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Chris Pang

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Chris Pang
Born
Christopher Pang

(1984-12-29) 29 December 1984 (age 39)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor, producer
Years active2008–present
Chris Pang
Traditional Chinese吳育剛
Simplified Chinese吴育刚
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWú Yùgāng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationǸgh Yuhkgōng

Christopher Pang (born 29 December 1984) is an Australian actor and producer.[1][2] He is best known for his role as Colin Khoo in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Lee Takkam in Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010).

Early life

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Pang was born in Melbourne and is the son of Wing Chun instructors.[3][4] His paternal grandparents are from Canton, China while his father, Barry Pang, was born and raised in Australia. His mother, Anne Pang, was born in Taiwan and migrated to Australia in the 1970s.[5][6] He was educated at Scotch College.[7]

Pang is distantly related to Bruce Lee as Lee's father was a cousin of Pang's paternal grandmother, and both came from the same village in Canton.[6][5][8][non-primary source needed] Through his mother Anne Pang, Pang is a descendant of Wong Nai Siong, the Chinese revolutionary leader, Christian reformer and humanitarian who was key in the Fujian province in overthrowing the propaganda machine of the late Qing dynasty.[6]

He enrolled in a university and majored in multimedia studies. Unsatisfied with his studies, he later took a year off and sold phones to businesses before going into acting.[9]

Pang is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Career

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While selling phones, Pang began his career incidentally after walking into a casting agency who were looking for a performer to do a Chinese accent for a voice over; Pang booked the role dubbing as Jackie Chan's brother in New Police Story 4.[10] This started his acting career. Shortly afterwards he began studying at TAFTA[11] in Melbourne.

He temporarily moved to Beijing and Hong Kong to pursue an acting career. His big break would come in 2010, booking one of the lead roles in Australian film adaptation of the young adult dystopian novel Tomorrow, When the War Began. Starring opposite Caitlin Stasey, the film was a box office success in Australia.[12][13][9] Later he acted in the feature film Citizen Jia Li.[14][15]

Despite the success of Tomorrow, he received little traction and in 2013 moved to Hollywood to further pursue his acting career. He reunited with his Tomorrow co-star Caitlin Stasey in I, Frankenstein. In 2016, he appeared in the martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, in which he played the character Flying Blade. He also recurred in the season two of drama series Marco Polo.

In 2018, he co-starred in the film adaptation Crazy Rich Asians, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh and Henry Golding. He portrayed Colin Khoo.[16] He later produced and starred in the Manila-set independent film Empty by Design alongside Osric Chau and Filipina actress Rhian Ramos.[17] Empty by Design was his first feature film as a producer.

Pang co-starred in the 2019 reboot and continuation of Charlie's Angels, directed by Elizabeth Banks.[18] In June 2019, he was cast in As We See It, a Jason Katims tv show later cancelled by Amazon Studios after its first season.[19] He also joined the cast of Palm Springs.[20]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Tomorrow, When the War Began Lee Takkam[21]
2011 Citizen Jia Li Kong[22] Also Associate Producer
2013 California Dreaming Lin Feng Short
2014 I, Frankenstein Levi
Fist of the Dragon Sin
The Mule Phuk
2015 Superfast! Cool Asian guy
2016 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny Flying Blade
2018 Crazy Rich Asians Colin Khoo
2019 Empty by Design Jun Jie Also Producer
Charlie's Angels Jonny Smith
2020 Palm Springs Trevor
2022 Blade of the 47 Ronin Lord Arai
2023 The Portable Door Casimir
Joy Ride Kenny [23]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 City Homicide Phuong Lam Episode: "Pirates"
2011 Rush Than 1 episode
2016 Marco Polo Arban Recurring
5 episodes (Season 2)
2022 As We See It Van Main cast
2024 Interior Chinatown Older Brother

Awards

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  • Asians On Film "Best Actor", 2013[24]
  • GQ "Breakout star of the year", 2019[25]
  • Hyatt Centric: Chinese Australian Achievers Award "Award - Creative, 2024"

References

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  1. ^ "The Mule – Q & A with Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Georgina Haig and Chris Pang". Australians in Film. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Introducing the cast: Kevin (Lincoln Lewis), Robyn (Ashleigh Cummings), Lee (Chris Pang)". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Chris Pang, Making the moves". Barry Pang Kung Fu Website.
  4. ^ "Marco Polo's Chris Pang: Wingchun Looks Like Crap!". FansTang. 11 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Barry Pang | Elwood College". www.elwood.vic.edu.au. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "The Barry and Anne Pang Collection". A Turf Fascination. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Kong – Chris Pang". 4 June 2012.
  8. ^ "The Project". Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via Facebook.
  9. ^ a b "Chris Pang: Upcoming Crazy Rich Asian and Certified Haiku Hottie". TaiwaneseAmerican.org. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  10. ^ Yamato, Jen (10 August 2018). "'Crazy Rich Asians': Aussie Chris Pang's unlikely journey to one of the most buzzed-about films of 2018 – Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  11. ^ "The Australian Film & Television Academy". tafta.com.au. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Tomorrow, When the War Began – Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Tomorrow, When the War Began: Casting". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Q&A – Chris Pang". Peril Australia. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Christopher Pang". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  16. ^ "'Crazy Rich Asians' Adds Awkwafina". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  17. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (20 August 2018). "Danny Pudi Set For 'Babysplitters'; 'Crazy Rich Asians' Star Chris Pang Joins Osric Chau In 'Empty By Design'". Deadline. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  18. ^ Kroll, Justin (23 October 2018). "'Charlie's Angels' Reboot Adds Nat Faxon, Chris Pang (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  19. ^ Petski, Denise (12 June 2019). "Jason Katims' Amazon Pilot Sets Series-Regular Cast". Deadline. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  20. ^ Shafer, Ellise (16 June 2020). "Andy Samberg Gets Stuck in an Infinite Time Loop in 'Palm Springs' Trailer". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Tomorrow When the War Began Now Casting for TV". Moviepilot. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  22. ^ "Citizen Jia Li". If Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  23. ^ Grobar, Matt (5 October 2021). "Desmond Chiam, Alexander Hodge & Chris Pang Board Adele Lim Comedy From Lionsgate & Point Grey". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Best Actor Chris Pang (Citizen Jia Li)". Asians On Film. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  25. ^ Nash, Brad (28 November 2019). "Chris Pang Is GQ's Breakthrough Actor Of The Year For 2019". GQ. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020.
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