# Brian Tee

Jae-Beom Takata (高田 ジェボム, Takata Jebomu, born March 15, 1977), known professionally as Brian Tee, is an American actor. Born in Okinawa, Tee emigrated to California when he was 2 years old. He attended the University of California and began pursuing his television career. His first appearance on the small screen came in 2000 when he had a small role on the television series The Pretender. He went on to appear in the television series Entourage, Grey's Anatomy, and had a recurring role on Zoey 101. From 2015 to 2022, Tee starred in the first eight seasons of NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi.
In 2006, Tee was cast as the antagonist D.K. (Drift King) in the action film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He has since appeared in The Wolverine (2013) and Jurassic World (2015). His other films include No Tears for the Dead (2014), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), where he portrayed Shredder. In 2013, he portrayed Liu Kang in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

## Early life and education

Tee was born as Jae-Beom Takata (Japanese: 高田 ジェボム, Korean: 다카타 재범) in Okinawa Prefecture. His father was Japanese-American and his mother was from South Korea. His father was born in an internment camp during World War II. His mother was living in Japan working as a reporter.
At the age of two, he moved to Hacienda Heights, California, and was raised in Southern California. He attended Glen A. Wilson High School where he was an Associated Student Body president and captain of the football team. While in high school, he worked at Blackjack Pizza in Hacienda Heights.
Tee graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in theater and performing arts. Not long after graduating, he adopted his "culturally ambiguous" stage name Brian Tee after being rejected by a Korean director at an audition for having a Japanese last name.

## Career

Tee played Kazu, the owner of Sushi Rox, on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. He played Eddie Choi in Crash. He starred as Akira Kimura on Grimm and Takeda on Burn Notice. He appeared in the Season 4 episode "The Girl in the Mask" as Ken Nakamura on the series Bones. He played Dwayne Archimedes in the indie Feature film Roswell FM. Tee appeared in an episode in the first season of the television series Dark Blue as a Korean criminal. He has a short part in Austin Powers in Goldmember as a pedestrian who has a brief comic exchange with another man (played by Masi Oka) over the legality of calling a giant monster "Godzilla". Tee can also be seen as a contestant on an episode of Hollywood Squares hosted by Tom Bergeron. He played in 1999 against a woman named Heidi.
Tee was also in the music video "Dance Like Michael Jackson" by Far East Movement.
In James Mangold's The Wolverine (2013), starring Hugh Jackman, Tee played Noburo Mori, a sadistic minister of justice arranged to marry the daughter of Yakuza Boss Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada).
Tee took on the role of Liu Kang in the YouTube series Mortal Kombat Legacy.
One of Tee's most famous roles was as "D.K." Takashi "Drift King" in the 3rd installment of the Fast & Furious series The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Tee appeared in the television film The Gabby Douglas Story on October 18, 2013, where he played her coach Liang Chow, which aired in 2014 on Lifetime.
Tee co-starred in the 2015 film Jurassic World where he played Hamada, a high-ranking commander who works for the Asset Containment Unit (ACU).
Tee played Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the 2016 sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where the role was previously portrayed by Tohoru Masamune.
On July 20, 2015, Tee signed on to co-star in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi. He had previously appeared on its sister show Chicago P.D. as a Chinese gangster in Season 2. In October 2022, it was confirmed that Tee would be exiting Chicago Med after eight seasons.
On March 6, 2024, Tee was cast as a series regular for the third season of Reacher, which premiered in February 2025.

