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JIMMY O. YANG, 35
How you know him. Yang gained widespread recognition for his roles in film and TV, including Silicon Valley, the Netflix comedy series Space Force, Crazy Rich Asians, 80 for Brady, and the 2021 holiday romance Love Hard. Rally Road Racers with Chloe Bennet, J.K. Simmons, and John Cleese is now in theaters.
Where you’ll see him next? The Netflix animated adventure, The Monkey King, based on the epic Journey to the West Chinese tale, a celebrity reality show called Q Talks, the action-comedy series American Born Chinese with Michelle Yeoh, and the Hulu crime drama series Interior Chinatown.
He was recognized for his role as Justin Lin in Love Hard while on vacation in Thailand. “A 40-year-old, 50-year-old Thai lady came up to me,” says Yang. “She was like, ‘Oh my God, I loved you in that Netflix movie!’ And that was really meaningful.”
His childhood hero was Stephen Chow, an executive producer on The Monkey King. “I love all the Stephen Chow stuff like Beijing with Love—it’s a great Hong Kong movie—and Fight Back to School. And, of course, he gained international fame with Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, and things like that. I love all of that.”
-People magazine, AAPI Heritage Month