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.

Big news on the morning news shows as Juju Chang will be replacing Chris Cuomo on ABC’s “Good Morning America” as the newsreader. Juju Chang would become the first Korean-American to be in a prominent role in the morning news shows. She will be joining George Stephanapolous, Robin Roberts and weatherman Sam Champion as the new “GMA” team. That’s diversity people! Love it! So who is Juju Chang? Check out her bio from the ABC News website.

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Juju Chang is a New York-based, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News’ “20/20,” “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.” She also posts a weekly Web log called “JUJUJUGGLE” about work, motherhood and the madness of everyday living.

Chang recently won another Emmy for her breaking news coverage of California wildfires. She has previously won a prestigious Gracie award for a “20/20″ story on “Women and Science,” a profile of transgender neurobiologist Ben Barres. Her other stories include an hourlong look at the long-term impact of foreign adoptions through the eyes of one American family and an inspirational advocate who champions their cause.

Chang has also recently reported on the case of Hannah Overton, a mother who is spending life in prison for the salt-poisoning death of her foster son, Andrew Burd.

She has reported for Nightline about lead poisoning in toys and trinkets, the Heparin tainting scandal and the in vitro fertilization industry.

Chang has also won a Gracie for a story about judicial activism on PBS’ “Now,” and a Freddie for a series she hosted — also for PBS — called “The Art of Women’s Health.”

From 1999 to 2000, she anchored the early morning newscasts of ABC News’ “World News Now” and “World News This Morning.” From 1998 to 1999, Chang reported primarily for “World News Tonight,” covering such stories as the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya, Hurricane George and the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Chang was based in Washington, D.C., from 1996-97, where she covered the White House, Capitol Hill, and the 1996 presidential election for NewsOne, ABC’s affiliate news service.

Prior to her assignment in Washington, she was a reporter for KGO-TV in San Francisco from 1995-96, where she covered a variety of state and local issues.

Between 1991 and 1995, Chang served as a producer and off-air reporter for “World News Tonight.”

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Chang graduated with honors from Stanford University with a BA in political science and communication. At Stanford, she was awarded the Edwin Cotrell Political Science Prize. She is married to Neal Shapiro and has three sons. She’s a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a founding board member of the Korean American Community Foundation.

Big bummer for Korean-American actor Daniel Henney who was a co-star on the CBS medical drama “Three Rivers,” which got cancelled this past week. The TV show about organ transplant doctors in the Pittsburgh area had a tough time slot, going up against NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Of course they were trying to appeal to the female demographic since all the men would be watching football, but initial low ratings compounded by waning interest only made it an obvious candidate for getting cut. To bad for Daniel Henney who made a splash this past summer as Agent Zero in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and looked like he was on the rise with a network TV show. I guess you win some and you lose some. Well, his very promising career won’t be curtailed. He could always return to South Korea where he was a star in Korean dramas or he could continue to pursue Hollywood. He certainly has the talent because not to many people, especially Asian, get a big role in a summer blockbuster movie and a network TV show. Doesn’t that sound like John Cho (Star Trek & FlashForward)? We hope to see Daniel Henney sooner than later in another Hollywood movie or TV show.

Our friends at DramaFever.com took the liberty to select their top ten leading men in Korean dramas.  Drum roll please!  They are Lee Seung Gi, Jang Geun Seuk, Yoon Sang Hyun, Bae Soo Bin, Jung Il Woo, Cha Seung Won, Jung Joon Ho, Oh Ji Ho, Park Hae Jin, and Kim Bum.

Can’t say we’ve seen a drama that each of these men have been in but they all seem worthy of the DramaFever honor.  Who do you think is deserving to be on this list?

Nice pickup by our friends at Angry Asian Man on Jenna Ushkowitz singing the 80′s hit “True Colors” on the TV show Glee. Jenna is an adopted Korean girl from New York who’s now belting it out on Fox’s new hit TV show.

Here’s a snippet of her auditions for Glee.

