Hi, I’m Leo.
On the set of Forces of Destiny, my first indie film, with Roberto Mantica (right). I get killed by zombies…
My acting story probably began when I was just a little kid. I used to love playing pretend with my brother, especially Harry Potter and Star Wars. We had some crazy lightsaber fights, let me tell you. But anyway, the first real theatre class I took was in 10th grade, and I immediately fell in love with it. Here’s a shout out to you, Mr. Lee!
When I went to Northwestern University for college, I majored in Economics to follow the typical “Asian” track, but I still rebelled a bit and chose to minor in theatre. I also did some plays here and there with Northwestern students, such as Othello, A Midnight’s Dream (adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Ubu Roi, as well as a student-produced web series called Carpe Diem. But after graduating from college, I went the typical career route and ended up at an executive search firm, where I worked for two-and-a-half years. While the people there were great and I enjoyed the job, I couldn’t get rid of the acting itch.
So, a few months into my job, I started taking acting and improv classes at The Second City. I eventually graduated from their intro acting courses and got accepted into their Acting Lab, where I studied for 6 months under Michael Pieper and a beautiful ensemble of some of my favorite people. During my acting studies, I did some short plays with some of the Second City students, such as the sketch A Cold One with the Boys.
Shortly after the Lab, in the fall of 2018, I found representation with Big Mouth Talent. They’re fantastic, and I’m still with them today. Recently, I’ve been in Forces of Destiny (indie film), Afraid of Asians and Ashes (student films). I’ve also been involved with a couple of staged readings for plays specifically written for Asian actors, and I’m really grateful and proud to have been a part of those: Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon (Steppenwolf) and Swan Soong (Zhou B. Arts Center).
On top of acting, I am also an aspiring writer and producer.
As of June 2019, I’ve just started at The Academy at Black Box Acting. There will be a showcase in October 2019, and I can’t wait!