Harry Shum, Jr. is an American dancer, actor, choreographer and singer.
He is best known for his role as Mike Chang on the Fox television show Glee.
He has appeared in dance films such as Stomp the Yard, You Got Served, Step Up 2: The Streets
and Step Up 3D.
He also plays the character of Elliot Hoo in The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.
Early life Shum was born in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica,
on April 28, 1982.
His mother is a native of Hong Kong, and his father is from Guangzhou, China.
They relocated to Costa Rica, where Shum and his two older sisters were born.
When Shum was six years old, the family moved to San Francisco, California.
He states, "I feel I have the best of so many worlds.
I speak Cantonese and Spanish.
Spanish is actually my first language before I learned Cantonese and English".
In an interview, he said that his earliest motivations to dance were from Ginuwine, Dru
Hill, and Usher, before becoming influenced by iconic dancers like Gene Kelly and Michael
Jackson.
In an interview Shum has stated that he identifies as being somewhat Latin, the actor was quoted
as saying “It's strange that I am full Chinese and born in a Latin country, but I love the
fact that I was immersed in that culture at birth while maintaining my Chinese roots,”
the actor also said “I think the cultures share a lot of similarities as far as family
values and the love for flavor in their foods.
I do consider myself somewhat Latin.”
Career Shum launched his career as the only male
dancer on BET's Comic View in 2002 and has continued his dancing career from there.
He was also one of the lead dancers with stars such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez
and Jessica Simpson.
He won a dance competition to dance in an iPod commercial.
He plays Mike Chang, a dancer who joins the glee club, on the Fox musical television show
Glee.
Known for a while as "Other Asian" on Glee, with very few lines during the show's first
season in 2009–2010, Shum's character was given storylines in the second season, mostly
involving his relationship with fellow glee club member Tina Cohen-Chang, and his performances
of "Make 'Em Laugh" in "The Substitute", "Sing" from A Chorus Line in "Duets", "Valerie" in
"Special Education", and the show's first dance solo in "A Night of Neglect".
He was promoted from guest star to series regular for the third season, which was Mike's
senior year of high school.
He was given a major storyline in the third episode, "Asian F", and performed "Cool" from
West Side Story, his first solo song.
Shum has been featured in many productions done by Wong Fu Productions.
In 2010, Shum appeared in Step Up 3-D, a 3D look at New York style street dancing.
He is also a dancer and choreographer for the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.
In 2011, Shum completed an action-oriented project with director Ross Ching, producers
Don Le and George Wang, starring himself in the lead role as "the Hunter", Stephen "tWitch"
Boss, and Katrina Law.
The project released January 10, 2011, and is set to be part of a trilogy of short films.
"3 Minutes" has received nationwide coverage from the official Star Wars site, Wired.com,
and Gizmodo, as well as the New York Post, Seventeen Magazine, Audrey Magazine, and Hyphen
Magazine.
It was also won the coveted slot of Vimeo's Staff Pick of the Day on its debut day, netting
well over 60,000 views on the site within the first 24 hours.
BuddyTV voted him as #7 in TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2011.
Shum was cast in the role of the Kuai Liang in the second season of Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Shum would not return as regular on Glee's fifth
season, but would be a recurring guest star.
Shum will be appearing as Tie-Fang in the upcoming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel.
Personal life Shum has been in a relationship with Shelby
Rabara since 2013 and has been engaged since 2014.
Filmography Music video
Awards Discography
References
External links Harry Shum, Jr.
– Official Site Harry Shum Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
website = TenthandFourth.com