John Cho facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John Cho
Cho in 2024
Born	Cho Yo-Han (1972-06-16) June 16, 1972 (age 53) Seoul, South Korea
Nationality	American
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Kerri Higuchi ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	2

John Cho is an American actor. He is famous for playing Harold Lee in the Harold & Kumar movies. He also played Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek films. John made history as the first Asian American actor to lead a major thriller movie in Hollywood. This was for his role in the film Searching. He was even nominated for an award for his acting in Searching.

He also made history on American television. He was the first Asian American actor to play a romantic lead in a romantic comedy TV show. This was when he starred as Henry Higgs in the 2014 show Selfie. Besides Selfie, John has had main roles in shows like FlashForward and The Afterparty. He also had recurring roles in Sleepy Hollow. Early in his career, he was known for his guest role in the fantasy series Charmed.

John Cho's Early Life and School

John Cho was born as Cho Yo-Han on June 16, 1972. He was born in Seoul, South Korea. When he was six years old in 1978, his family moved to the United States. They settled in Los Angeles, California. Before that, they lived in places like Houston and Seattle.

His father was a minister. He was originally from North Korea. John grew up with one younger brother. His father wanted them to learn English and American culture. So, they stopped speaking Korean at home. They also watched a lot of American television.

John graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California. This was in 1990.

He then went to the University of California, Berkeley. In 1994, he toured with a play called The Woman Warrior. He graduated in 1996. He earned a degree in English literature.

John Cho's Acting Career

After college, John taught English literature. He taught at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood. At the same time, he acted at East West Players in Los Angeles. He appeared in plays there.

Getting Noticed in Movies

John first gained attention in the 1999 comedy American Pie. He had a small role. He played this role again in three sequels. These included American Pie 2 and American Reunion. In the third film, his character was named "John" after him.

In 2002, John had a main role in Better Luck Tomorrow. This movie was about Asian Americans in Southern California. Critics liked his performance. Later that year, he played a film director in Big Fat Liar. He refused to do an accent for this role. The director worked with him to change the character.

John had a very successful role as Harold Lee. This was in the 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. He played Harold again in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008). He also returned for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011). The role of Harold was written just for him.

TV Shows and Star Trek

John appeared in Charmed in 1998. He played the ghost of Mark Chao. He said in 2024 that people still ask him about this role. From 2001 to 2002, he starred in the comedy Off Centre. His character, Chau Presley, became very popular.

He was also a co-star in the Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential. This show was based on a famous book. He had supporting roles in movies like Evolution.

John Cho being interviewed in 2018

In 2007, John joined the cast of Ugly Betty. He played Kenny, a friend of Henry Grubstick. In 2009, John played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the movie Star Trek. Critics praised his performance.

From 2009 to 2010, John starred in the TV series FlashForward. He played FBI Special Agent Demetri Noh. His character was supposed to die. But because of his popularity from Star Trek, the story was changed. This helped his character survive.

In 2014, John starred as Henry Higgs in the sitcom Selfie. This made him the first Asian American man to play a romantic lead in a U.S. romantic comedy TV series. The show had many dedicated fans, especially in China. John was sad when the show was canceled. He said it was a "good show."

In 2016, he was a regular on The Exorcist TV series. In 2017, he starred in the movie Columbus. This film received great reviews. In 2018, John starred in Searching. He played a father looking for clues about his missing daughter. This made him the first Asian American actor to lead a major thriller film in Hollywood.

In 2019, John was cast as Spike Spiegel in a live-action Cowboy Bebop series. Production stopped when he got a knee injury. It also stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cowboy Bebop premiered on Netflix in November 2021.

John wrote a novel for middle school readers called Troublemaker. It was released in March 2022. In 2022, John was cast in the second season of The Afterparty. He played "Funcle" Ulysses Zhu. This new season premiered in July 2023.

In May 2024, he had a small role in The Sympathizer. In August 2024, John voiced the audiobook Drop Dead. He also starred in the sci-fi horror film Afraid, released on August 30, 2024.

In February 2025, John was cast in the second season of Poker Face. He also had a small role in Murderbot, which premiered on May 16, 2025. John will make his Korean drama debut in Tempest. This show will be released in 2025.

Music Career

John Cho is the lead singer for Viva La Union. This is a Los Angeles garage rock band. The band used to be called Left of Zed. They have one album called Viva La Union. Their song "Chinese Baby" is on the Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay soundtrack.

John Cho's Personal Life

John Cho married actress Kerri Higuchi in 2006. They met while attending UC Berkeley. They have two children. Their son was born in 2008, and their daughter was born in 2013. As of 2015, he and his family live in Los Angeles, California.

John has spoken about facing challenges in Hollywood. He tries to choose roles that do not use stereotypes about Asian people. For example, he refused to do an accent for a role in Big Fat Liar. He said he did not want young people to laugh at an accent. In 2015, he tweeted, "Stop turning Asian roles white." He called his casting in Selfie "revolutionary." He felt it was a big step because Asian actors often get small roles.

In 2016, John was part of the "#StarringJohnCho" social media campaign. This project showed John Photoshopped onto movie posters as the main character. It aimed to highlight the lack of opportunities for Asian American actors. This campaign helped inspire the movie Crazy Rich Asians. It also encouraged Ke Huy Quan to return to acting.

John has supported political campaigns. He supported Barack Obama in 2012. He also supported Joe Biden in 2020. In 2024, he supported Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.