Catharina Lee of Washington D.C. was one of the ten girls competing to become a Victoria Secret runway model, but she was eliminated from the Victoria’s Secret Boot Camp competition because she was nervous and couldn’t nail the sitting down pose.  She was seen on Tuesday night on CBS as they showed the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which interlaced scenes from the Boot Camp competition.  It was pretty cool that a first generation Korean-American girl competed in such a high profile event.  What’s with Koreans modeling lately?  There’s been a couple of Korean-American contestants on America’s Next Top Model and now Victoria’s Secret.

Catharina is a first generation Korean-American who was raised in a very traditional Korean home in Washington, D.C. Her strict upbringing brought out her “bad girl” when she was younger, but at 20, she’s moved past her rebellious ways and is focusing on her future. She’s currently studying Communications at George Mason University. These days, the 5-foot-9-inch former-rebel would rather act out on the runway. According to Catharina, she can easily beat out her competition. Will the other aspiring Angels prove her wrong?

Victoria’s Secret held open casting events in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago to give the country’s most beautiful women a chance to be the next Victoria’s Secret Runway Angel. Starting with 10 finalists staying in The District, a luxury condo building in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district, the girls are competing in a series of challenges to prove their abilities as a spokesmodel and show off their red carpet star quality while walking a runway in lingerie.

Jennifer An was one of the first contestants to be under 5’7″ on America’s Next Top Model and she almost won it by outlasting almost everyone in the competition until this past week when she was finally eliminated.  Damn!  The girl from Philly who stands a tall 5’5″ got great reviews throughout the competition and she also happened to be the oldest contestant (23 yo).  A couple years back, she wrote to Tyra Banks, asking her to allow girls under 5’7″ to be considered for the show and Jennifer An became the first to do so and she almost won it!  We wish her the best as she pursues her career in New York City.

You can see an interview she did with her hometown (Philly) TV network.

In previous columns and articles, we had kept mentioning the increasing numbers of Koreans (from South Korea or Korean-American) breaking into Hollywood and it looks like Newsweek has taken notice of this trend as well.  In an article titled “Korea Takes Hollywood,” Newsweek magazine (issue dated November 16) writes about the increasing importance of Korea as a new or emerging market for Hollywood because at the end of the day, it’s always about the money.  However, it does go beyond money and they’ve also noticed the talent pool of actors and directors.   Most recently, Koreans have penetrated Hollywood with significant roles like John Cho in Star Trek and FlashForward and Lee Byung Hun in G.I. Joe.  How about leading roles?  Kpop star RAIN will be the first Korean to be in the lead role of a major Hollywood studio film in the upcoming “Ninja Assassin,” and the cast includes other Koreans: Sung Kang and Rick Yune. On a side note, we’ll be at a private screening for Ninja Assassin and meeting up with RAIN later this week.

So what’s the challenge?  It goes both ways as the article illustrates.  To many Asian actors are typecast for martial art flicks.  And for the Korean actors, it’s a risk to come to Hollywood, even though it’s the biggest entertainment market in the world.  Those risks include alienating themselves from the South Korean market and losing out on opportunities,  as well as losing creative freedoms which potentially could be limited by big Hollywood studios.  There are certainly risks but more importantly, the Korean wave is continuing and people are noticing.

For our articles on the  Korean wave, you can check out a few past articles.

• Koreans Own Thursday Night TV
• Why are there more male actors?
• Korean Wave Into Hollywood

For the full Newsweek article, click here.

Kimchi made its morning show debut on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and the famed chef David Chang showing how he makes his version of kimchi.  David is out and about promoting his “Momofuku: The Cookbook”, which was published this week. If you would like the Napa Cabbage Kimchi recipe we featured early this week, click here.

Maybe there is diversity in Hollywood?  It was announced today that Korean-American Justin Chon (of Twilight fame) will be recognized with the Male Nova Award at the Multicultural Motion Picture Assn.’s 17th annual Diversity Awards on Nov. 22nd at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Also receiving an award will be the cast of Fox’s “Glee”, which will be presented the Favorite New Television Cast Ensemble Award.  It co-stars Korean adoptee Jenna Ushkowitz.

The event will also honor NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” as Favorite New Comedy Ensemble; CBS’ “NCSI: Los Angeles” as Favorite New Television Action Drama; ABC Family’s “Lincoln Heights” as Favorite Family Drama Ensemble Cast; and HBO as the 2009 Diversity Programming Network.

Congrats Justin Chon!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter