Ken Leung

Leung was born on January 21, 1970, in New York City, to Chinese parents, and was initially raised in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Leung attended New York University studying physical therapy. He discovered acting in his junior year, studying with Catherine Russell and Nan Smithner, and then briefly with Anne Jackson at HB Studio. During this time, he acted mostly in downtown spaces and black box theaters, working with groups such as Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Perspectives, and STAR, a troupe of actors-educators based at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2002. ==Career==

1998–2007: Early roles In 1998, Leung made his debut as the villainous henchman Sang opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Brett Ratner's Rush Hour. Norton stated that Leung turned a tiny role into one of the movie's most hilarious moments - so much so that the filmmakers expanded the scene because audiences laughed so hard. In 1998, he played James the Less and God in Terrence McNally's passion play, Corpus Christi, and in 2002 made his Broadway debut in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, also appearing on the cast recording. In 2007, he starred in the independent film Shanghai Kiss, In 2020, Leung began playing a main role in HBO's Industry as Eric Tao, a Managing Director (MD) on the Cross Product Sales (CPS) desk at Pierpoint. The show's creators stated that Leung is "one of the great actors of his generation, 100%...He’s out of this world.” In 2024, he played Commander Zhao in the Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender. ==Personal life==

Leung speaks Cantonese. He is married to Nancy Bulalacao, a curator for public programs for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, who is of Filipina descent. They have one son, born in 2015, and reside in Brooklyn. ==Filmography==