Brian Tee is a real-deal bonafide pop culture super star! Brian is best known for his breakout role DK, the young brash, egotistical antagonist in Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) film. He is also known from his other big screen role in James Mangold’s The Wolverine (2013) starring Hugh Jackman. Tee played Noburo Mori, the sadisticly conniving minister of justice who was arranged to marry the daughter of Yakuza Boss, Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada). You remember, the guy who Wolverine tossed over the balcony into a pool conveniently located many floors below.
Since 2000, Brian Tee has been in countless TV series including Without a Trace (2002), Grey’s Anatomy (2005), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Crash and Burn Notice (2007). On July 20, 2015, Tee signed on to co-star in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med.
Brian Tee has also had a solid, respectable career so far in his Hollywood life, appearing in many small but highly memorable roles in other major films like Austin Powers: Goldmember, Godzilla and Jurassic World, but things are about to get even bigger as the Okinawa-born actor turned American success story is about to take on his biggest role yet!
In April 2015, it was officially announced that actor Brian Tee was cast as the villain in the highly anticipated 2016 sequel, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.”
PopCultHQ was able to speak with actor Brian Tee at this year’s very first Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Chicago. Here is what Brian Tee had to tell us about his upcoming new role!
PopCultHQ: What new projects is Brian Tee going to be working on?
Brian Tee: I will be playing the part of “Shredder” in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
PopCultHQ: That’s very cool! So this is an all new look for the character isn’t it? There was another actor before correct?
Brian Tee: Yes. They brought me on to add more of a face to the character of “Shredder.”
PopCultHQ: So now we get to see and learn much more of Shredder and his background I take it?
Brian Tee: Absolutely. A lot more of his story will come out in this one.
PopCultHQ: I hope the uniform is looking better with a lot less of the crazy out-of-control looking blades going on?
Brian Tee: (smiles) A whole new look. Completely different and more practical. It will allow for better movement.
PopCultHQ: Thank you very much Brian, we are very happy and excited to see your work in TMNT2
Brian Tee: I am very excited as well. Thank you.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”:
Science fiction action comedy film, directed by Dave Green and written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters. It is the sequel to 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and stars Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, Brian Tee, Tyler Perry, Brittany Ishibashi, Laura Linney and William Fichtner. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 3, 2016 in 3D, RealD 3D and 4DX.
Brian Tee was born in Okinawa, Japan, to a Japanese father and a Korean mother. He moved to Hacienda Heights, California, when he was two. Tee was a star football captain at his Glen A. High School. During high school, he worked at Blackjack Pizza, where fellow Hacienda resident Fergie frequently visited. After completing his training in Dramatic Arts at the University of California in Berkeley, he was ready to embark on his acting career. It began in 2000, mostly with work in television, on series such as The Pretender (1996), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and Family Law (1999). Brian began his film work with a short called Remember Pearl Harbor (2002). Next he appeared in We Were Soldiers (2002), followed that same year with a more high profile movie, the comedic spy flick Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). He also appeared in a brief role as a radio corporal in the Sci-Fi video sequel Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004).
Tee’s starring role as the lead villain “DK, the Drift King,” in Universal Pictures’ The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), directed by Justin Lin. Tee gave a comedic performance in Lin’s next film, Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee (2007), as the Vietnam Vet “Mac Chang.” He appeared with his Starship Troopers 2 cast mate Jason-Shane Scott in the survival thriller Deadland (2009).
Between films, Tee’s television credits expanded to include work on The Unit (2006), Without a Trace (2002), Grey’s Anatomy (2005), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) and Burn Notice (2007). He was a series regular playing “EMT Eddie Choi” in “Crash”, a Starz TV series based on the Academy Award winning film. He also recurred on NBC’s Grimm, playing the assassin “Akira Kimura.”
Tee returned to the stage in Snow Falling on Cedars, at the prestigious Hartford Stage. He had a role in 20th Century FOX’s blockbuster The Wolverine (2013), with Hugh Jackman and directed by James Mangold. Tee also starred in the highly anticipated Season 2 of “Mortal Kombat: Legacy”, where he took on the role of the iconic character “Liu Kang”.
Brian 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)
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Lisa DiSante-Frank and The 7th Scribe
– Photo Credits: IMDB.com
– Interview opportunity provided courtesy of Heroes & Villains FanFest
