slapstick Funk in 2000.[16]
Cho gained attention with a small role as "MILF guy #2" in the 1999 comedy American Pie, in which he popularized the slang term MILF.[7] Cho reprised the role in three sequels: American Pie 2, American Wedding, and the latest installment American Reunion in which he has a much larger role. His character initially had no name, but he was given the name "John" in the third film, named after Cho himself.
Cho guest-starred on Charmed as the ghost of Mark Chao, one of leading character Piper Halliwell's most prominent love interests, in the episode "Dead Man Dating" in 1998; he indicated in 2024 that it was a role that he "gets asked about... all the time".[17][18] He was one of the stars of the short-lived situation comedy Off Centre from 2001 to 2002; his character, Chau Presley, became the series' breakout character.
In 2002, Cho 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 Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times describing Cho's character's "lazy magnetism of which he is charmingly aware".[19] Later that year, the movie Big Fat Liar was released, in which Cho played a Hong Kong-based film director. He refused to do the accent scripted for his character. The director worked with him to re-develop the role.[20]
Cho appeared in the 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[23] and again in 2009,[24] Cho was selected as one of the sexiest men alive in People magazine.
Cho being interviewed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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. Cho played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in J. J. Abrams's feature film Star Trek.[25][26] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised him for making his role "ultimately and rather wonderfully [his] own".[27]
Cho appeared in Nas's "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.[28]
From 2009 to 2010, Cho starred in the television series FlashForward as FBI Special Agent Demetri Noh.[29] 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.[30]
In 2012, he was part of the cast ensemble of Go On as Steven.[31]
Cho starred as Henry Higgs in the short-lived sitcom Selfie, a retooling of the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw,[32][33] becoming the first Asian American man to play a romantic lead on a U.S. romantic comedy television series in 2014.[3] At the time, Keli Lee was the executive vice president of Talent and Casting at ABC who selected Cho as a candidate[34][35] and also previously cast Cho in Flashforward.[36]Julie Anne Robinson, one of the directors and executive producers of Selfie, revealed in 2021 interviews that she strongly supported casting Cho and had to persuade "top to bottom of everybody in that chain" that he was the perfect choice for the role, which took considerable time. Robinson fought for Cho and won, saying, "That's what I'm most proud of about that whole pilot."[37][38][39] The show continued to have a dedicated fan following after its broadcast. In July 2022, when Cho was asked about his thoughts on the show's cancellation, he answered, "I'm still stunned to see how many people still love that series. And yeah, I was bummed when it got canceled. I just thought that was a good show."[40] In January 2023, Cho mentioned he had not received many offers for romantic comedy roles since Selfie.[41]
In 2016, he was a series regular for the television show as Andy Kim in the second season of The Exorcist television series.[42]
In 2017, he starred in the film Columbus, which received critical acclaim.[43]
In 2018, Cho starred in the film Searching, playing a man combing social media for clues to his daughter's disappearance. He was the first Asian American actor to headline a mainstream thriller in Hollywood.[44] Also in 2018, he was presented with the Spotlight Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.[45]
In April 2019, Variety reported that Cho had been cast as Spike Spiegel in a live-action version of the Cowboy Bebop series.[46] However, production shut down when Cho suffered a knee injury in October and remained shut down until late September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[47]Cowboy Bebop premiered on Netflix on November 19, 2021.
He wrote a middle school novel for younger readers called Troublemaker, which was released on March 22, 2022.[48]
In May 2022, Cho was cast in the second season of Apple TV+'s comedy series The Afterparty as "Funcle" Ulysses Zhu.[49][50] The new season premiered in July 2023.
In May 2024, he had a cameo in the television adaptation of The Sympathizer.[51] In early August 2024, Cho voiced in the audiobook version of the romantic comedy book, Drop Dead, written by Lily Chu.[52]
Cho starred in a sci-fi horror film, Afraid, released on August 30, 2024,[53] and has also been cast in Tempest, a Korean drama, which will be released on Disney+ and Hulu in 2025.[54]
Cho married actress Kerri Higuchi in 2006.[56] They met at UC Berkeley and later dated when they moved to Los Angeles.[57] They have a son, born in 2008,[58] and a daughter, born in 2013.[59] As of 2015, he and his family reside in Los Angeles, California.[60] He is close to his father, a former preacher, and would like to play a role in the story of his father's generation, growing up in North Korea through the Korean War.[61]
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.[61] 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.[62] 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.[63] In a 2015 tweet he said, "Stop turning Asian roles white. It's bullshit and we all know it."[64] On being the first Asian to play a romantic lead on a U.S. romantic comedy television series, he described his casting in Selfie 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.[65][66]
In 2016, Cho was the face of the "#StarringJohnCho" social movement and hashtag campaign, created by William Yu, wherein Cho is Photoshopped onto existing movie posters as the male lead. The purpose of the project was to call attention to the lack of opportunities for Asian American actors in Hollywood.[4][67]
Cho supported the 2012 re-election campaign of Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama.[68] He supported the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.[69] Cho also supported the 2024 election campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.[70][71]
Troublemaker (March 22, 2022) – middle school grade novel for younger readers[48]
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