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Who is Ian Chen?
American actor of Taiwanese descent, Ian Chen, was born under the zodiac sign Virgo on 7 September 2006, in Los Angeles, California USA. He has 17 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for playing Eugene Choi in the 2019 action adventure comedy movie “Shazam!”, which starred Asher Angel, Mark Strong and Zachary Levi, and was directed by David F. Sandberg. It follows a newly fostered young boy who’s searching for his biological mother, and has now developed superpowers, and the movie was nominated for 28 awards.
Ian’s currently shooting for the upcoming series “Win or Lose”.
Education and early life
Ian was raised alongside his younger brother Max in Los Angeles, by their Taiwanese immigrant parents; not many details have been shared about Ian’s family because he respects their privacy, while it’s known that both he and his brother are fluent in Mandarin.
Ian fell in love with acting at a very early age, and was seven when he made his debut TV series appearance, portraying Lily’s Friend at Cat Funeral in the 2013 episode “Larry’s Wife” of the comedy “Modern Family”, which aired from 2009 through 2020, starred Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen and Ed O’Neill, and was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. It follows the lives of three families and the series won 122 of the 506 awards for which it was nominated.
Ian still today holds the record for having appeared in more movies and TV series than any other Asian-American child actor.
He studied at a local high school, and was passionate about sports during his time there; Ian played soccer and basketball, and also enjoyed running track and playing table tennis. He matriculated in 2023, a year earlier than his peers, and then remained focused on acting rather than enrolling at college.
Roles in TV series
Ian portrayed Luca Peterson in the 2014 episode “I Must Have Lost It on the Wind” of the romantic drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, and some of his following roles were in an episode of the comedy “Dr. Ken”, another comedy “*Loosely Exactly Nicole” and the animated comedy “Family Guy” (voice role).
From 2015 through 2020, he starred as Evan Huang in all 116 episodes of the popular comedy “Fresh Off the Boat”, which starred Hudson Yang, Constance Wu and Randall Park, and was created by Nahnatchka Khan. It follows the lives of members of a Taiwanese family in the US in the ‘90s, and the series won six of its 37 award nominations.
In 2019 and 2020, he voiced Logan in five episodes of the short animated action “The Rocketeer”, which starred Frank Welker, Callan Farris and Kitana Turnbull, and was created by Nicole Dubuc; it follows a girl who’s become the new Rocketeer, and the series was nominated for five awards. The year 2021 heard Ian voice Ichiro in three episodes of the animated action adventure “Yasuke”, and from 2018 through 2022, he voiced Jonathan in 13 episodes of the animated adventure comedy “Fancy Nancy”, which Krista Tucker and Jamie Mitchell created, and which starred Mia Sinclair Jenness, Dana Heath and Alyson Hannigan. It follows a young girl who’s into fashion and the series was nominated for seven awards.
Ian’s only other TV series role has been voicing Pale Dog in two episodes of the 2023 short animated adventure “Summer Camp Island”.
Roles in movies
Ian’s debut film role was appearing in the 2017 music video “Disney Channel Stars: DuckTales Theme Song”, and the year 2019 saw him play Young Trent in the critically acclaimed adventure comedy “A Dog’s Journey”, which starred Kathryn Prescott, Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad, and was directed by Gail Mancuso. It follows a dog who’s found the meaning of its own existence, and the film was nominated for two awards.
In 2021, Ian voiced Young Din in the animated adventure comedy “Wish Dragon”, and the year 2023 saw him reprise his role as Eugene Choi in the action adventure comedy “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”; his only other film role has been playing Patrick in the 2023 short drama “FISH BOY”.
Other credits
Ian sang various songs in the series “Fresh Off the Boat” from 2015 through 2020, such as “Every Morning”, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and “The Sign”.
Some of his talk-show appearances have been in “Red Carpet Report”, “Paradise Run” and “ABC TGIF”.
Awards and nominations
Ian won a 2016 Young Entertainer Award for Best Young Ensemble Cast – Television Series and a 2016 Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Television Series, both for his and his colleagues’ performance in “Fresh Off the Boat”.
He was also nominated for a 2016 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young Actor and a 2017 Young Entertainer Award for Best Leading Young Actor 14 & Under – Television Series, also both for “Fresh Off the Boat”.
Love life and girlfriend
Ian shies away from speaking about his love life in public, and is yet to mention the girls and/or boys whom he’s perhaps been with.
While most of his fans believe that he’s currently focused on his career and isn’t pursuing love, some have claimed to have seen Ian spending time with his girlfriend in Los Angeles; it’s widely believed that the two met in high school but no evidence has been provided to support any of these claims.
There are also some who believe Ian to be gay but he’s yet to address these rumors.
Ian seems to be unattached as of October 2023, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Ian’s a huge fan of video games and some of his favorites are “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain”, “Red Dead Redemption 2” and “Witcher III: The Wild Hunt”; he also enjoys playing board games, with his favorite being “The Settlers of Catan”.
He’s passionate about music and can both sing, and play the guitar – Ian’s a member of a rock ‘n’ roll band.
He’s interested in aviation.
More than 90,000 people are following Ian on Instagram today, and he’s posted close to 650 pictures and videos onto the network; most of his content features him spending time with his friends, shooting for his movies and TV series, and attending red carpet events.
Jackie Chan’s one of Ian’s favorite actors, and some of his favorite movies are “Ride On”, “The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” and “The Lego Ninjago Movie”.
Appearance and net worth
Ian’s age is 17. He has brown eyes and black hair, weighs around 155lbs (70kgs) and is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall.
Ian’s net worth’s been estimated at already over $2.5 million, as of October 2023.
