I was born in Korea. I lived in New Zealand for a couple
years but I mostly grew up in Southern California.
In college I studied psychology because I just want to help people. But then, psychology, you
have to do more schooling afterwards so I was like I'm done with school and I just wanted to teach.
Because teaching has always been something that I've always been interested in. But I
had a year off and I fell in love with acting and one thing led to another, and here I am.
I tell the story all the time, and he probably hates it,
but I saw Aaron Yoo in DISTURBIA when I was in college. And I remember seeing it and saying,
hey if that guy can do it, maybe I can do it too.
And so it's because of that that kind of propelled me and kind of motivated me to
pursue it and I thank Aaron every time I see him. I thanked him last night. He probably
hates it but I have to do it because he's kind of been my inspiration throughout this whole thing.
You know, I'm really lucky to have very supportive parents. I mean,
they really supported me from day one. I remember getting a
birthday card from my parents when I first started acting and they wrote it in Korean.
They said something like, you know success doesn't come overnight.
Just be patient and work hard and whatever comes will come.
And I still have it just because it meant so much to me that I was kind of pursuing my journey,
literally on my own, and I had no idea what I was doing. I don't know where to start,
I don't know how to act, you know.
And for them to say that they had my back and they supported me meant a
lot. So I'm really blessed, you know. They've been supportive
and they continued to support me. So yeah, kudos to my- thank you, mom and dad.
So when I first got involved with MAZE RUNNER it just started off as
a regular audition and luckily I knew the casting director from before. And
she brought me back several times until I eventually booked the part.
And I remember reading the script for the first time and thinking,
I have to do this. I have to do this role; there's no other role out there for me.
And I was just very very fortunate and lucky to land that role and I tried my best to kind of
bring the alpha male, dominant, strong kind of characteristics to that role.
I'm just very lucky because the the author of the book, James Dashner,
he has a niece whose husband is Korean. And his name is Minho.
So that's why he put that character in the book, and so thank you to that guy and that's
why we need Asians everywhere! Because you never know when an author's going to get inspiration
from a regular dude that marries his niece. That's literally how this role came about.
And so I thank that guy every day when I wake up,
and I'm just really blessed to be a part of that. And to kind of showcase that
Asian characters can be masculine, and can run really fast, and can be strong.
How much farther do we have to go to be accepted in this industry? I feel
like we've already been accepted; it's just, now we're in, and now we
have to push as hard as we can to have an Asian lead, actor or actress, in a movie.
Headline a movie, or headline a show. And I'm doing my best
to push myself as an actor and push myself as an Asian American actor to
get myself out there and represent the community in a positive way.
But also as an artist, you can't only do things that are good for
your community. You have to do things for the sake of the art
too. And so that's kind of a fine line I have to walk as an Asian American actor.
So, my name. I'm Ki Hong Lee and obviously that's a very Korean name.
I definitely thought about changing it. I think Uzo Aduba had an interview with
Seth Meyers one time, and I think she said it best.
She actually tells the story about how she goes to her mom and says,
Mom, can I change my name? Because no one can pronounce my name correctly.
And she goes, well, if they can learn how to say Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky
and all those names, they can learn how to say your name.
And that resonated with me and I was like, that's right man! You don't have to change
your name for anybody, you know. You can just be yourself and make them learn your name.
If you're good enough, if you're talented enough,
and you've been around for a while, they will learn your name.
You think Yasiel Puig is easy to pronounce? But
people learn his name because he's so good, and he's so popular, right?
And like I think that if anything, I try to use it as motivation to work harder. I mean,
it's changing, obviously, and changing very slowly.
And the only way to change it faster or to launch a new wave
of how people see Asians is to create our own content. To create our own stories,
and make opportunities for ourselves as actors and as entertainers.
I think honestly that's the only way and it's hard. It's not easy,
but don't give up and just keep trying. I think that's the only way to change anything,
is to just take it and change it yourself.
I'm doing my best to push myself as an actor, and push myself as an Asian
American actor to get myself out there and represent the community in a positive way.
Don't be afraid to fail, because failures add character and color. And it's those
imperfections and flaws and mistakes that you make along the way that add to a great story.
We just wanted to bring good food to good people. If you love what you're doing,
go do it, because if we can do it, so can you.
Asian Americans I'd say are known as trendsetters on YouTube because there's no barrier to entry.
You just need to find who you are inside and go forward with it, and show the world what you have.
In terms of Asian representation, it's an important issue. And the more there's a
dialogue about it, I think, the more progress that can happen.
To ask these questions is really important, but what are the answers, and what are
you going to do with the answers to these questions, that are the most important thing.
I think that's the only way to change anything is to just take it and change it yourself.