Ki Hong Lee

From psychology to the concrete maze

Ki Hong Lee studied psychology at the University of California because his original plan was to become a teacher. But university theater crossed his path, and his academic plans ended up in the trash. In 2010, he landed his first episodic roles in series such as Victorious and Modern Family while working at his parents' restaurant.

It was not a bed of roses.

During those first years in Los Angeles, he had to deal with the lack of roles written specifically for Asian actors that weren't caricatures. So he decided to focus on theater and independent short films to gain the stage experience that television denied him. In 2011, he took part in the miniseries The Nine Lives of Chloe King, but the production was canceled after only ten episodes.

The Runner Who Broke the Mold

The audition for The Maze Runner in 2013 drastically changed his international profile. Playing Minho meant not only running through a computer-generated maze but also giving leadership to a character who was already the readers' favorite in James Dashner's books. He landed the role after impressing director Wes Ball with a mix of athletic ability and tense calm.

The trilogy grossed more than $948 million at the worldwide box office.

That figure pulled him out of the background of supporting roles and into global pop culture. Despite the sudden fame, he kept a low profile, focusing on projects that challenged public perceptions of his acting range.

Dong Nguyen and the Risk of Stereotyping

Tina Fey was called by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in 2015 to play Dong Nguyen. It was a tricky role because it skirted the cliché of the immigrant struggling with the language, but Lee gave him a vulnerability that disarmed specialized critics.

And the gamble paid off.

Doing physical comedy alongside Ellie Kemper allowed him to show that his range went beyond teen action films. In 2017, he appeared in the horror film Wish Upon and the Korean thriller The Mayor, deliberately seeking not to be typecast in the American industry. His goal was always to work on both sides of the Pacific without asking permission.

The Asian Market and New Formats

During 2022, he joined the cast of the Korean series Grid for Disney+, a move that strengthened his presence in the Seoul market. Before that, in 2018, he worked under Emilio Estevez on The Public, a film exploring the public library crisis in Cincinnati. In 2021, he lent his voice to the animated series Dave and continued to be involved in independent projects.

In 2023, he shot the suspense TV movie A Father’s Nightmare.

The production of his scenes for The Things They Carried was scheduled with an estimated budget of 30 million dollars for filming on locations in Southeast Asia. The international distribution deal for this film was closed during the Cannes market for a sum that was never made public.