Grace Park has been cast for the new television remake of “Hawaii Five-O.”  Grace Park will play Kono Kalakaua, the neice of Detective Chin Ho Kelly – a role filled by LOST actor Daniel Dae Kim.  According to Hollywood Reporter, Kono is a “beautiful and smart champion surfer who is about to graduate from the police academy when McGarrett recruits her to join his team.”  It’s good to see the beautiful Grace Park back on television.  She had a great stint on Battlestar Galactica where she built a great following.

It looks like Daniel Dae Kim is staying in Hawaii after the final season of LOST is finished because he has been cast in a lead role for the CBS remake of Hawaii Five-O.  Kim will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a role played in the original series by Kam Fong.

The new “Hawaii Five-0″ hails from hot feature writers and “Fringe” co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and “CSI: NY” executive producer/co-showrunner Peter Lenkov.

Kim, who played Jin Kwon on “Lost” for its six-season run, is the first actor from the show’s core cast to book a new series project this pilot season as the ABC mystery drama heads to its May finale.

Getting key “LOST” players to do pilots this season is proving tricky as ABC’s drama doesn’t wrap its final season until April. In Kim’s case, it helped that both “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O” are filming in Hawaii.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Comedian and actress Margaret Cho will join the cast of CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” starting February 5.  She will play Professor Avery Grant.

“Ghost Whisperer” follows Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character of Melinda Gordon- a woman who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. While trying to live as normal a life as possible, Melinda helps them pass over to the other side by working as an owner of an antique store, sometimes dealing with people who push her away, and disbelieve her ability. The show was created by John Gray and is produced by Sander/Moses Productions, in association with ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios.

Margaret Cho has performed nationwide with one-woman shows including “I’m the One That I Want,” “Notorious C.H.O,” “Revolution,” “State of Emergency,” and “Assassin.” On screen, she has played John Travolta’s FBI colleague in the action movie “Face/Off.” On television, she appears as Terri – assistant to lawyer Jane Bingham – on Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.

“Ghost Whisperer” airs on CBS Friday’s at 8 pm EST.

Source: Broadway World

Wired Magazine interviewed Justin Chon and speaks out against violence against Asian women in the United States and of course he talks about the Twilight series.  He notes how the Asian culture is very quiet and that there may be many Asian women who are not speaking up about possible domestic violence.

What if all it took to help a charity raise $1 million was a simple online vote? Would you help then? The Center for the Pacific Asian Family hopes so, as the nonprofit competes with 99 other charities in the Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook.

CPAF, which helps Asian Pacific Islanders who have been victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, has lined up some impressive supporters for its star-powered public service announcements, including actor Justin Chon from the Twilight films. Other CPAF supporters include John Cho (Star Trek), Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Aaron Yoo (21, Disturbia), Archie Kao (CSI), Joe Hahn (Linkin Park) and Lisa Ling (Oprah).

The Chase Community Giving contest, with its social media angle and the involvement of so many celebrities, is a great way to get some attention to organizations like Center for the Pacific Asian Family, which runs a 24-hour support line, emergency and transitional shelters, and counseling services for victims and their families. All it takes to help out is a vote, whether it’s for CPAF or one of the other 99 charities. It won’t cost you a dime. Winners will be announced Saturday.

To find out more about CPAF and its mission, I shot off some questions to Chon. The queries were handed to a film crew that filmed the actor’s responses. Check out the video above for some firsthand insight into the charity as well as some Twilight: Eclipse tidbits for Twihards.

Oh, and what can moviegoers expect when The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the second sequel in the teen vampire series, hits theaters this summer? “You can expect it to be very similar to the book,” Chon said, “but there will be a lot more action, and a lot more lovin’ because … the guys are tryin’ to get with Bella.”

Read More http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/01/justin-chon-charity-twilight/#ixzz0dat5gt58

Source: Wired

Comedian Steve Byrne made an appearance on The Jay Leno Show on Friday night.  He’s one of those big up and coming comedians and if you land on Leno, you know you’re almost there.  If you don’t know Steve, he’s half-Irish and half-Korean which means he can outdrink anybody.

Who was the first Korean male to star in a leading role in a Hollywood film? That would be RAIN, the Korean pop star known was the Justin Timberlake of Asia. We knew he was going to be big back in 2006 when he was voted #1 to the TIME 100 poll, beating out everyone else in the world that was thrown on the ballot. Fast forward three years later and we found RAIN kicking his way into Ninja Assassin, produced by the guys who brought the Matrix Trilogy. What RAIN represents is the future of entertainment because the economics dictate such. With the advent of digital undermining the traditional Hollywood business model, Hollywood has to seek out new ways to expand their reach and better monetize their products. Asia is the new frontier, but RAIN wasn’t necessarily the first guy to build that bridge to several billion people across the Pacific for Hollywood. There was of course Jackie Chan, Jet Li and others who found themselves as the first set of Asians in co-leading roles of big budget films. It’s obvious that Hollywood is trying to identify someone who has a huge following and leveraging their fame to expand their overall reach. What RAIN has done is open the possibilities for other Koreans to venture into Hollywood and perhaps someday, well be cheering on our version of Slumdog Millionaire. Someday we’ll look back and say that guys like John Cho and RAIN were the ones who put Koreans on the Hollywood radar, and that’s why RAIN is #3 on our top ten list of most influential Korean(-Americans) for 2009.

