Tom Choi

Last updated

Tom Choi
Born
Tom T. Choi

Daegu, South Korea
Alma mater University of Washington
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • producer
  • filmmaker
Years active1998–present
SpouseJill Renninger
Children1
Website tomtchoi.com/index.html

Tom T. Choi (born in Daegu, South Korea) is a South Korean-American actor best known for Teen Wolf and his voice work on the Mortal Kombat video games and the Netflix series Squid Game as the masked voice of Hwang In-ho / The Front Man. He has acted in numerous movies and television programs. Choi is also a producer, director, and writer.[ citation needed ] He wrote the screenplay and starred in the award-winning short film Lone Hunter.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Early life

Choi was born in Daegu, South Korea and moved to Des Moines, Iowa when he was four years old. [1] After graduating high school, Choi moved to Seattle, Washington, where he graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in drama. He then moved to Los Angeles and continued acting in film, television, and commercials. He attended the LACC School of Cinema and Television and now produces, directs, and writes in addition to acting. [2]

Career

Choi began working in film and television in 1998. He has made appearances in multiple blockbuster films and network television shows, and is best known for his roles as Ken Yukimura in Teen Wolf , Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat series, and the masked voice of Hwang In-ho / The Front Man in Squid Game . [3]

He runs the independent production company Tension Films [4] and was elected in 2015 and 2017 as a board member for the Los Angeles local of SAG-AFTRA, the union's largest local. [5] [6]

As a filmmaker and writer

He made a short film called Singularity in 2016. [7]

Choi has claimed there are not many film and television roles for Asian Americans. Tom Choi wrote the screenplay for Lone Hunter, and then starred in the short film. [8]

Choi also has a web site called Tension Films to feature his work as a filmmaker and writer.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

He married Jill Renninger and has a son.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2000 Nowheresville Young (The Waiter)
2002 Minority Report Payment – Agent No. 2
2004The Plight of ClownanaActorShort Film
2006The Adventures of Big Handsome Guy and His Little FriendGuy in CrowdTV movie
2007 The Gene Generation Dad
2008Starlight MintsBrettShort Film
TraumaDoctor, director, writer, producerShort Film
2009Operating InstructionsReporterTV movie
Un-Broke: What You Need To Know About MoneyReal Estate AgentTV movie
Road to the AltarPing
2011Untitled Kari Lizer ProjectMartinTV movie
iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo: Live Action RemakeSales GuyShort Film
Hall Pass Asian Husband
Speaking MeteoricallyTomShort Film
2012ApplebaumPastor ParkTV movie
Surprise BartenderShort Film
God's Country Yakomoto Brother No. 1
Letting GoExecutive
2013Reincarnation of FrankBuddhaShort Film
2014 In Your Eyes Male Nurse
2015Lone Hunter [9] Lee, producer, writerShort Film

Nominated: Best Actor at the Maverick Movie Awards (Tom Choi)

Nominated: Best Actor at the Milledgeville Film Festival (Tom Choi)

Won: Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Milledgeville Film Festival

2016April's Way [10] Sung-MinShort Film
SingularitySingularity Device, director, editor, producer, writerAwarded Honorable Mention at Justin Lin's Interpretations Short Films Initiative in the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival
2017Friend RequestDeanShort film
Snatched Colonel
Geostorm Chinese Representative Lee
2018 Truth or Dare [11] [12] Officer Han Chang
Beautiful Boy Lecturer

