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]

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.

Du Juan

born September 15, 1982, in Shanghai, China, is a Chinese fashion model who is currently featured in campaigns for designer Giorgio Armani, jeweler David Yurman and Swedish fashion chain H&M. ^[4]

A former Miss China 2003, Du made her runway debut in Spring 2006, walking for prominent designers such as Valentino and Jean-Paul Gaultier. For the Fall 2006 season, Style.com, the online home of Vogue and W magazine, declared her one of the top ten models to watch.^[2] That same season she appeared in ad campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Gap, Roberto Cavalli, and Yves St. Laurent.


Du shared the cover of Paris Vogue with top model Gemma Ward in 2005 and graced the cover of the premier issue of Vogue China.^[3] She has also appeared on the cover of the 2006 TIME Style&Design with fellow model Coco Rocha, and is one of the models featured in the 2008 Pirelli Calendar, which was shot in her native Shanghai.

Du trained at the prestigious Shanghai Academy of Dance but eventually grew too tall to find a partner. (5’10”)

Rafe Totengco

is an award-winning, Filipino born (Ilo-Ilo), NYC-based handbag, shoes, and leather goods designer who was the first to sign-up for the current economy-apropos “designer-for-Target” fad [designs and sales of which I am a rabid fan…and by rabid I do mean foaming-at-the-mouth. Rodarte and Anna Sui are in the pipeline (salivating as I write), McQueen, Botkier, Hindmarch, and Siegerson Morrison are among the many who have lent their designs.]

Rafe (pronounced rah-fay signified by a horizontal line above the “e” which you can’t see now because my keyboard isn’t set up for that kind of fanciness) launched his handbag collection in 1995 and has since expanded to shoes and leather goods to enhance his world-wide store and upscale boutique stock.

“Rafe blends uptown sophistication with downtown edge while remaining classic enough to be worn for many seasons to come…” [CFDA]

[other sources: asian journal profile, Philippine Inquirer profile, Rafe’s blog and Twitter]

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]

Taiwanese actor, Jay Chou, will play Kato in “The Green Hornet”.  Seth Rogen will play the title character, while Michael Gondry directs.  Cameron Diaz, Nicolas Cage, and Edward James Olmos will also star.

Jay Chou

was born on January 18, 1979 and is a Taiwanese musician, singer, producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. He is well-known for composing all his own songs and songs for other singers. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for popular Chinese singers. Although he was trained in classical music, Chou combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce songs that fuse R&B, rock and pop genres, covering issues such as domestic violence, war, and urbanization.

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.