Ken Jeong

Actor, producer and writer Ken Jeong, known for his scene stealing abilities, has established himself as one of today’s top comedic stars. In May of 2009, Jeong appeared as the Asian-mobster “Mr. Chow” in the sleeper-hit comedy The Hangover also starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, which earned Jeong an MTV Movie Award in 2010, and in which the film itself won The Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical and Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy in 2010. The film was the highest-grossing R-rated comedy to date, with over $467 million worldwide, only to be trumped by The Hangover Part II, which grossed $581 million worldwide.

Since his feature film debut playing the doctor in Knocked Up in 2007, Jeong has gone on to star in a number of memorable roles in a series of successful comedies. In 2008, Jeong had his first major role opposite Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott as the villainous “King Argotron” in David Wain’s Role Models. That same year he also appeared in the cult comedy hits Pineapple Express and Step Brothers.

Jeong’s career path started off on a different course. He earned his undergraduate degree at Duke University and went on to get his medical degree at the University of North Carolina. Jeong completed his Internal Medicine residency in New Orleans all the while developing his comedy. In 1995, Jeong won the Big Easy Laff Off. The competition, which was judged by former NBC President Brandon Tartikoff and Improv founder Budd Friedman, turned out to be his big break as Tartikoff and Friedman urged Jeong to head to Los Angeles.

Once in Los Angeles, he began performing regularly at the Improv and Laugh Factory, and was seen on a number of television shows including The Office, Entourage, and Curb Your Enthursiasm. It wasn’t until he caught Judd Apatow’s eye, who cast him as “Dr. Kuni” in Knocked Up, that he solidified himself as a feature film actor.

In 2011, Jeong reprised his role of Mr. Chow in the summer blockbuster, The Hangover Part II. Following up on the success of The Hangover, the much anticipated sequel surpassed expectations in every way, already grossing almost 600 million dollars and beating The Hangover, while setting box office records for R-rated films. He was then seen in The Hangover Part III, which showcased his meatiest performance to date. The film went on to gross almost 400 million worldwide. Other film credits for Jeong include Transformers 3, Pain & Gain, Despicable Me 2, Turbo, The Duff and Ride Along 2. Upcoming films include: Crazy Rich Asians, Goosebumps 2, Elsewhere, Departures, Saving Zoe and Wonder Park.

In television, Jeong was mostly recently seen starring on ABC’s Dr. Ken, which he was the creator, writer, and Executive Producer. He also was a series regular on the critically acclaimed NBC show Community from 2009-2015, which won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy Series in 2012. In 2015, Jeong directed an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Student Athlete, and he also starred in and produced the Sundance award-winning film Advantageous, which received a Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Jeong will be filming his first stand-up comedy special on Netflix this fall entitled Ken Jeong: First Date, in which Jeong comes full circle and returns to the stage to reflect on how he went from being a doctor to comedy superstar, and opening up about his wife’s battle with breast cancer and how that led to him starring in one of the biggest comedy franchises of all time, The Hangover.

Jeong spends a lot of his off time volunteering with Stand Up 2 Cancer, which is a cause very dear to his heart.

He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and twin daughters.