Andrew Koji

Born in 1987, Koji grew up in Epsom, Surrey.[3] His mother is English and his father is Japanese. Due to his mixed heritage Koji identifies as belonging to mixed ethnicity.

Koji started in the industry doing extra work and making short films as a teenager. At 18 he moved to Thailand while still training in martial arts and did some small jobs in that film industry.[4] Then he moved to Japan seeking work, where he was able to find work working both in front and behind the camera for a while before returning to England to train at the Actors' Temple Studio in London.[5] Over time he started getting more jobs in theatre and TV in the UK, where Koji was quoted as saying, "In the UK my dual heritage has not particularly been advantageous. Opportunities for East Asian actors at the time was and still is quite limited although things are changing."[4]

With dreams of becoming an actor, Andrew Koji dropped out of college at the age of 19 to solely focus on his acting, and he began doing more towards his martial arts career. Into his 20s, Koji studied and competed in taekwondo and trained in Shaolin kung fu at the Shaolin Temple UK.[3] While he wrote and produced his own films, Koji also worked as a stunt double; most notably on Fast & Furious 6.[3] In the past Andrew Koji also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, at the Regents Park Open Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court, Charing Cross, and Ovalhouse among others.[6]

Despite relative success, Koji felt discouraged due to the lack of high-profile roles he had received. This changed when he auditioned and secured the main role of Ah Sahm in the Cinemax series Warrior, which was announced in October 2017. Andrew Koji was discouraged to take on the role but was encouraged by his mother who told him, "Oh you should just try it. It sounds fun. Let's have fun and we'll do a self-tape.".[7] He and his mom filmed his audition tape in his garage, balancing makeshift lights and a camera on a ladder to film it.[7][8]

Based on an original idea by Bruce Lee and produced by filmmaker Justin Lin, Warrior is centered around a martial arts prodigy in the late 1870s who emigrates from China to America in search of his sister, only to be drawn into the Tong Wars of San Francisco.[9] In a nod to Lee's ethnic background, Ah Sahm is of partial European ancestry from his white American grandfather, which Koji found relatable due to his own mixed ancestry.[10] The first season premiered in April 2019, with the second season premiering in October 2020.[11]

In August 2019, Koji was cast as Storm Shadow for the upcoming Snake-Eyes movie.[12] He was also cast in David Leitch's upcoming film Bullet Train.[13]

According to his acting profile on the Eamonn Bedford Agency website, Koji's skills include: Acrobatics, Computer Literate, filmmaker, improvisation, Military training/ experience and he is able to speak in the following accents and dialects: American-New York, American-Southern states, American-Standard, Cockney, Irish-Southern, Japanese, London, RP, Scottish-standard, and South African. As for sports he is skilled in, they include: boxing, climbing, gymnastics, karate, kick boxing, kung fu, martial arts, stage combat, sword fighting, tae kwon do, and he is also able to do ADR (Additional Dialogue recording) and voice overs.[1]

• Andrew Koji at IMDb
• Andrew Koji on Instagram
• Andrew Koji's channel on YouTube