Byron Mann
Byron Mann is a Hong Kong-American actor of film and television. His best-known roles include Ryu in Street Fighter, Silver Lion in The Man with the Iron Fists, Wing Chau in The Big Short, Admiral Augusto Nguyen on The Expanse, Chang on Hell on Wheels, Yao Fei on the first season of Arrow,[1] and Uncle Six in the Netflix series Wu Assassins.[2]
Byron Mann | |||||||||||
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文峰 | |||||||||||
 Mann in July 2018, at a Skyscraper press conference in Beijing. | |||||||||||
| Born | August 13, 1967 | ||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | USC Gould School of Law University of California, Los Angeles | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Actor | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1992–present | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 文峰 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 文峰 | ||||||||||
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Early life and education
Mann was born in Hong Kong, and was raised bilingual in English and Cantonese.[3] Mann attended the Diocesan Boys' School,[3] an all-boys secondary school in Hong Kong, where he was active in community theatre as both an actor and a writer. After graduating, Mann moved to California.
Mann received a degree in philosophy from UCLA in Los Angeles, California.[4] After college, Byron attended USC Law School, but took a sabbatical after the first year. Back in Hong Kong, he received an acting role in the NBC Movie TV movie Last Flight Out.[5] He returned to Los Angeles, graduated from USC Law, passed the California bar,[4] and pursued acting full-time.
Career
In 1994, Mann's acting career began. Mann starred in films such as Red Corner and The Corruptor,[6] and in the television show Dark Angel, and has also co-starred in Catwoman[4] and Invincible. He is best known as Ryu in Street Fighter[3] (starring alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raúl Juliá) and Koh in the manga-based movie Crying Freeman. In 2012, Mann starred alongside Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu in The Man with the Iron Fists, directed by RZA, and presented by Quentin Tarantino.[4] In 2015, Mann appeared in The Big Short, a Paramount Pictures feature film directed by Adam McKay, alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell.[4] He also was a series regular on AMC's Hell on Wheels, playing the powerful railroad mercenary Chang.[4][5] In 2018, Mann was a recurring character on Netflix's Altered Carbon.[7]
In June 2018, it was announced that Mann was cast in the series regular role of Uncle Six on the Netflix series, Wu Assassins.[8]
Personal life
Mann is interested in sports, especially tennis and golf. He was at one point a top-ranked tennis player, under 16 division, in Hong Kong.[3] He is also a wushu practitioner, displaying his skills in a number of movies including Invincible and Street Fighter.
Mann is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and speaks some Thai after having learned it for his role in the 2013 film A Stranger in Paradise.
Awards and nominations
In 2016, Mann was nominated for the Golden Maple Award for Best Actor in a TV series broadcast in the U.S. for his role on Hell on Wheels.[9]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Ghost Ship | Charlie | |
| 1994 | Possessed by the Night | Fok Ping Wong | |
| Deadly Target | Chang | ||
| Street Fighter | Ryu Hoshi | ||
| 1995 | Crying Freeman | Koh | |
| 1997 | Red Corner | Lin Dan | |
| 1998 | American Dragons | Shadow | |
| 1999 | The Corruptor | Bobby Vu | |
| 2003 | Belly of the Beast | Sunti | |
| 2004 | Catwoman | Wesley | |
| Sniper 3 | Quan | ||
| 2007 | Shanghai Kiss | Jai Li | |
| The Counting House | Jackie | ||
| Blonde and Blonder | Mr. Wong | ||
| 2009 | Motherland | Michael Wong | |
| A Dangerous Man | The Colonel | ||
| 2012 | Cold War | Chan Bin | |
| The Man with the Iron Fists | Silver Lion | ||
| 2013 | A Stranger in Paradise | Lek | |
| 2014 | Rise of the Legend | Black Crow | |
| 2015 | Absolution | Chi | |
| Jasmine | The Suspect | ||
| The Big Short | Wing Chau | ||
| 2018 | Skyscraper | Inspector Wu | |
