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Brian Tee
Brian Tee 2011 (cropped).jpg
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, known professionally as Brian Tee, is an American actor. He was born in Okinawa, Japan, on March 15, 1977. When he was two years old, his family moved to California.

Brian Tee started his acting career in television in 2000. His first role was in the TV series The Pretender. He later appeared in popular shows like Entourage and Grey's Anatomy. He also had a repeating role on Zoey 101. From 2015 to 2022, Brian Tee was a main actor in the medical drama Chicago Med. He played Dr. Ethan Choi in the first eight seasons of the show.

In movies, Brian Tee is known for playing D.K. (Drift King) in the action film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). He also appeared in The Wolverine (2013) and Jurassic World (2015). Other notable film roles include No Tears for the Dead (2014) and playing Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016). In 2013, he played Liu Kang in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. More recently, he played Xavier Quinn/Julius McCabe in the third season of the Amazon series Reacher.

Early Life and Education

Brian Tee was born Jae-Beom Takata in Okinawa, Japan, on March 15, 1977. His father was Japanese-American, and his mother was Korean. When he was two years old, his family moved to California. He grew up in Hacienda Heights, California.

He went to Glen A. Wilson High School. There, he was the president of the student body and the captain of the football team. He also worked at a pizza place during high school.

Brian Tee later went to the University of California, Berkeley. He studied theater and performing arts. After graduating, he chose the stage name Brian Tee. He did this because a director once told him his Japanese last name might make it harder for him to get certain roles.

Acting Career

Brian Tee has had many interesting roles in TV shows and movies.

Television Roles

He played Kazu, who owned a sushi restaurant, on the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. He was also Eddie Choi in Crash. Brian Tee appeared as Akira Kimura on Grimm and Takeda on Burn Notice. He was also in an episode of Bones as Ken Nakamura.

From 2015 to 2022, Brian Tee was a main actor on the NBC medical drama Chicago Med. He played Dr. Ethan Choi, a doctor in the emergency room. He also appeared as the same character in related shows like Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.. In October 2022, it was announced that he would leave Chicago Med after eight seasons.

In March 2024, Brian Tee joined the cast of Reacher for its third season. This season premiered in February 2025.

Movie Roles

One of Brian Tee's most famous movie roles was as "D.K." Takashi, also known as the "Drift King," in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).

In The Wolverine (2013), he played Noburo Mori. This character was a minister who was supposed to marry the daughter of a Yakuza boss.

Brian Tee also played Hamada, a high-ranking commander, in the 2015 film Jurassic World. His character worked for the Asset Containment Unit (ACU).

In 2016, he took on the role of Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This was a big role in the sequel to the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

He also played coach Liang Chow in the television movie The Gabby Douglas Story, which aired in 2014.

Personal Life

Besides English, Brian Tee speaks Japanese very well and can speak Korean too. He is married to actress Mirelly Taylor. They have one daughter, who was born in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 What Planet Are You From? Alien Uncredited
2002 We Were Soldiers PFC. Jimmy Nakayama
Austin Powers in Goldmember Japanese Pedestrian
2004 Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation Cpl. Thom Kobe
2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Sushi Chef
2006 All In Rosenbloom Player 2
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Takashi "D.K."
2007 Finishing the Game Mac Chang
2008 The Trade Mr. Cho
2009 Deadland Jax
Chain Letter Brian Yee
Wedding Palace Jason
2013 The Wolverine Noburo Mori
2014 The Gabby Douglas Story Liang Chow
No Tears for the Dead Chaoz
2015 Jurassic World Hamada
2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Oroku Saki/The Shredder
2017 The Beautiful Ones Casper
2025 A House of Dynamite Not yet released TBA Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 The Pretender Male Agent Episode: "The Agent of Year Zero"
The Invisible Man Mallon Episode: "The Value of Secrets"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Intern Episode: "Family"
2001 Family Law DEA Agent Episode: "Liar's Club: Part 1"
18 Wheels of Justice Host Episode: "The Game"
The Chronicle Neo Episode: "Here There Be Dragons"
2002 Flipside Lance Episode: "Pilot"
2003 JAG North Korean Soldier Episode: "Close Quarters"
2004 Passions Young Asian Man Episode: "#1.1217"
Cracking Up Frat Guy #1 Episode: "Daddy's Home"
Monk James Lu Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather"
Tiger Cruise MA2 Chan Television film
2005 Without a Trace Kirk Episode: "Transitions"
Wanted Jin-Lee Park Episode: "Rubbing One Out"
2005–08 Zoey 101 Kazu 6 episodes
2006 The Unit Rebel Leader Episode: "200th Hour"
Entourage Fukijama's Bodyguard Episode: "What About Bob?"
2007 Grey's Anatomy Andy Meltzer 2 episodes
Pandemic Danny Miniseries
2008 Jericho Cheung Episode: "Patriots and Tyrants"
2008–09 Crash Eddie Choi 13 episodes
2009 Lie to Me Han Yong-Dae Episode: "Love Always"
Bones Ken Nakamura Episode: "The Girl in the Mask"
Dark Blue Kang Episode: "K-Town"
2010 Sym-Bionic Titan Mike Chan (voice) Episode: "Roar of the White Dragon"
2011 Burn Notice Takeda Episode: "Bloodlines"
2012 Shake It Up Mr. Itou Episode: "Made in Japan"
2012–13 Grimm Akira Kimura 3 episodes
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Ryu Nabushi/Hideaki Kuroda Episode: "Kupouli 'la"
2014 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Toshiro Mori Episode: "A Fractured House"
One Christmas Eve Dr. Chen TV movie
2015 Chicago P.D. Jesse Kong Episode: "The Three Gs"
Baby Daddy Tommy Kwan Episode: "It Takes a Village Idiot"
2015–25 Chicago Med Dr. Ethan Choi Main role (seasons 1–8)
Director: 3 episodes (seasons 8–10)
2016–18 Chicago Fire Recurring role
Chicago P.D.
2018 Lucifer Ben Rogers Episode: "Once Upon a Time"
2021 Star Wars: Visions Ronin (voice) Short film: The Duel: English language dub
2024 Expats Clarke Miniseries, main cast
2025 Reacher Francis Xavier Quinn/Julius McCabe Main role, season 3
TBA The Scapegoat Not yet released N/A Anthology series, producer

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Mortal Kombat: Legacy Liu Kang 4 episodes

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes
2008 Saints Row 2 Jyunichi

Music videos

Year Title Artist Notes
2006 "Conteo" Don Omar
2008 "Dance Like Michael Jackson" Far East Movement

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Brian Tee para niños

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