John Cho

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, Asian-American film Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) and the award-winning 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.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Cho moved to the United States in 1978.

He was raised in Los Angeles, where his family settled after living in Houston, Seattle, Daly City, California, and Monterey Park, California.

His father was a minister in the Church of Christ and was originally from North Korea.

He grew up with one younger brother.

Cho graduated from Herbert Hoover High School, in Glendale, California, in 1990.

Cho attended the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1994, he toured nationally for a stage production of Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

He graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature.

After graduation, Cho taught English literature at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, California, while acting at East West Players in downtown Los Angeles.

There, he appeared in Edward Sakamoto's The Taste of Kona Coffee in 1996 and in Euijoon Kim's film My Tired Broke Ass Pontificating Slapstick Funk in 2000.

Cho guest-starred on Charmed as a ghost in the episode "Dead Man Dating" in 1998 and was one of the stars of the short-lived situation comedy Off Centre from 2001 to 2002.

He was a costar on the Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential based on Anthony Bourdain's best-selling book.

He had supporting roles in the science fiction comedy Evolution directed by Ivan Reitman, Down to Earth, and Bowfinger.

Cho gained attention with a small role as "MILF Guy #2" in the 1999 comedy American Pie, in which he popularized the slang term MILF.

Cho reprised the role in three sequels: American Pie 2, American Wedding, and the latest installment American Reunion in which he has a much larger role.

His character initially had no name but he was given the name "John" in the third film, named after Cho himself.

In 2002, Cho had a starring role in the ensemble cast of Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, a drama focusing on the travails of a group of Asian Americans living in Southern California who are academically successful but socially discontented, and as a result engage in wantonly violent, criminal behavior.

It was well received by critics, with Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times describing Cho's character's "lazy magnetism of which he is charmingly aware".

Later that year, the movie Big Fat Liar was released, in which Cho played a Hong Kong-based film director.

He refused to do the accent scripted for his character.

The director worked with him to re-develop the role.

Cho had a successful starring role as Harold Lee in 2004's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and reprised the role in 2008's Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay which earned $38million at the box office, and again in 2011's A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas which made $35million.

Cho's role in the popular franchise was written specifically for him by Hayden Schlossberg, and Cho has recounted that when Schlossberg first approached him with the role, he was initially suspicious.

Cho appeared in the July 2004 issue of KoreAm Journal and, in September 2006, was cast in NBC's new comedy The Singles Table, but the series never aired due to changes in scheduling and production.

In 2006 and again in 2009, Cho was selected as one of the sexiest men alive in People magazine.

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".

Cho appeared in Nas's "Be a Nigger Too" music video along with various celebrities, and had a guest appearance on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, in the episode "I'm Not That Guy" where he played a partner in an evil law firm.

Of the latter, Staci Krause of IGN, wrote that Cho was "the scene stealer in this episode" and that she would "definitely like to see more of him" in the series.

From 2009 to 2010, Cho starred in the television series FlashForward as FBI Special Agent Demetri Noh.

His character was originally slated to be killed off during what turned out to be the show's only season, but after his turn as Sulu in Star Trek boosted his popularity, the producers revised the show's storyline so that he survived, in an attempt to boost declining ratings.

In 2012, he was part of the cast ensemble of Go On as Steven.

He also made history in American television in the 21st century as the first Asian-American actor cast as a romantic lead in a romantic comedy series when he starred as Henry Higgs in the 2014 sitcom Selfie.

In addition to his role in Selfie, Cho has had lead roles in series such as FlashForward, Off Centre, and The Afterparty, and recurring roles in Go On, Sleepy Hollow, and Difficult People.

Cho starred as Henry Higgs in the short-lived sitcom Selfie, a retooling of the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, becoming the first Asian American man to play a romantic lead on a U.S. romantic comedy television series in 2014.

At the time, Keli Lee was the executive vice president of Talent and Casting at ABC who selected Cho as a candidate and also previously cast Cho in Flashforward.