John Cho's Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Movies

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Shopping for Fangs	Clarence
	Wag the Dog	Aide #3
1998	Yellow	Joey
1999	American Beauty	Sale house man #1
	American Pie	Guy #2
	Bowfinger	Nightclub cleaner
2000	The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas	Parking valet
2001	American Pie 2	John (Guy #2)
	Delivering Milo	Mr. Hugo
	Down to Earth	Phil Quon
	Evolution	Student
	Pavilion of Women	Fengmo Wu
2002	Better Luck Tomorrow	Steve Choe
	Big Fat Liar	Dustin Wong
	Solaris	DBA emissary #1
2003	American Wedding	John
2004	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Harold Lee
	In Good Company	Petey
	See This Movie	Larry Finkelstein
2005	American Dreamz	Frank Ittles
	Bam Bam and Celeste	Stephan
2006	Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas	Tom
2007	West 32nd	John Kim
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Harold Lee
	Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist	Hype Man
	Smiley Face	Mike
2009	Saint John of Las Vegas	Carnival Human Torch
	Star Trek	Hikaru Sulu
2011	A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas	Harold Lee
2012	American Reunion	Guy #2
	Total Recall	Bob McClane
2013	Identity Thief	Daniel Casey
	Star Trek Into Darkness	Hikaru Sulu
	The Tale of the Princess Kaguya	Middle Counselor Isonokami (voice)	English dub
	That Burning Feeling	Roger Whitacre
2015	Grandma	Chau
	Zipper	EJ
	Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit	Nick Morgan	Short film
2016	Get a Job	Brian Bender
	Star Trek Beyond	Hikaru Sulu
2017	Columbus	Jin Lee
	Gemini	Edward Ahn
	A Happening of Monumental Proportions	Mr. Ramirez
	Literally, Right Before Aaron	Mark
2018	The Oath	Peter Barber
	Mirai	Mr. Ota (voice)	English dub
	Searching	David Kim
2019	Between Two Ferns: The Movie	Himself
2020	The Grudge	Peter Spencer
	Tigertail	Grover	Scenes cut; also executive producer
	Over the Moon	Ba Ba (voice)
2021	Wish Dragon	Long (voice)	English dub
2022	Don't Make Me Go	Max Park
2023	Ghosted	The Leopard	Cameo
	The Graduates	John	Also executive producer
2024	Afraid	Curtis
TBA	Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother	TBA	Filming

Television Shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	The Jeff Foxworthy Show	Pizza delivery man	Episode: "Twister of Fate"
1998	Felicity	Larry	Episode: "The Last Stand"
1998	Charmed	Mark Chao	Episode: "Dead Man Dating"
2001	Static Shock	Thomas Kim / Tantrum, Navigator (voices)	2 episodes
2001–2002	Off Centre	Chau Presley	Main role
2002	The Jamie Kennedy Experiment	Himself	1 episode
2005	The Men's Room	Bob	4 episodes
2005	House M.D.	Harvey Park	Episode: "Love Hurts"
2005–2006	Kitchen Confidential	Teddy Wong	Recurring role
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Marshall Stone	Episode: "Damage Case"
2006–2023	American Dad!	Vince Chung (voice)	6 episodes
2007	How I Met Your Mother	Jefferson Coatsworth	Episode: "I'm Not That Guy"
2007	Ugly Betty	Kenny	3 episodes
2007	'Til Death	Lucas Bender	Episode: "Come Out and Play"
2008	Hollywood Residential	Himself	Episode: "It Happens"
2009–2010	FlashForward	Demetri Noh	Main role
2010	Childrens Hospital	Park	Episode: "Frankfurters. Allman Brothers. Death. Frankfurters"
2011	30 Rock	Lorne	Episode: "Double-Edged Sword"
2011	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Chip	Episode: "The Birthday Part That Was Neither"
2012–2013	Go On	Steven	Main role
2013–2014	Sleepy Hollow	Andy Brooks	7 episodes
2014	Selfie	Henry Higgs	Main role
2015	BoJack Horseman	Lead improv-er (voice)	2 episodes
2015	The Mindy Project	Big Murder	Episode: "Lahiri Family Values"
2016	New Girl	Daniel	Episode: "Jury Duty"
2016	House of Lies	Sean Chew	Episode: "Holacracy"
2016	... History	William Shakespeare	Episode: "Landmarks"
2016	Lip Sync Battle	Himself	Episode: "Ben Kingsley vs. John Cho"
2016	The Hindenburg Explodes!	Reggie	Pilot
2017	Difficult People	Todd Ross	4 episodes
2017	The Exorcist	Andrew Kim	Main role (season 2)
2017	Do You Want to See a Dead Body?	Himself	Episode: "A Body and Some Quicksand"
2019	The Twilight Zone	Raff Hanks	Episode: "The Wunderkind"
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride	Inigo Montoya	Episode: "Chapter Nine: Have Fun Storming The Castle!"
2021	Cowboy Bebop	Spike Spiegel	Main role
2023	The Afterparty	"Funcle" Ulysses Zhu	Main role (season 2)
2023	Praise Petey	Bandit (voice)
2023	Artbound	Himself	Season 14, episode 6: "East West Players: A Home on Stage"; documentary
2024	The Sympathizer	James Yoon	Miniseries
2025	Poker Face	Guy	Season 2, episode 8: "The Sleazy Georgian"
2025	Murderbot	Eknie Jef Chem (playing Captain Hossein)	Cameo
2025	Tempest	Anderson Miller	Korean drama
TBA	Rhona Who Lives by the River	D'John

Stage Plays

Web Series

Video Games

Audiobooks

• Troublemaker (2022) - author and narrator
• Drop Dead (2024) - narrator

Discography

Albums with Viva La Union

• Viva La Union (2009)

See also

In Spanish: John Cho para niños