Christine Ko

This article is about the actress. For the rapper, see Miss Ko.

Christine Ko
Born	1988 (age 35–36)[1] Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Georgia State University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present
Father	Frankie Kao
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	葛曉潔
Simplified Chinese	葛晓洁
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gé Xiǎojié Wade–Giles Ko^2 Hsiao^3-chieh^2

Christine Ko (born 1988) is an American actress, known for her roles as Emma on the CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, Mandi on Upload and Emma on Dave. Before her success in America, she had a brief career in Taiwan in the early 2010s.^[2]

Early life

Ko was born in Chicago and grew up in both Taiwan and Atlanta. She is the daughter of legendary Taiwanese entertainer Frankie Kao.^[3] Ko initially pursued a career in finance before transitioning to acting.^[4]

Career

Ko has discussed the issue of limited roles for Asian American actors in the United States. Her role on The Great Indoors was originally written for a blond woman, but Ko's agent was able to get her an audition. After her audition, the producers changed their original idea of Emma's appearance. Ko said, "I think that's true diversity. You're just like everybody else. You just look Asian... It's the norm and how we all live. We just haven't seen it in Hollywood yet."^[5][6]

Ko joined the cast of the television series Hawaii Five-0 part way into its eighth season.^[7] She also guest-starred in the HBO comedy series Ballers.^[5][6][8] She starred on the FXX series Dave alongside Dave Burd.^[9]

In 2021, she starred alongside Canadian singer Justin Bieber in the music video of his song "Hold On".^[10][11]

In 2022 she joined the cast of The Handmaid's Tale (TV series).^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
2017	The Jade Pendant	May
2018	Grandmother's Gold	Mona
2019	Extracurricular Activities	Amy
2020	Tigertail	Angela
	Blinders	Sam
2024	Mabel	Angela

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Hollywood Heights	Brenda	2 episodes
2015	Ballers	Anna	Episode: "Saturdaze"
2016–2017	The Great Indoors	Emma	Series regular
2017	Adam Ruins Everything	Tiffany	Episode: "Adam Ruins the Hospital"
2018	Hawaii Five-0	Jessie Nomura	Recurring role; 6 episodes
	Deception	Vivian Song	Episode: "Divination"
2019	No Good Nick	Ms. Chang	2 episodes
2020	Stumptown	Cameron Dorsey	Episode: "All Quiet On The Dextern Front"
2020–2023	Dave	Emma	Series regular
2020	Upload	Mandi	Recurring role
2021	Master of None	Ashley	1 episode
	Sweet Pecan Summer	Amanda	Hallmark Channel
	Just Beyond	Ms. Fausse	Episode: "Unfiltered"
2022	Only Murders in the Building	Nina Lin	Recurring role
	The Handmaid's Tale	Lily

Personal life

Ko is engaged to Parks & Recreation writer and producer Alan Yang.^[13][14]

References

1. Reynolds, Maggie (2021-09-29). "Christine Ko on Mastering the Art of Deadpan and Lil Dicky's Nickname for Her". Men's Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
2. 《家有4千金》葛曉潔戲劇處女秀 低胸性感迎寒流 高凌風探班餵湯圓過冬至. Taiwan Television (in Chinese). 2010-12-23. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02.
3. "高凌風在天上笑了 女兒葛曉潔主演美劇 | 即時新聞 | 20161026 | 蘋果日報". 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2017-03-05.
4. "'Tigertail' Star Christine Ko Went From Finance to Acting + Never Looked Back". Retrieved 2024-08-01.
5. "Christine Ko as Emma". CBS. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
6. "'You Get One Shot': Actress Christine Ko Is Ready For Her Network TV Close-Up". NBC News. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
7. "We are very excited to welcome Christine Ko to our ohana! She'll make her Hawaii Five-0 debut on January 19!". CBS. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
8. "The Great Indoors Star Christine Ko Shares Her Haute LA Secrets". Haute Living. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
9. Dave, retrieved 2020-03-04
10. Everington, Keoni (2021-03-16). "Taiwanese-American actress stars in Justin Bieber video". Taiwan News. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
11. Shaffer, Claire; Legapsi, Althea (2021-03-05). "Justin Bieber Robs Bank to Save Partner in New 'Hold On' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
12. Porter, Rick (2022-04-05). "'The Handmaid's Tale' Adds Christine Ko for Season 5 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
13. "Christine Ko on Instagram: "12. 19. 22"". Instagram. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
14. Zhang, Qundong (2022-12-28). "高凌风爱女点头嫁了！ 葛晓洁秀无名指钻戒甜蜜拥吻帅导演". China Times. Retrieved August 21, 2023.

External links

• Christine Ko at IMDb
• Christineko.com