## Personal life

Besides English, Tee speaks fluent Japanese and proficient Korean. He is married to actress Mirelly Taylor, with whom he has a daughter born in 2015.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | What Planet Are You From? | Alien | Uncredited |
| 2002 | We Were Soldiers | PFC. Jimmy Nakayama | |
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Japanese Pedestrian | |
| 2004 | Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation | Cpl. Thom Kobe | |
| 2005 | Fun with Dick and Jane | Sushi Chef | |
| 2006 | All In | Rosenbloom Player 2 | |
| 2006 | The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift | Takashi "D.K." | |
| 2007 | Finishing the Game | Mac Chang | |
| 2008 | The Trade | Mr. Cho | |
| 2009 | Deadland | Jax | |
| 2009 | Chain Letter | Brian Yee | |
| 2009 | Wedding Palace | Jason | |
| 2013 | The Wolverine | Noburo Mori | |
| 2014 | The Gabby Douglas Story | Liang Chow | |
| 2014 | No Tears for the Dead | Chaoz | |
| 2015 | Jurassic World | Hamada | |
| 2016 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | Oroku Saki/The Shredder | |
| 2017 | The Beautiful Ones | Casper | |
| TBA | Untitled Kathryn Bigelow film † | TBA | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | The Pretender | Male Agent | Episode: "The Agent of Year Zero" |
| 2000 | The Invisible Man | Mallon | Episode: "The Value of Secrets" |
| 2000 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Intern | Episode: "Family" |
| 2001 | Family Law | DEA Agent | Episode: "Liar's Club: Part 1" |
| 2001 | 18 Wheels of Justice | Host | Episode: "The Game" |
| 2001 | The Chronicle | Neo | Episode: "Here There Be Dragons" |
| 2002 | Flipside | Lance | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2003 | JAG | North Korean Soldier | Episode: "Close Quarters" |
| 2004 | Passions | Young Asian Man | Episode: "#1.1217" |
| 2004 | Cracking Up | Frat Guy #1 | Episode: "Daddy's Home" |
| 2004 | Monk | James Lu | Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather" |
| 2004 | Tiger Cruise | MA2 Chan | Television film |
| 2005 | Without a Trace | Kirk | Episode: "Transitions" |
| 2005 | Wanted | Jin-Lee Park | Episode: "Rubbing One Out" |
| 2005–08 | Zoey 101 | Kazu | 6 episodes |
| 2006 | The Unit | Rebel Leader | Episode: "200th Hour" |
| 2006 | Entourage | Fukijama's Bodyguard | Episode: "What About Bob?" |
| 2007 | Grey's Anatomy | Andy Meltzer | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Pandemic | Danny | Miniseries |
| 2008 | Jericho | Cheung | Episode: "Patriots and Tyrants" |
| 2008–09 | Crash | Eddie Choi | 13 episodes |
| 2009 | Lie to Me | Han Yong-Dae | Episode: "Love Always" |
| 2009 | Bones | Ken Nakamura | Episode: "The Girl in the Mask" |
| 2009 | Dark Blue | Kang | Episode: "K-Town" |
| 2010 | Sym-Bionic Titan | Mike Chan (voice) | Episode: "Roar of the White Dragon" |
| 2011 | Burn Notice | Takeda | Episode: "Bloodlines" |
| 2012 | Shake It Up | Mr. Itou | Episode: "Made in Japan" |
| 2012–13 | Grimm | Akira Kimura | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | Ryu Nabushi/Hideaki Kuroda | Episode: "Kupouli 'la" |
| 2014 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Toshiro Mori | Episode: "A Fractured House" |
| 2014 | One Christmas Eve | Dr. Chen | TV movie |
| 2015 | Chicago P.D. | Jesse Kong | Episode: "The Three Gs" |
| 2015 | Baby Daddy | Tommy Kwan | Episode: "It Takes a Village Idiot" |
| 2015–25 | Chicago Med | Dr. Ethan Choi | Main role (seasons 1–8) Director: 3 episodes (seasons 8–10) |
| 2016–18 | Chicago Fire | Dr. Ethan Choi | Recurring role |
| 2016–18 | Chicago P.D. | Dr. Ethan Choi | Recurring role |
| 2018 | Lucifer | Ben Rogers | Episode: "Once Upon a Time" |
| 2021 | Star Wars: Visions | Ronin (voice) | Short film: The Duel: English language dub |
| 2024 | Expats | Clarke | Miniseries, main cast |
| 2025 | Reacher | Francis Xavier Quinn/Julius McCabe | Main role, season 3 |
| TBA | The Scapegoat † | — | Anthology series, producer |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Mortal Kombat: Legacy | Liu Kang | 4 episodes |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
| 2008 | Saints Row 2 | Jyunichi | |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Notes |
| 2006 | "Conteo" | Don Omar | |
| 2008 | "Dance Like Michael Jackson" | Far East Movement | |