If you happen to be celebrating Christmas in Las Vegas, then you may want to drop by Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas strip to see Korean pop sensation RAIN.  He’ll be performing two nights on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.  It’s his first concert in the United States in three years.  He’s bringing his RAINISM tour so watch out!

The Godfather of Korean-American actors is still in his 30’s but it would be safe to say that John Cho is really the guy who paved the way for many young Korean-American actors into Hollywood.  John Cho had a real breakout year.  He was Sulu in this summer’s re-ignition of the Star Trek franchise, and he also found himself in a co-starring role in ABC’s FlashForward.  That’s not just big for being a Korean-American actor, but that’s big for anyone in Hollywood: to get a co-starring role in a large scale movie franchise and then a leading role in a network television show in a single year.  I’d call that a damn good year for any actor.  And to make things real interesting, he found himself stretching the racial boundaries as the fiance of Zoey, played by Gabrielle Union.  Big props to the writer for installing a Korean-American guy in a romantic relationship with an African-American gal.  Oh and btw, just to finish off the year, John was once again named as one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive for the second year in a row.

John’s been in Hollywood for a long time and all that pounding of the pavement is finally paying off.  When you think of Korean-Americans at the forefront of Hollywood, John Cho is probably the first guy that comes to mind.  He’s come a long way from being the guy who said “MILF” in American Pie and smoked pot in his pursuit of White Castle burgers in Harold & Kumar.  He’s really made it in Hollywood and has become truly recognized.  There’s a good number of up and coming Korean-American actors in Hollywood trying to make it big, but they can all thank John Cho for being the pioneer and showing the way.  And that’s why John Cho has beamed up to #4 as one our top ten most influential Korean-Americans in 2009.

Ken Jeong became “that” guy this year.  Y’know, the guy you keep seeing in a bunch of movies but you don’t know his real name.  Ken Jeong made a huge splash in the surprise summer hit, The Hangover, when he jumped out of a car’s trunk in his birthday suit.  He kept on rolling with roles in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, All About Steve, Couples Retreat and a co-starring role as the cantankerous Senor Chang in NBC’s new show Community.  He already has a full slate of work in 2010 and the future keeps looking brighter.  This is pretty incredible for a guy who gave up medicine to pursue a career in comedy and acting. Ken was a doctor in residency down in New Orleans, but he decided to give it up to go to Hollywood.  How many Korean parents would’ve rolled their eyes if their sons or daughters said that they were going to Hollywood after having gone through medical school and residency?  Ken defied a parent’s logic and believed in his comedic abilities.  Now he’s “that” guy that cracks people up in the hilarious character roles he plays.  What Ken Jeong showed us was that even in Hollywood, you can still make it even without looking like Brad Pitt.  As long as you have dedication and talent, the dream is possible.  There are many kids out there who are doing what they’re parents want them to do because it’s the most conservative route.  Ken just showed us that you can follow your passions and beat the odds, and that’s why he’s #5 on our list of top ten most influential Korean-Americans in 2009.

Hello. This is Justin Chon from “The Twilight Saga” (you may know me better as Eric). MTV invited to interview Muse and hang back stage at KROQ’s annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concert. It was my first time being backstage at any concert, so I was extremely excited to see what it was all about. I have to say that I haven’t had that much fun in a long long time.

I left my place at around 7 p.m. and headed over the the Gibson Amphitheater. When I got there, I was able to park in the VIP area because I was with the one and only MTV.

Once I got to the event, it was absolute mayhem. There were so many people in the backstage reception area. Famous people were just perusing about like nobody’s business. I met up with the MTV crew and we started our little adventure. I saw my friend Joe Hahn from Linkin Park. Right away had a little problem because he heard me mention my favorite band was Muse. (I settled it by saying they were my second-favorite.)

Once we got inside, I was able to interview people like Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from “Superbad”), Dr. Drew, Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 and a bunch of others. However, the fun really didn’t start until I went back to where the band dressing rooms were. I ended up taking shots with Slightly Stoopid and hanging with the members of Phoenix. Chris from Vampire Weekend came up to me and asked, “Are you that guy from ‘Twilight?’” and I said yes. He then said “Let’s take a picture.” I was like, “What?! You’re the rock star!”

Later, I got to catch 311 and, at long last, Muse’s performance. They were absolutely amazing. After their set, I went backstage and there was a whole mess of people outside the dressing room trying to get a chance to talk or take a picture with them. But of course because I was with MTV, I got full access to the band and interviewed them. I was a little nervous before I went in but I did my tantric breathing and ended up being fine.

The interview went smooth as butter. After the interview was over I took a picture with them and tried not to look too excited. All in all, it was a night I won’t soon forget.