| 2019 | Don't Let Go | Sergeant Roger Martin | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Last Flight Out | TV film | |
| 1992 | Tequila and Bonetti | Jeffrey Han | Episode: "Brooklyn and the Beast" |
| 1993 | Murphy Brown | Quan Chang | Episodes: "The Young & the Rest of Us" |
| 1994 | Time Trax | Taki | Episodes: "Return of the Yakuza" |
| Galaxy Beat | Two-headed man | TV film | |
| 1996 | Murder, She Wrote | Yosuki Ishida | Episode: "Kendo Killing" |
| Pacific Blue | Marlon Ky | Episode: "The Enemy Within" | |
| 1997 | The Sentinel | Tommy Wu | Episode: "Poachers" |
| 1999 | Martial Law | Ataru Nakamura | Episode: "This Shogun For Hire" |
| 2000 | Walker, Texas Ranger | P.K. Song | Episode: "Black Dragons" |
| 2000–02 | Dark Angel | Det. Matt Sung | Recurring role (8 episodes) |
| 2001 | UC: Undercover | Simon Shen | Episode: "Amerikaz Most Wanted" |
| 2002 | Robbery Homicide Division | Twan Kee | Episode: "Life is Dust" |
| 2003 | Invincible | Michael Fu | TV film |
| First to Die | Derek Lee | TV film | |
| 2003–05 | Smallville | Com. Cheng / Kern | Recurring role (2 episodes) |
| 2004 | Petits Mythes urbains | Dr. Shaw / Dr. Lee | Episode: "Scalpel illégitime" |
| 2006 | Fallen | Samchiel | Miniseries |
| 2007 | Nobody | Mr. North | TV film |
| Dragon Boys | Tommy Jiang | Miniseries | |
| 2009 | The Unit | Stanley Wu | Episode: "Bad Beat" |
| 2010 | Durham County | Julian Cho | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures | Chen | Miniseries | |
| Burn Notice | Ming Khan | Episode: "Fast Friends" | |
| 2011 | Befriend and Betray | Winstead P.C. Lau | TV film |
| True Justice | Savon | Episode: "Street Wars: Part 2" | |
| 2012 | Arctic Air | Gavin | Episode: "New North" |
| Nikita | Agent Li Bai | Episode: "3.0" | |
| 2012–19 | Arrow | Yao Fei Gulong | Recurring role (12 episodes) |
| 2014 | The Novice | Johnny Joo | TV film |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Fire Capt. Hank Iona | Episode: "Ku I Ka Pili Koko" | |
| 2015 | CSI: Cyber | Jordan Tan | Episode: "URL, Interrupted" |
| 2015–16 | Hell on Wheels | Chang | Recurring role (9 episodes) |
| 2016 | Rush Hour | Fong | Recurring role (2 episodes) |
| NCIS: Los Angeles | Zhang Kiu | Episode: "Black Market" | |
| 2016–18 | Blood and Water | Evan Ong | Recurring role (16 episodes) |
| 2017–18 | The Expanse | Admiral Augusto Nguyễn | Recurring role (8 episodes) |
| 2018 | Altered Carbon | Takeshi Kovacs / Dimitri Kadmin | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| 2019 | Wu Assassins | Uncle Six | Main cast |
| 2020 | Little Fires Everywhere | Ed Jan | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Li | Episode: "After, Before" |
Video Games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Sleeping Dogs | Raymond Mak & Pockmark Cheuk (voices) | |
| 2012 | Call of Duty: Black Ops II | General Tian Zhao (voice) | Also motion caputre |
References
- "Street Fighter: The Movie — What went wrong | Polygon". polygon.com. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- Feola, Josh (9 August 2019). "Actor Byron Mann on "Wu Assassins" and Expanding Roles for Asian Professionals in Hollywood". Radii China. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- "My life: Byron Mann". South China Morning Post. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Service, LUAINE LEE Tribune News. "Actor Byron Mann owes his career to a former girlfriend". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- "Q&A: Byron Mann Of "Hell on Wheels" - Cowboys and Indians Magazine". Cowboys and Indians Magazine. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- says, Toni Kanetzky (18 December 2015). "UNSTOPPABLE: Byron Mann Talks Career, 'Hell On Wheels' And 'The Big Short'". Icon vs. Icon. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- Petski, Denise (11 November 2016). "Byron Mann Joins 'Altered Carbon'; 'Pure Genius' Adds Alexis Krause". Deadline. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- Otterson, Joe (29 June 2018). "Netflix Orders Martial Arts Drama 'Wu Assassins,' Iko Uwais to Star". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- "Golden Maple Awards Nominees Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