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 Pacific Blue CharlieEpisode: "Cruz Control"
2004 The Shield SheriffEpisode: "Streaks and Tips"
2005 Grey's Anatomy Fluoroscope TechEpisode: "No Man's Land"
Wanted Paul ShinEpisode: "Rubbing One Out"
Las Vegas Mr. NakamuraEpisode: "The Real McCoy"
2006 Heist ER DoctorEpisode: "Strife"
VanishedA/V TechEpisode: "Pilot"
The Chelsea Handler Show SquiggleEpisode: #1.10
Bones FBI AgentEpisode: "The Boy In the Shroud"
Criminal Minds Special Agent Nick CaseyEpisode: "Empty Planet"
2007 CSI: Miami SGT KellerEpisode: "No Man's Land"
General Hospital Jim HarlowEpisode: #1.11265
Brothers & Sisters StewardEpisode: "An American Family"
2007–08 Women's Murder Club Police Officer / Uniformed Officer3 episodes
2008 Miss Guided Ed the Wheelchair ManEpisode: "Homecoming"
Prison Break Feng's Driver2 episodes
2009 Private Practice JakeEpisode: "Acceptance"
Ghost Whisperer VolunteerEpisode: "Greek Tragedy"
Lie To Me GroomEpisode: "Love Always"
ER Chris ZafaresEpisode: "Old Times"
24 Agent ParkEpisode: "Day 7: 2:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m."
2010 Leverage Russell PanEpisode: "The Runway Job"
The Forgotten RufusEpisode: "Train Jane"
Sons of TuscanFatherEpisode: "Father's Day"
Make It or Break It Jim (a Rock Father)Episode: "All or Nothing"
The Suite Life on Deck Mr. HashimotoEpisode: "Trouble in Tokyo"
Undercovers Xu ChenEpisode: "Xerxes"
2011 Chuck Skinny GuardEpisode: "Chuck Versus the First Bank of Evil"
Franklin & Bash CoronerEpisode: "She Came Upstairs to Kill Me"
Death Valley Male NurseEpisode: "Blood Vessels"
The Closer Tommy WongEpisode: "Silent Partner"
2012 Kickin' It JudgeEpisode: "New Jack City"
2012–13Travel TechProducer, writer, actor, Host2 episodes
StaticSeries Regular, writer3 episodes
2013 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation DirectorEpisode: "Dead Air"
Southland Captain Bill ChoiEpisode: "Hats and Bats"
Switched at Birth ReporterEpisode: "Introducing the Miracle"
House of Lies Realtor2 episodes
A.N.T. Farm Mr. Hashimoto3 episodes
2013–16 NCIS: Los Angeles LAPD Officer Fong2 episodes
2014 Days of Our Lives Dr. Chung2 episodes
The McCarthys Doctor LeeEpisode: "Arthur and Marjorie's Night Apart"
2014–16 Teen Wolf Ken Yukimura21 episodes
2015 NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service Navy Commander Bradley HallEpisode: "Day in Court"
2016 Agent Carter Dr. Chung 2 episodes
JoJoHead ActorEpisode: "Bad First Dates"
2017 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn Sophisticated GuyEpisode: "Quad with a Blog"
Hawaii Five-0 [13] Brian HadleyEpisode: "Ua ho'i ka 'opa i Awalua"
Bizaardvark Dr. Wong3 episodes
2018 Modern Family BobEpisode: "On the Same Paige"
2021–present Squid Game Hwang In-ho / The Front Man (masked voice)13 episodes

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Liu Kang (voice)
2011 Mortal Kombat
2015 Mortal Kombat X
Batman: Arkham Knight (voice)
2019 Death Stranding The Collector (voice)
2020 Fallout 76: Steel Dawn Knight Daniel Shin (voice)
2025 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Hwang In-ho / The Front Man (voice)Collaboration with Squid Game

Awards

In 2015, Choi was nominated for Best Actor at the Maverick Movie Awards for the short film Lone Hunter. [14] In 2017, he was nominated for Best Actor and won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Milledgeville Film Festival for Lone Hunter, shared with John Heinsen and Pascal Leister. [15] [16] [17] [18]

In 2016, he received an Honorable Mention at Justin Lin's Interpretations Short Films Initiative in the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival for Singularity. Choi both directed the film and played the leading role. [19]

References

  1. "Tom Choi Interview – Asians on Film". Asians on Film. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  2. "Tom Choi". Strawberry Festival. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. "Tom Choi". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. "About". TensionFilms.com. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. "SAG AFTRA LA Local Results" (PDF).
  6. "Official Tabulation Results for 2017 SAG-AFTRA LOS ANGELES LOCAL" (PDF). SAG-AFTRA. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  7. Choi, Tom. "My short film Singularity just got top 15 finalist!". tomtchoi. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  8. "Award winning short film Lone Hunter about racism and gun violence to premiere on Vimeo". prlog. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  9. Karpan, Andrew. "A real life case of racism and gun violence in Middle America". popdust. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  10. "'April's Way' Captures Stories of Korean-American Merchants During L.A. Riots". NBC News. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. BERNSTEIN, ABBIE (13 April 2018). "Movie Review: TRUTH OR DARE". assignmentx. MIDNIGHT PRODUCTIONS, INC. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  12. N'Duka, Amanda (September 2017). "Dick Cheney Biopic Casts Stefania LaVie Owen; Robert Knepper, Armin Amiri Join '1st Born'; Tom Choi In 'Truth Or Dare'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  13. "Tom Choi". TV Guide. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. "2015". MAVERICK MOVIE AWARDS: Where moviemakers honor moviemakers from all over the world!. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  15. "Lone Hunter is Film Shortage's Pick of The Day" . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  16. "Milledgeville Film Festival returns for biggest installment yet". The Union-Recorder. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  17. leister, pascal (24 April 2017), Lone Hunter – Official Trailer , retrieved 28 June 2017
  18. "Lone Hunter". lonehuntermovie.com. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  19. "Here are your 2016 Interpretations Short Film Initiative Winners & Honorable Mentions". yomyomf.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.