East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

By Alice Suh

It’s hard to believe, but some of today’s most glamorous actors were once diffident and socially awkward. Whether they were band geeks, class clowns, wallflowers or drama buffs, not many actors can attest to being the cool kid in high school … well, not unless you’re actor Brian Tee.

“In my high school, it was kind of the geeks or Goth kids that were in drama and I wanted no part of that,” Tee says.

Or so he thought.  Little did Tee know that a general education course in college would steer him on an unexpected path toward his future career.  

The 28-year-old actor of Korean and Japanese descent first heard his “calling” when he enrolled in a general theater class for non-majors at Cal State Fullerton.  Like most college students, Tee had no idea what he wanted to do in life and briefly entertained the idea of pursuing football or even going into law. 

It wasn’t until Tee signed up for an informal acting class that he realized that the one club he had avoided the most in high school was where he belonged the most.

“It changed my life …  Call it the bug or call it the light.  I just saw what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Tee says.  

He transferred schools and studied theater at UC Berkeley and upon graduation wasted no time moving to Los Angeles. He made the obligatory rounds working as a waiter/bartender and auditioned tirelessly for various projects that were often unpaid and student-produced.  None of it mattered for Tee, though. He was determined to find work in Hollywood.

 “He stands out from other actors in general because he has a very overt, generous spirit, positive energy and an intense work ethic,” Josh Diamond, acting consultant for the latest “The Fast and the Furious,” says.

And so it wasn’t long before Tee started earning credibility and making guest appearances on TV shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Without a Trace,” as well as supporting roles in “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and “Fun with Dick and Jane.”

This summer, Tee will make his biggest commercial debut playing the “bad guy” in the third installment of “The Fast and the Furious.” Although his character is not supposed to be a one-dimensional villain, Tee admits that playing the bad guy can be tricky for Asian American actors who often find themselves typecast.  According to Tee, this seems to be less of an issue for Asian American actresses.

“I think that Asian women are looked upon as very sexy and sex sells and that opens up a lot more doors … but for Asian men, we’re not looked upon as sexy or manly or anything like that.  We’re either mean or tough or nerdy, passive aggressive guys,” Tee says. 

Tee believes such stereotypes can be partly attributed to the fact that Asian American actors are often still viewed as foreigners. The success of international stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li who have used their martial arts expertise to break into the American market is in many ways reflective of how much of the public still tends to view Asian Americans as a whole.

But Tee says there has been progress, and he is optimistic that his work will speak for itself, regardless of what he looks like.

“Brian is a good actor, period” Amanda Cohen, co-producer for “The Fast and the Furious,” says “whether he’s an Asian American or not.”

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