John Cho
Biography
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the Harold & Kumar films, and Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek rebooted film series, the Asian-American film Better Luck Tomorrow, the film Columbus, and Searching, which made him the first Asian American actor in history to headline a mainstream thriller film in Hollywood. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for his performance in Searching.
In 2007, Cho was added to the cast of Ugly Betty as a recurring character. Cho plays Kenny, a best friend of accountant Henry Grubstick. Cho played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in J. J. Abrams's feature film Star Trek. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised him for making his role "ultimately and rather wonderfully [his] own".
In 2012, he was part of the cast ensemble of Go On as Steven.
In 2016, he was a series regular for the television show as Andy Kim in the second season of The Exorcist television series.
In 2017, he starred in the film Columbus, which received critical acclaim.
In 2018, Cho starred in the film Searching, playing a man combing social media for clues to his daughter's disappearance. He was the first Asian American actor to headline a mainstream thriller in Hollywood. Also in 2018, he was presented with the Spotlight Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.
In April 2019, Variety reported that Cho had been cast as Spike Spiegel in a live-action version of the Cowboy Bebop series. However, production shut down when Cho suffered a knee injury in October and remained shut down until late September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cowboy Bebop premiered on Netflix on November 19, 2021.
He wrote a middle school grade novel book for younger readers called Troublemaker on March 22, 2022.
In May 2022, Cho was cast in the second season of Apple TV+'s comedy series The Afterparty as "Funcle" Ulysses Zhu. The new season premiered in July 2023.
In 2024, the actor had a cameo in the television adaptation of The Sympathizer.
