Jake Choi

Jake Choi is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Miggy on the ABC comedy Single Parents. He previously starred in Front Cover, an LGBTQ independent film. Choi has also appeared in Younger, EastSiders, and The Sun Is Also A Star.[1][2][3]

Jake Choi
Born
Queens, New York, New York
NationalityKorean American
Alma materYonsei University
OccupationActor
Years active2010-present
Known forFront Cover, Single Parents

Early life and education

Choi was born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. He is Korean American.[4] He was raised by his single mother, and came from "working-class immigrant roots."[5] During high school he played in the AAU.[6] He graduated from Newtown High School in 2004, where he played on the school varsity basketball team.[6]

After graduating, he moved to South Korea to play basketball at Yonsei University, and subsequently played in the Korean Basketball League.[4][7] He returned to the States and pursued acting, taking classes at Lee Strasberg Institute before dropping out due to the expense.[6][7]

Career

In 2015, Choi played his first lead role as Ryan in the independent film Front Cover,[8] an LGBTQ romantic comedy that featured two Asian male leads.[9][10][11] Choi's performance received positive critical reviews.[12] According to Sheri Linden at The Hollywood Reporter: "Chen’s career-driven Ning defies easy labels, but ultimately the movie is about Ryan’s transformation, one that Choi deftly conveys."[13]

Choi has appeared in guest roles on several television shows since 2015, including Broad City, Younger, and Hawaii 5-0.[6] He played a recurring role on HBO's Succession in 2018.[14]

Choi gained wider prominence after he was cast as a series regular on the fall 2018 ABC show Single Parents in the role of Miggy, a 20-year-old single dad.[14][15] The show was cancelled in May 2020 after two seasons.[16]

As of January 2019, he has a recurring role on EastSiders, a Netflix dark comedy.[17] The same year, he played Charles Bae, brother of Charles Melton's Daniel Bae, in the film adaptation of the YA novel The Sun Is Also a Star.[7]

Personal life

In 2018, Choi came out as sexually fluid.[7] In an interview with The Advocate he stated, "I feel like a lot of people understand it better if you just say 'bisexual', which is not the same thing, but it's like sometimes when people say, 'Oh, so you're bi?' — I don't even want to argue anymore. It's just like, 'Yeah — sure.' I feel like the term pansexual is a little bit closer. With me, I say fluid because it's always changing."[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2010 Closed Takeout Man Alex Shin, Christopher Zou Short film
2011 The Last Farewell Jerry Girard Tecson Short film
P-Word Pizza Yelena Sabel Short film
Psycho-Path Luke Geraldine Winters
Home Restaurant Boss Seimi Kim Short film
2012 The Contained Victim Ryan Kramer Short film
The Learning Curve Lenny Scott Eriksson Short film
The Friend Mark Cobain Chris Bo Wen Short film
2013 Walkie Buddies Mike Martin Rosete Short film
Benchmark T Vincent Lin Short film
Welcome Home Liam Patrick Chen Short film
Hypebeasts Danny Jess Dela Merced Short film
2015 Front Cover Ryan Ray Yeung Nominated – Golden Koala Award for Best Actor
2016 Wolves Gil Bart Freundlich
Next Big Thing Beau Paul Castro Jr. TV movie
Money Monster Korean News Anchor Jodie Foster
A Bear Lands on Earth Dave Hiroo Takaoka, Rob Yang
Meet Ugly Andrew Yasmine Gomez Short film
2019 Ms. Purple Johnny Justin Chon
The Sun Is Also a Star Charles Bae Ry Russo-Young
2020 Keep Home Alive Colton Laura Murphy
Definition Please Richie Sujata Day
TBA Please Baby Please Amanda Kramer Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Mysteries at the Museum MIT Student Episode: "Annabelle Doll, Bridge Collapse, Whale Attack"
2011–2012 CollegeHumor Originals Person 4/Son Rearden 2 episodes
2012 Jest Originals Jeremy Lin Episode: "Jeremy Lin Picked Last in Pickup Game"
2012 School Spirits Daniel Hooven Episode: "Frat House Phantom"
2012 Steel Wulf: Cyber Ninja Sniper 6 episodes
2013 Golden Boy Gunman Episode: "Pilot"
2013 Unforgettable Waiter/Uncover Agent Episode: "Day of the Jackie"
2014 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ty Lee Episode: "Gridiron Soldier"
2014 Gotham Gunman #2 Episode: "Arkham"
2015 Broad City James Episode: "Mochalatta Chills"
2015 Younger Roman 3 episodes
2016 The Mysteries of Laura Calvin Wu Episode: "The Mystery of the End of Watch"
2016 Difficult People Restaurant Host Episode: "36 Candles"
2016 Lethal Weapon Richie Kim Episode: "Fashion Police"
2017 Hawaii Five-0 Lee Sung Episode: "Ka 'Aelike"
2017 Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders The Booker Episode: "Pretty Like Me"
2018 F*ck Yes Episode: "Toys"
2018 Succession Tatsuya 2 episodes
2018–2020 Single Parents Miggy Park Main role, 45 episodes
2018 Untitled Gamer Comedy Show Beau Chang Episode: "Pilot: Clan War"
2019 EastSiders Clifford 4 episodes
2020 The Magicians Shinjiro Episode: "The Wrath of the Time Bees"
2021 American Housewife J.D.

References

  1. "Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival 2017". Concrete Playground. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  2. ""Single Parents" Is The Successor To "New Girl" We Deserve". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  3. "Fall TV 2018: 13 Stars to Watch in New Series (Photos)". TheWrap. 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  4. "The Silver Lining: Jake Choi | ALIST". alist-magazine.com. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  5. Yam, Kimberly (May 24, 2019). "Why Jake Choi Of 'The Sun Is Also A Star' Represents The Invisible Asian America". HuffPost. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  6. ""Asian men in media are so desexualized": Rising star Jake Choi fights the Hollywood odds aga..." Salon. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  7. "'Single Parents' star Jake Choi is the sexually fluid actor paving the way in Hollywood". Very Good Light. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  8. "https://www.frontcoverthemovie.com/". Retrieved 2020-03-15. External link in |title= (help)
  9. Goldstein, Gary. "'Front Cover' is a handsome, if wobbly, gay rom-com". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  10. Front Cover, retrieved 2018-12-04
  11. Merry, Stephanie (2016-09-29). "In 'Front Cover' a gay Chinese American comes to terms with his cultural identity". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  12. "Review: In 'Front Cover,' Struggling for Self-Acceptance". Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  13. "'Front Cover': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  14. Petski, Denise (2018-03-07). "'Single Parents': Kimrie Lewis & Jake Choi Cast In ABC Comedy Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  15. "Fall TV 2018: 13 Stars to Watch, From Jay Hernandez to Madeleine Mantock (Photos)". SFGate. 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  16. Ramos, Dino-Ray (2020-05-22). "Liz Meriwether Calls 'Single Parents' & 'Bless This Mess' Cancellations Her "Red Wedding"; Adam F. Goldberg Says Goodbye To 'Schooled'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  17. "Jake Choi's Coming Out Was a Happy Accident". advocate.com. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
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