FAMOUS FILIPINOS / ASIANS

Nicole Bilderback

Bring It On 2 DVD was released yesterday, but we are paying homage to the original movie whose cast includes Korean born Nicole Bilderback.  Nicole’s character, Whitney, was one of the main cheerleaders on the team with Torrance, played by Kirsten Dunst.

Born June 10, 1975 in Korea and raised in Tulsa, OK by her adoptive parents, Jim and Lois Bilderback, Nicole is also well known for her role as Summer in Clueless (1995), her recurring roles on television’s Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Nicole has also starred in hit shows as The Practice, Heroes, Without a Trace, House MD and Boston Legal.

[photo sources: 1, 2, 3]

Y.E. Yang - Historic Victory!

By 5 strokes, Yang beat 14-time Majors champion Tiger Woods to WIN the 91st PGA Championship on August 18, 2009.  The win earns Yang the fourth and final seat in one of the world’s toughest tournaments to be held Oct. 20-21 at Bermuda’s Port Royal Golf Course - the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

Turning Pro only 5 years ago, the 37-year old South Korean’s victory will “go down in the history books as one of sports greatest upsets.  The most notable aspect [being] that Yang did to Tiger Woods what Tiger has become famous for doing to everyone else.” [source]

Imagine this win … HELL YEAH !!!    [top photo source, bottom photo source]

Ken Jeong, M.D. 

Not only is this guy FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY, but HOT HOT HOT in the world of comedy.  He’s popping up all over the place! ROCK on Ken!

Jeong is currently starring with Jeremy Piven in The Goods: Live Hard and Sell Hard and next appears with Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper in All About Steve, in theaters September 4th.


Jeong most recently played ransom demanding mobster guy who jumps out of a car trunk stark naked, Mr. Chow, in Hangover.  Was an awesome surprise playing the Korean mafioso guy in Pineapple Express (“suck my ball two time!”), King Argotron in Role Models, and Allison Scott’s (Katherine Heigl’s) strict and sarcastic, perfectly condescending OB/GYN, Dr. Kuni, in Knocked Up.

Ken Jeong was born in 1969 to Korean immigrants who settled in North Carolina.  Jeong graduated high school at 16, completed his undergrad at Duke, and obtained his medical degree from UNC-Chapell Hill.  Jeong was urged by an NBC producer and an Improv founder to move to LA after seeing him perform and win the Big Easy Laff-Off in New Orleans where Jeong was completing his Internal Medicine residency.  He made regular appearances at the Improv and the Laugh Factory.

Jamie Chung

born April 10, 1983, is an American actress of Korean descent and next stars in Sorority Row (in theaters September 11), Dragonball Evolution, and Burning Palms. Chung currently stars as Chelsea Barnes in Disney Channel’s Princess Protection Program.

Chung is also known to audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II.

Since her stint on The Real World, she has appeared in various television and film roles, including as Cordy Han in ten episodes of Days of our Lives, as a Hooters girl in the 2007 comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and in episodes of CSI: New York and Veronica Mars. She starred in the 2008 ABC Family show Samurai Girl in September 2008.^[2]

Jenna Ushkowitz

most recently stars in Fox’s Glee, whose pilot (permalink to see video below) received rave reviews and aired in the spring of 2009.  Glee makes its official premiere Sept. 9 @ 9PM ET/PT on FOX.

Born in Seoul, Korea on April 28th, 1986, Jenna is an American stage and television actress and singer, who is also known for her roles in Broadway musicals.

See Jenna and castmates greet fans at “THE GLEEK TOUR!” in the Natick Mall in Boston, MA on Monday, August 17.

Denyce Lawton, born in Seoul May 2, 1978, is an American actress and model of Korean and Africa-American descent, and plays a series regular, Dana, on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.

Denyce has modeled for Kemi Oil, FUBU, ADIDAS, Enyce, Karl Kani and Baby Phat. While pursuing her acting and modeling career, she also appeared in several Hip Hop/R&B music videos; “Rockstar” by N*E*R*D,”Peaches & Cream” by 112, “One Mic” by Nas, and “Anything” by Jaheim.

Other film credits include the films Soul Plane, Go for Broke, and It Ain’t Easy. Denyce has also appeared in television shows such as Entourage, Scratch & Burn, Half & Half, The Parkers, the action auto thriller Redline, and 7eventy 5ive.

Lee Byung-hun (born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor, most recently starring as Storm Shadow in the hollywood blockbuster, GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra; alongside other famous hollywood actors as Sienna Miller, Channing Tatum, and Marlon Wayans.

His westernized name is…Brian. Awesome.

Lee is Buddhist, fluent in English and able to speak French and Mandarin, in addition to his native Korean.  His sister, Lee Eun-Hee, won Miss Korea in 1997.

Sandra Oh, ROCKS the house, yo…the first time I saw her was in 1996 when she starred as THE funniest irreverent assistant, Rita Wu, on HBO’s Arli$$.  Oh was brilliant in that role.

I was only so happy to see her playing and developing other brilliant characters such as Stephanie in Sideways and Dr. Cristina Yang in the hit ABC series Grey’s Anatomy.

She was born July 20, 1971 and is a Canadian Genie Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning actress.  Oh was born in Nepean, Ontario, to middle-class Korean immigrant parents Joon-Soo (John) and Young-Nam, who had come to Canada in the early 1960s.

Lindsay Jaylyn Price (born December 6, 1976 in Arcadia, California) is a Korean-American television actress, best known for starring in NBC’s 2008 mid-season series, Lipstick Jungle.

She is the daughter of a mother and a father who were legally siblings. (SCANDAL!!!!) Her paternal grandfather’s adopted daughter married her grandfather’s son.^[1] Her mother is Korean and her father is of German-Irish descent.

She is also known for her work on soap operas such as All My Children, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Beverly Hills 90210. She guest starred in NCIS for two episodes as a neurotic fling of main character, Anthony DiNozzo. She also starred on the short-lived American version of Coupling and had a recurring role on Becker, where she played Amanda, Jake Malinak (Alex Désert)’s girlfriend, a role that spanned three seasons.

I MUST comment that I was more than elated when producers introduced an Asian actress on a HUGE show like Beverly Hills 90210 (the original) … It was BIG, we all watched it…even the straight boys…