Ken Leung

Kenneth Leung (born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. His roles include Sang in Rush Hour, Miles Straume in Lost, Admiral Statura in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Detective Stephen Sing in Saw, and Kid Omega in X-Men: The Last Stand. He portrayed the Marvel Comics character Karnak, a member of the Inhumans, on the ABC television series Inhumans, which premiered in September 2017.

For the Hong Kong accountant, see Kenneth Leung.
Ken Leung
Leung at the 2019 FedCon
Born
Kenneth Leung

(1970-01-21) January 21, 1970
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
OccupationActor
Years active1995–present
Home townTwo Bridges, Manhattan
Midwood, Brooklyn
Old Bridge, New Jersey

Early life

Leung was born in New York City to Chinese parents and was initially raised in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His family moved to Midwood, Brooklyn, where he grew up before finishing high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

Leung later attended New York University (NYU) as a University Scholar. He discovered acting in his junior year, when he studied acting with Catherine Russell and Nan Smithner, and then briefly with Anne Jackson at HB Studio. During this time he acted mostly in downtown spaces and black box theaters, working with groups such as the Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Perspectives, and STAR, a traveling group of actors-educators based at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Career

In 1997, Leung made his debut as the villainous henchman Sang in Brett Ratner's Rush Hour. Ratner stated, "[Leung]'s a great actor. In my opinion, he's equivalent to Philip Seymour Hoffman as far as talent is concerned."[1] He would later work with Ratner in the films Red Dragon, The Family Man, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Edward Norton cast Leung in his directorial debut Keeping the Faith in 2000. According to The Washington Post, Norton said Leung's "showstopping performance...turned a throwaway scene into one of the film's best."[2] Impressed with his acting skills, Norton said that Leung would be appropriate for a role in Hamlet or Osborne's Look Back in Anger: "You sense hidden levels within him and he conveys an intensity of mind. I don't think anybody's tapped his full range yet."[3] Additionally, Leung has appeared in several independent and television films, as well as features, including four films with Brett Ratner and two with Spike Lee. In 1998, he played James the Less and God in Terrence McNally's passion play, Corpus Christi, and in 2002 made his Broadway debut in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, also appearing on the cast recording.

In 2007, he starred in the independent film Shanghai Kiss with Hayden Panettiere, and earned a Special Mention at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. That same year he guest-starred in the final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos. He followed this with the ABC drama Lost as Miles Straume from the series' fourth season through the rest of its run.

On September 29, 2017, ABC premiered Inhumans, an adaptation of the Marvel Comics race of Moon-dwelling superhumans whose abilities are derived from ancient genetic manipulation by the extraterrestrial Kree. Leung plays Karnak, a member of the Inhuman Royal Family, who can "see the fault in all things", allowing him to avoid errors, and who acts as the Royal Family's strategist and philosopher.[4]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1995 Pictures of Baby Jane Doe Shopkeeper
Welcome to the Dollhouse Barry
1997 Red Corner Peng
Kundun (voice)
1998 Fly Jeremy Kim
Rush Hour Sang
1999 Man of the Century Mike Ramsey
2000 Keeping the Faith Don
Maze Dr. Mikao
The Family Man Sam Wong the Deli Clerk
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence Syatyoo-Sama
Home Sweet Hoboken
Spy Game Li
Vanilla Sky Art Editor
2002 Face Willie
Red Dragon Lloyd Bowman
2004 Saw Detective Steven Sing
2005 The Squid and the Whale School Therapist
2006 Inside Man Wing
X-Men: The Last Stand Kid Omega
2007 Year of the Fish Johnny
Shanghai Kiss Liam Liu Received a Special Mention at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival for his breakthrough performance.
Falling for Grace Ming
2008 Saw V Detective Steven Sing Cameo
2009 Works of Art John Kim
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Admiral Statura
2021 Untitled M. Night Shyamalan film Pre-production

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1995, 2000, 2002Law & OrderChung; Tommy Wong; Stephen Wong4 episodes
1997New York UndercoverDavid KwanEpisode: "Vendetta"
2000WonderlandEpisode: "Spell Check"
DeadlineFungEpisode: "Pilot"
2001OzBian YixueEpisode: "Conversions"
2004The JuryKen ArataEpisode: "Memories"
WhoopiTerrenceEpisode: "Identity Crisis"
Strip SearchLiu Tsung-YuanTelevision film
Sucker Free CityLincoln Ma
2005HateMo
2007The SopranosCarter ChongEpisode: "Remember When"
2008–2010LostMiles StraumeSeries regular; 45 episodes
2011The Good WifeShen YuanEpisode: "Great Firewall"
2012–2013Person of InterestLeon TaoEpisodes: "The Contingency", "Critical", "Relevance", "All In"
2013Zero HourFather Reggie8 episodes
DeceptionDonald ChengEpisodes: "Nothing's Free, Little Girl", "A Drop of Blood and a Microscope"
2014–2016[5]The Night ShiftTopher ZiaMain, Seasons 1-3, 35 episodes
2017InhumansKarnak
2019 High Maintenance Gene Episode: "Fingerbutt"
2019The BlacklistMichael Sima6 episodes
gollark: Maybe running punching at layer 5 or 6 might make more sense, actually.
gollark: Perhaps an extension to HTTP with a PUNCH method, like the HTCPCP.
gollark: <@357932279231807488> This is why we need some sort of standard for punching over the internet.
gollark: I think a better solution would be a gender-neutral singular pronoun which you can actually distinguish from a plural one, but nobody seems to want that.
gollark: I think the whole they-singular thing is kind of inelegant, but a workable solution at least.

References
  1. Dawkins, Walter. "Ken Leung: Quiet Actor, Always Kept to Himself . . .", The Washington Post, May 25, 2008.
  2. Dawkins, Walter. "Ken Leung: Quiet Actor, Always Kept to Himself". Washingtonpost.com. Washington Post Co. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. Dawkins, Walter. "Ken Leung:Quiet Actor, Always Kept to Himself". Washingtonpost.com. Washington Post Co. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  4. Petski, Denise (March 2, 2017). "'Marvel's Inhumans': Ken Leung To Play Karnak In ABC Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  5. Andreeva, Nellie (November 22, 2016). "'The Night Shift': Ken Leung Not returning for Season 4". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
Interviews
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