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Kenneth "Ken" Leung (born January 21, 1970) is an American actor best known for his roles in Lost, Shanghai Kiss, Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and the Saw franchise.

He played Detective Steven Sing in the first Saw film.

Early Life[]

Ken Leung was born in New York City and raised in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His family moved to Midwood, Brooklyn, where he grew up before finishing high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

Leung later attended New York University as a University Scholar. He studied acting with Catherine Russell and Nan Smithner and briefly with Anne Jackson at HB Studio. During this time, he mainly performed in downtown spaces and black box theaters, working with groups such as the Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Perspectives, and STAR, a traveling group of actors and educators based at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Career[]

In 1995, Leung debuted in the drama Pictures of Baby Jane Doe. Later, in 1998, he appeared as the villainous henchman Sang in Brett Ratner's Rush Hour. Ratner stated, "[Leung]'s a great actor. In my opinion, he's equivalent to Philip Seymour Hoffman as far as talent is concerned." Later, he worked with Ratner in Red Dragon, The Family Man, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Edward Norton cast Leung in his directorial debut Keeping the Faith in 2000. According to The Washington Post, Norton said Leung's "showstopping performance [...] turned a throwaway scene into one of the film's best." Impressed with his acting skills, Norton said that Leung would be appropriate for a role in Hamlet or Osborne's Look Back in Anger: "You sense hidden levels within him, and he conveys an intensity of mind. I don't think anybody's tapped his full range yet." Additionally, Leung has appeared in several independent and television films and features, including four films with Brett Ratner and two movies with Spike Lee. In 1998, he played James the Less and God in Terrence McNally's passion play, Corpus Christi, and in 2002 made his Broadway debut in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

In 2007, he starred in the independent film Shanghai Kiss with Hayden Panettiere and earned a Special Mention at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. That same year, he guest-starred in the final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos. He followed this with the ABC drama Lost as Miles Straume from the series' fourth season.

Filmography[]

Films[]

Year Title Role
1995 Welcome to the Dollhouse Barry
Pictures of Baby Jane Doe Shopkeeper
1997 Red Corner Peng
Kundun
1998 Rush Hour Sang
Fly Jeremy Kim
1999 Man of the Century Mike Ramsey
2000 Keeping the Faith Don
Home Sweet Hoboken
Maze Dr. Mikao
The Family Man Sam Wong
2001 Artificial Intelligence: AI Syatyoo-Sama
Spy Game Li
Vanilla Sky Art Editor
2002 Face Willie
Red Dragon Lloyd Bowman
2004 Saw Detective Steven Sing
2005 The Squid and the Whale School Therapist
2006 Inside Man Wing
East Broadway Ming
X-Men: The Last Stand Kid Omega
2007 Shanghai Kiss Liam Liu
Year of the Fish Johnny
2010 Works of Art John Kim
2015 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens Admiral Statura
2021 Old Jarin
2023 Missing Kevin

Television Series[]

Year Title Role
1997 New York Undercover David Kwan
2000 Wonderland
Deadline Fung
2001 Oz Bian Yixue
1995-2002 Law & Order Tommy Wong / Stephen Wong / Forensic Technician Chung
2004 Whoopi Terrence
The Jury Ken Arata
2007 The Sopranos Carter Chong
2008-2010 Lost Miles Straume
2011 The Good Wife Shen Yuan
2013 Deception Donald Cheng
Zero Hour Father Reggie
2012-2013 Person of Interest Leon Tao
2014-2016 The Night Shift Dr. Topher Zia
2017 Inhumans Karnak
2019 The Blacklist AUSA Michael Sima
2019-2020 High Maintenance Gene
2020-2022 Industry Eric Tao
2023 Strange Planet Bartender
2022-2023 Pantheon Bai Fu / Lieutenant / Protestor
2024 Avatar: The Last Airbender Commander Zhao
2023-2024 Velma Darren

Television Films[]

Year Title Role
2004 Strip Search Liu Tsung-Yuan
Sucker Free City Lincoln Ma
2005 Hate Mo
2011 Big Mike Bernie Li
2012 Susan 313 Gene

Gallery[]

External Links[]

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