Brian Tee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brian Tee
Tee in April 2011
Born	Jae-Beom Takata 高田 ジェボム (1977-03-15) March 15, 1977 (age 48) Okinawa, Japan
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Mirelly Taylor
Children	1

Jae-Beom Takata (高田 ジェボム, Takata Jebomu, born March 15, 1977), known professionally as Brian Tee, is an American actor. Born in Okinawa, Tee emigrated to California when he was 2 years old. He attended the University of California and began pursuing his television career. His first appearance on the small screen came in 2000 when he had a small role on the television series The Pretender. He went on to appear in the television series Entourage, Grey's Anatomy, and had a recurring role on Zoey 101. In 2015, Tee joined the cast of the NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi.

In 2006, Tee was cast as the antagonist D.K. (Drift King) in the action film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He has since appeared in the well-received films The Wolverine (2013) and Jurassic World (2015). His other films include No Tears for the Dead (2014), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), where he portrayed Shredder. In 2013, he portrayed Liu Kang in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

Early life and education

Tee was born Jae-Beom Takata (Japanese: 高田 ジェボム, Korean Hangul: 재범 타카다) in Okinawa Prefecture. His father was Japanese-American and his mother was from South Korea. His father was born in an internment camp during World War II. His mother was living in Japan working as a reporter.

At the age of two, he moved to Hacienda Heights, California, and was raised in Southern California. He attended Glen A. Wilson High School where he was Associated Student Body president and captain of the football team. While in high school, he worked at Blackjack Pizza in Hacienda Heights.

Tee graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in theater and performing arts. Not long after graduating, he adopted his "culturally ambiguous" stage name Brian Tee after being rejected by a Korean director at an audition for having a Japanese last name.

Career

Tee played Kazu, the owner of Sushi Rox, on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. He played Eddie Choi in Crash. He starred as Akira Kimura on Grimm and Takeda on Burn Notice. He appeared in the Season 4 episode "The Girl in the Mask" as Ken Nakamura on the series Bones. He played Dwayne Archimedes in the indie Feature film Roswell FM. Tee appeared in an episode in the first season of the television series Dark Blue as a Korean criminal. He has a short part in Austin Powers in Goldmember as a pedestrian who has a brief comic exchange with another man (played by Masi Oka) over the legality of calling a giant monster "Godzilla". Tee can also be seen as a contestant on an episode of Hollywood Squares hosted by Tom Bergeron. He played in 1999 against a woman named Heidi.

Tee was also in the music video "Dance Like Michael Jackson" by Far East Movement.

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Tee took on the role of Liu Kang in the YouTube series Mortal Kombat Legacy.

One of Tee's most famous roles was as "D.K." Takashi "Drift King" in the 3rd installment of the Fast & Furious series The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).

Tee appeared in the television film The Gabby Douglas Story on October 18, 2013, where he played her coach Liang Chow, which aired in 2014 on Lifetime.

Tee co-starred in the 2015 film Jurassic World where he played Hamada, a high-ranking commander who works for the Asset Containment Unit (ACU).

Tee played Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the 2016 sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where the role was previously portrayed by Tohoru Masamune.

On July 20, 2015, Tee signed on to co-star in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi. He had previously appeared on its sister show Chicago P.D. as a Chinese gangster in Season 2. In October 2022, it was confirmed that Tee would be exiting Chicago Med after eight seasons.

On March 6, 2024, Tee was cast as a series regular for the third season of Reacher, which is set to premiere in February 2025.

Personal life

Besides English, Tee speaks fluent Japanese and proficient Korean. He is married to actress Mirelly Taylor, with whom he has a daughter born in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Video games

Music videos

See also

In Spanish: Brian Tee para niños