Jamie Chung

Jamie Chung
Chung at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Knife Fight
Born
Jamie Jilynn Chung

(1983-04-10) April 10, 1983 (age 41)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Riverside (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2015)​
Children2
WebsiteOfficial website
Korean name
Hangul
정지린[1]
Revised RomanizationJeong Jirin
McCune–ReischauerChŏng Chirin[2]

Jamie Jilynn Chung (Korean: 정지린; RR: Jeong Jirin: born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series The Real World: San Diego and subsequently through her appearances on its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II. She is regarded by many as the Real World alumna with the most successful media career.[3][4]

She later transitioned into acting and has since become known for films such as Dragonball Evolution, Grown Ups, Premium Rush, Sorority Row, The Hangover Part II, Sucker Punch, and Big Hero 6 (2014). Chung received critical acclaim for her lead performance in the independent drama film Eden. Chung played the lead role in the miniseries Samurai Girl, was a series regular in the superhero drama series The Gifted (2017–19), played the recurring role of Mulan in the ABC fantasy television series Once Upon a Time, and has been a series regular as the voice of Go Go Tomago for the animated Big Hero 6: The Series (2017–21), reprising her role from the 2014 film. Beginning in August 2020, Chung appeared in the recurring role of Ji-Ah on the HBO series Lovecraft Country.

Early life

Jamie Jilynn Chung[5] was born April 10, 1983,[6][7][8] in San Francisco, California, where she grew up.[6][9] She and her older sister are second-generation Korean Americans. They were raised by "traditional" parents who moved to the United States in 1980 and ran a hamburger restaurant.[10][11] She attended Commodore Sloat Elementary School and Aptos Middle School before attending Lowell High School in the fall of 1997. After graduating from Lowell High School in 2001,[12] Chung attended and graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a B.A. in economics in 2005.[13] She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.[14]

Career

Reality television

Chung was a cast member on The Real World: San Diego, the 14th season of MTV's long-running reality TV show The Real World, which aired in 2004. At the time, MTV described her as a hard-working student who worked two jobs to pay her tuition but also enjoyed partying. She was also described by her friends as not having the best taste in men.[15]

After appearing on The Real World, Chung appeared on its spin-off game show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, as a cast member in that show's 2005 season, The Inferno II,[16] during which she was a member of the "Good Guys" team, which squared off against the "Bad Asses". By the end of the season, after several cast members had been eliminated during the competition, Chung remained, along with her teammates Darrell Taylor, Landon Lueck, and Mike Mizanin. Chung and her teammates defeated the remaining members of the Bad Asses in the final event, and won the competition.

Acting

On the cover of KoreAm, April 2009, with Joon Park
Jamie Chung at the cast of Sorority Row, January 2009

After her stint on The Real World, Chung began her acting career with various minor roles in television and films, including as Cordy Han in ten episodes of Days of Our Lives, as a Hooters girl in the 2007 comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and in episodes of CSI: NY and Veronica Mars.

One of Chung's earliest on-camera appearances was in the music video for Rihanna's single "Umbrella", as first woman to the right of Jay Z. The video premiered April 26, 2007.[17] In 2008, Chung had her first major onscreen role, as the series lead in the ABC Family television miniseries Samurai Girl.[18][19] In SFGate, her acting in this role was described as making "a promising bid for TV stardom."[20] It also claimed that the show was an attempt to add more diversity to TV shows.[20]

She had supporting roles in the 2009 feature films Sorority Row and Dragonball Evolution, in the latter as Goku's love interest, Chi-Chi, as well as the lead role in one of the segments of the film Burning Palms. Chung later starred in the Disney Channel TV film Princess Protection Program, which co-starred Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. She appeared in 2010 film Grown Ups and had a supporting role in the 2012 martial arts film The Man with the Iron Fists.

In March 2011, Chung played Amber in Zack Snyder's action fantasy film Sucker Punch, which required her to undergo physical training with Navy SEALs and work with stunt and fight choreographers who had worked on Snyder's previous films. Chung stated that she nervous about having to sing in the film: "I don't sing. I'm working on it, but just because I'm Korean doesn't mean I karaoke."[21] She then provided the voice of Aimi Yoshida in the video game X-Men: Destiny, which was released that September.[22][23]

Chung gained her first major feature film role in the 2012 film Premium Rush, directed by David Koepp.[24] That same year, she starred as the lead in the independent film Eden, in which she played a Korean American girl abducted and coerced into prostitution by American human traffickers. Since 2012, she has appeared in the recurring role of Mulan in the television series Once Upon a Time.[25]

In 2014, Chung co-starred in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which was released that August. That October saw the release of the animated Disney film Big Hero 6, in which she provided the voice of GoGo Tomago.[26] Big Hero 6 won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[27] She reprised the role in Disney XD's 2017 series Big Hero 6: The Series[28][29] and in Kingdom Hearts III (2019).

Chung and her then-fiancé, Bryan Greenberg, co-starred in the film Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, which was released in February 2015.

