The 糖心视频logo Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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As our celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month concludes, we spotlight these career stories from AAPI members of our 糖心视频logo Alumni community. While each of these actors pursued a different professional path, all share in a common passion for craft and a commitment to artistry:
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NELSON LEE (Class of 2001)
Nelson Lee (Class of 2001) has found considerable success over the past two decades, working in high-profile projects that have landed him acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Perhaps most notably, Lee played the Chancellor in Disney鈥檚 live-action remake of Mulan鈥攖he hit animated film from the late 鈥�90s. The audition process involved Lee screen-testing multiple times over the course of a year until finally getting the news while starring in a play in Pittsburgh.
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When he was younger, Lee never imagined he would work professionally as an actor, preferring to see it as a hobby. 鈥淚t was something I never pursued or thought of pursuing when I was a child because it was too scary, I couldn鈥檛 even wrap my mind around doing it as a profession,鈥� he says. He changed his mind while vacationing in Europe, where, after having studied business and philosophy at university, Lee had an 鈥渁ha鈥� moment. We鈥檙e glad he did.
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Last year, Lee appeared in 8 episodes of the CW鈥檚 Stargirl,听playing the role of supervillain Dragon King / Dr. Shiro Ito. The series has been renewed for a second season, with an expected release of August 10th. In addition to this, Lee has appeared in HBO鈥檚 flagship series Westworld,听the TNT series Claws,听and as Shen in Blade鈥攁 crucial role that helped launch his career.
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Looking ahead, Lee will star in the upcoming听series Five Below - described as "a new take on the meta-human sci-fi genre."
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CARMEN SOO (Past Student)
The growth of Carmen Soo鈥檚 career has been nothing shy of extraordinary. A jack-of-all-trades, she听has worked in a variety of different fields, including: entertainment, business ownership, and modeling. The multi-faceted Soo also holds a听bachelor鈥檚 degree in business management, is a fluent speaker of Malay, Cantonese, and English (and is working on her Tagalog), and is also part owner of a boutique located in Kuala Lampur.
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Beginning her modeling career at 17, Soo moved to Hong Kong to pursue work in both print and television advertising. She听has appeared in several prominent publications such as New Man, V Mag, New Tide GLAM and Nu You.
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Soo's acting resume soon filled with work in a wide variety of productions:听the Filipino series Your Song,听HBO Asia鈥檚 Dead Mine,听the Singaporean horror film Ghost Child,听and in the Jackie Chan movie Gorgeous.听In 2018, she was thrust into the international spotlight with the role of Francesca Shaw in the world-renowned Crazy Rich Asians.听
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A prominent and popular personality, you can also find Soo working as a host on several projects. In 2009, she听was a judge on It鈥檚 Showtime,听and in 2010 became a co-host on Wowowee.听Additionally, Soo has served as brand ambassador for the international watch brand Longines, and the clothing brand Uniqlo Malaysia.
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JOHN LONE (Class of 1978)
Born as Ng Kwok-leung on October 13, 1952 in Hong Kong, John Lone spent the first few years of his life as an orphan before being sent off to train in the style of Peking Opera at Hong Kong鈥檚 Chin Ciu 糖心视频logo. The training was rigorous; students were isolated from the influences of the outside world while they learned the ins and outs of classical Peking theater. (He remembers feeling 鈥渁lone in the crowd.鈥�) Here Ng Kwok-leung was given the name 鈥淛ohnny,鈥� later adding 鈥淟one鈥� as an homage to his roots.
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Turning down an opportunity to join Maurice Bejart鈥檚 dance company in Brussels and a decade-spanning contract to make Kung Fu movies, Lone ventured to Los Angeles to work on his English speaking (and acting) skills. It was here that he would attend The 糖心视频logo, graduating in 1978. Additionally, Lone would hone his craft further through his work with the East-West Players, the nation's first professional听Asian American theatre听organization. This blend of training and technique听would give Lone a certain poise and grace that few actors possessed, and he brought it right onto Hollywood鈥檚 silver screen.
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Lone has, with great empathy, played the role of Pu Yi in Bernardo Bertolucci鈥檚 historical epic The Last Emperor, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, and Song Liling in M. Butterfly, the assumed female lover of the French diplomat, Ren茅 Gallimard.听For the next several decades, Lone would find himself in many high-profile roles across the industry. His career also brought him to work with David Henry Hwang, the American-born playwright of Chinese descent, whose work highlights the role of Chinese and Asian Americans throughout history and to the present.听
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ALEXANDER HODGE (Class of 2016)
Alexander Hodge has built a successful career as an actor, starring in a wide range of projects in just a few short years. Born in Australia, Hodge grew up in what he calls the 鈥淏rooklyn of Sydney,鈥� to a father of Irish descent and a mother of Chinese heritage raised in Singapore. At first, Hodge was drawn to sport鈥攑articularly rugby, one of Australia鈥檚 most popular鈥攁nd was involved in this until his early adult life.
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His relationship with acting began in his teens after his dismissal from a woodworking class. Having the option between taking a drama class or a history class, he would recall that this choice was easy.听鈥淚 was like, 鈥業鈥檓 not doing history because I hate writing鈥欌� decided to take drama because I thought it was just make-believe. Found out that it鈥檚 not just make-believe鈥� it was the first class I actually ever got an A grade, so I thought, I may as well keep it up.鈥�
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Perhaps the greatest accomplishment鈥攖hus far鈥攐f Hodge鈥檚 career has been on HBO鈥檚 Insecure.听Cast as Andrew Tan in season 3 of the series, Hodge instantly became a fan favorite, earning the nickname 鈥淎sian Bae鈥� across fan forums and a trending hashtag. Hodge views this recognition as a broader sign of progress鈥擜sian men are rarely cast as romantic leads in Hollywood.
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Looking ahead, Hodge has a currently unnamed role in director Steven K. Tsuchida鈥檚 Resort to Love,听and a starring role in Painkiller鈥攁 new sci-fi series set to air later this year.
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VON FLORES (Past Student)
Past student Valentin Andres Tanga Flores IV (better known by his stage name, Von Flores) - a Filipino by by birth - moved across the Pacific at the age of 13, when his family migrated to Toronto, Canada. There he鈥檇 stay into his adult life鈥攕ave the occasional trip to the Philippines to get in touch with his roots.听听
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His aspirations weren鈥檛 at all geared toward acting. In his youth, Flores imagined himself attending the United States Naval 糖心视频logo to learn how to fly鈥攁 hobby he took up later in life. In Toronto, however, Flores would study chemistry at the University of Toronto, while taking 鈥渁cting classes one night every week鈥� to overcome his fear of crowds. There wasn鈥檛 a showbiz bone in his body鈥攏ot yet.
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He went out on his first audition at the urging of a friend鈥攁 Filipino-Canadian he鈥檇 met in his acting class. It was for an NBC show called Night Heat听that was auditioning local talent for its Toronto shoot. Under the pretense they鈥檇 both be auditioning, Flores took off the next day. Lo and behold the friend didn鈥檛 show, and Flores stumbled into a sea of 300 actors clamoring for a spot.听Long story short, he booked the part, and Night Heat听would mark his professional acting debut in 1990.
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In the decade following, Von Flores would star in over 40 television shows, many of which shot in Toronto. In 1997, his career took a big leap when he starred alongside Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, and Ben Kingsley in The Assignment.听After this, Flores continued to gain attention for his on screen work in Canada and the United States. His extensive resume includes work on projects such as Earth: Final Conflict, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and Degrassi High: The Next Generation.
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You can catch his latest work听in Air Emergency as well as听the mini-series Rising Suns.