Ken Leung Biography

Ken Leung was born in New York City to Chinese parents. He was originally raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan before moving to Midwood, Brooklyn where he grew up, before finishing high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

Ken attended New York University to study physical therapy. He discovered acting during his junior year by accident. While taking a speech class, Ken had to write and perform a skit. One of his friends noticed how much he was enjoying it and suggested that Ken take acting. Ken credits acting with giving him a way to find himself and learn how to relate to people and make sense of feelings.

While still in school in his early 20s, Ken was cast in a play at The Nuyorican Poets Café called The Goong Hay Kid. The café is a hot spot for poets and art makers and Ken credits the play as being one of his big breaks.

Ken began his screen career by booking small roles in films such as Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) and Red Corner (1997). His breakout role was the villainous henchman Sang in Rush Hour (1998) alongside Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Ken appeared in director Brett Ratner’s other films such as The Family Man (2000), Red Dragon (2002) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

In 2008 Ken’s star rose higher when he joined the cast of the hit ABC drama series Lost. Ken played the character of Miles Straume and was a series regular from 2008 to 2010 for the series’ fourth, fifth and sixth seasons.

Ken has consistently worked both on television and in films since then. From 2014 to 2016 he played the role of Dr. Topher Zia on The Night Shift and appeared in eight episodes of ABC’s superhero series Inhumans as Karnak. On the film side Ken made a small appearance as Admiral Statura in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) and as Jarin in M. Night Shyamalan’s film Old (2021).

In 2022 Ken landed the lead role of Eric Tao on HBO’s Industry and in 2024 he played the villainous role of Commander Zhao in the first season of Netflix’s live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Back on the big screen, he played Dr. Victor Liu in Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Ken is married to Nancy Bulalacao, with whom he has a son born in 2015.

Filmography:

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
Missing (2023)
Old (2021)
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
Year of the Fish (2007)
Shanghai Kiss (2007)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Falling for Grace (2006)
Inside Man (2006)
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Saw (2004)
Red Dragon (2002)
Face (2002)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Spy Game (2001)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
The Family Man (2000)
Maze (2000)
Home Sweet Hoboken (2000)
Keeping the Faith (2000)
Man of the Century (1999)
Rush Hour (1998)
Kundun (1997)
Red Corner (1997)
Pictures of Baby Jane Doe (1995)
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)