James Kyson


James Kyson Lee is a Korean–American actor best known for his television work. One of his best known roles was Ando Masahashi on the NBC television series Heroes, and he has also made guest appearances on television series such as Hawaii Five-0, ', Sleepy Hollow, Elementary, and '.

Early life and education

Kyson was born in Seoul and moved with his family to New York City at the age of 10, where he later attended The Bronx High School of Science. He studied communications and broadcasting at Boston University and the New England Institute of Art. In 2001 Kyson bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles with the intent of entering the acting industry. He enrolled in performing arts classes at a community college while auditioning for roles and working as a SAT tutor to make ends meet.

Acting career

Kyson landed his first acting role on the hit military legal drama JAG in 2003. He landed guest roles in hit network television series The West Wing and ' amongst others before being cast as one of his more widely known roles, Ando Masahashi in the sci-fi series Heroes. The role required him to speak Japanese. He later stated that he had taken a semester of Japanese in college and did not find learning the language difficult as it was grammatically similar to Korean, which he is fluent in. Since Heroes ended, he also guest-starred on Hawaii Five-0, Justified, Animals., Sleepy Hollow, Elementary, and more recently '.
His feature films work includes the romantic comedy Another Time, the thriller The Livingston Gardener - and he will soon be seen as a mixed martial arts fighter in the upcoming action feature Banana Season.

Personal life

Kyson is married to singer and neuroscientist Jamee Kyson since 2015.

Filmography

Kyson plays basketball for "The Hollywood Knights", a charity celebrity team, and participated in Robbie Williams' "Soccer Aid" for UNICEF, at Manchester Uniteds Old Trafford in England. He is also an Ambassador for the International Organization Good Neighbors, and their "Water for Life" campaign.
Kyson represented the Rest of the World team in 2010 Soccer Aid, a British charity soccer match in aid of UNICEF.