In March 2016, Chung was cast as attorney Lana Harris in the one-hour legal drama Miranda's Rights,[28] but the series was not picked up by NBC after the pilot episode.[30]

Chung was cast as Blink in the Fox superhero series The Gifted, which debuted in October 2017. She plays a younger version of the character played by Fan Bingbing in the 2014 feature film X-Men: Days of Future Past.[31][32]

In August 2020, Chung appeared in the HBO series Lovecraft Country. She plays the recurring character Ji-Ah, a young nurse living in Daegu during the Korean War, who falls in love with American soldier Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors). The series' sixth episode centers on Ji-Ah and garnered critical acclaim. Chung stated that this was her most challenging role to date. She added that her experience on the series inspired her to pitch her own show, which sold.[33]

In 2023, Chung voiced Vax, a freedom fighter and recurring character in My Dad the Bounty Hunter.[34][35]

Chung joined the cast of the Hulu comedy series Unprisoned in its second season, which spanned eight episodes, premiering on July 17, 2024.[36]

Other work

Chung writes for her own fashion blog, What the Chung?[37][38]

Awards and recognition

On April 2, 2009, Chung won the Female Stars of Tomorrow Award at the 2009 ShoWest industry trade show along with her Sorority Row castmates.[39][40]

At the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, Chung won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress for Eden.[41][42]

Personal life

Chung began dating actor and musician Bryan Greenberg in 2012. They became engaged in December 2013[43][44] and were married on October 31, 2015, in Santa Barbara, California.[43][45] In 2019, Chung revealed that she had started the process of oocyte cryopreservation.[46] In October 2021, she and Greenberg had twin sons who were born via surrogacy.[47]

In 2013, Chung moved to Manhattan.[48] She and Greenberg moved to Brooklyn in 2020.[49]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Hooters Girl
2009 Dragonball Evolution Chi Chi
Sorority Row Claire
Burning Palms Ginny Bai
2010 Grown Ups Amber Hilliard
2011 Sucker Punch Amber
The Hangover Part II Lauren
2012 Premium Rush Nima
The Man with the Iron Fists Lady Silk
Eden Eden
Knife Fight Kerstin
2013 The Hangover Part III Lauren Price
2014 Flight 7500 Suzy Lee
Bad Johnson Jamie
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Miho [50]
Rudderless Lisa Martin
Big Hero 6 Go Go Tomago Voice[51]
2015 A Year and Change Pam
Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong Ruby Also executive producer
2016 Flock of Dudes Katherine
Office Christmas Party Meghan
2017 Band Aid Cassandra Diabla
2018 1985 Carly
2019 DC Showcase: Death Death Voice, short film[52]
2020 Dangerous Lies Julia [53]
2021 Batman: Soul of the Dragon Jade Nguyen Voice[52]
The Misfits Violet
2023 Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part Two Black Canary / Dinah Lance Voice, direct-to-video[54][52]
2024 Junction Katie
Reunion Jasmine Park
TBA Stone Cold Fox Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Real World: San Diego Herself 28 episodes
2005 Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II Herself/Challenge Winner 17 episodes
2006 Veronica Mars Flirting Girl Episode: "Spit & Eggs"
2007 Katrina Ella TV film
ER Jin Kim Episode: "Under the Influence"
Days of Our Lives Cordy Han 10 episodes
CSI: NY Misty Episode: "One Wedding and a Funeral"
2007–2008 Greek The Tri Pi Sister / Sienna 2 episodes
2008 Samurai Girl Heavan Kogo Miniseries
2009 Castle Romy Lee Episode: "Hedge Fund Homeboys"
Princess Protection Program Chelsea Barnes TV film
2010 Grey's Anatomy Trina Paiz Episode "Adrift and at Peace"
2012–2016 Once Upon a Time Mulan[55] 12 episodes, Seasons 2–3, 5 (recurring)
2014 Believe Janice Channing 13 episodes, series regular
2015 Resident Advisors Olivia 7 episodes, series regular
2016 Gotham Valerie Vale 6 episodes; recurring role
2017–2021 Big Hero 6: The Series Go Go Tomago, additional voices Main voice role[52]
2017–2019 The Gifted Clarice Fong / Blink Series regular; 29 episodes
2019 Sherwood Rose Trefgarne Main voice role
2020 Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens Young Grandma Episode: "Grandma & Chill"
This is Us Ava Episode: "Honestly"
Lovecraft Country Ji-Ah Regular role; 6 episodes
2021 Star Wars: Visions Misa Voice, short film: Akakiri: English language dub[56][52]
2021–2022 Dexter: New Blood Molly Park[57] 7 episodes; recurring role
2023 Finding Your Roots Herself Episode: "Far From Home"
Succession Beth Episode: "Connor's Wedding"
My Dad the Bounty Hunter Vax Voice
2024 Unprisoned Kiki Guest star[58]
Batman: Caped Crusader Harley Quinn Voice[59]
Twilight of the Gods Hel Voice

Video games

Year Title Role
2009 Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising Takara
2011 X-Men: Destiny Aimi Yoshida[52]
2018 Destiny 2 – Warmind Ana Bray[60]
2019 Kingdom Hearts III Go Go Tomago[52]

References

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