Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has directed four films, Gook (2017), Ms. Purple (2019), Blue Bayou (2021), and Jamojaya. He is also known for portraying Eric Yorkie in The Twilight Saga film series. He is a member of the K-pop parody group Boys Generally Asian.
Early life Chon was born in Garden Grove, California, and raised in Irvine, California, where he attended University High School. Chon is of Korean descent. His father, Sang Chon, was an actor in South Korea and later a shoe wholesales owner in Paramount, California. His mother is a pianist. He has a younger sister.
Chon attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he majored in business. During college, he studied abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
Career
Acting
Chon started acting in 2005 in shows such as Jack & Bobby and Taki & Luci. He came to fame in 2006 when he played Peter Wu in the Disney Channel film Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. He also played Tony Lee in the Nickelodeon sitcom Just Jordan. In 2008, he played Eric Yorkie in the film Twilight, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer. Chon reprised his role as Eric Yorkie in the Twilight sequel New Moon. He starred as the central character Jeff Chang, in the film 21 & Over in 2013. He also appeared in the independent film Innocent Blood that same year.
In 2014, Chon appeared as a lead character in crime drama film Revenge of the Green Dragons, which was executive produced by Martin Scorsese. In 2015, Chon starred as Sid Park, the trouble-making main character influenced by rocker culture in the independent film Seoul Searching, directed by Benson Lee, which made its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.James S. Kim, Justin Chon Does His Own 'Seoul Searching', http://iamkoream.com/justin-chon-does-his-own-seoul-searching/
Chon trained for over two years in the Meisner technique at the Baron Brown Studio in Santa Monica and guest starred in the Studio web series Joanne Brown Is Here with Hana Mae Lee and Joanne Baron in 2016. Chon also held a role in the Korean-American comedy drama Dramaworld. In March 2017, he was cast as a series regular in the ABC crime drama Deception.
Chon starred in the 2018 movie High Resolution with Ellie Bamber, directed by Jason Lester. The movie was based on the acclaimed novel Taipei by author Tao Lin.
Directing Chon also co-wrote (with Kevin Wu), directed, executive produced, and starred in the 2015 feature film Man Up.Cynthia Brothers & Vu-Bang Nguyen, Justin Chon on 'Seoul Searching' and 'Man Up'. The film made its premiere at the 2015 CAAMFest.CAAMFest, Man Up, http://caamfest.com/2015/films/man-up/ It was also screened at the 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, making its West Coast premiere there.LAAPFF 2015, MAN UP, The film is set in Hawaii and also stars Kevin Wu, Amy Hill, Parvesh Cheena, Nichole Bloom, Dion Basco, Samantha Futerman and more.Man Up, Official Film Page, http://www.manupfilm.com In March 2015, the film was acquired by "Off the Dock", a digital studio owned by Lakeshore Entertainment.
Chon has also directed several digital short films that are viewable on his YouTube Channel, including You're Stoopid (2013), Full Circle (2013) and 90 Day Visa (2015).ChannelAPA.com, Full Circle, http://www.channelapa.com/2013/02/full-circle-short-film-with-justin-chon.html
In 2017, Chon wrote, directed, produced and starred in a film entitled Gook, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Audience Award and was picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Distribution. The film also won Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Director (Justin Chon), Best Actress (Simone Baker), and an Audience Award at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The film further won Golden Space Needle Awards for Best Director (2nd Place or 1st Runner-Up) (Justin Chon) and Best Actress (5th Place) (Simone Baker) at the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival.
His next movie Mrs Purple (2019) premiered at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. It received positive reviews from critics.
He directed and co produced the first two episodes of Chief of War, a period drama miniseries for Apple TV+ starred and executively produced by Jason Momoa.
Other ventures Chon co-owns a chain of clothing stores, named the Attic, in California.AllKPop, Up in Justin Chon's Attic, http://www.allkpop.com/article/2009/04/up-in-justin-chons-attic
In January 2015, he began uploading edited vlogs to his YouTube channel on a weekly basis. Since November 2015, he has uploaded edited vlogs to the channel on a daily basis. He also creates short comedy videos on YouTube with his friends, and has appeared in videos on Ryan Higa (nigahiga)'s YouTube channel. Chon is also a member of BgA (Boys Generally Asian), a parody K-Pop group formed by Higa. The five-member group has released two singles and has risen up many South Korean music charts as well as American music charts.
In 2016, Chon wrote an editorial for NBC about the racism he faced in Hollywood roles and auditions.
Personal life After dating for over a year, he married Sasha Egorova in October 2014. Their first child, a girl was born in December 2017. Their second child, a boy was born June 2023.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRole Notes/2006Puff, Puff, Pass Bobbi2006Fleetwood Rong2007Hack!Ricky2008Twilight Eric Yorkie 2009Ashley MasonMorgan2009Crossing OverYong Kim2009TurboHugo Park2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Eric Yorkie 2010The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Eric Yorkie 2011From the Rough Ji-Kyung2011The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1Eric Yorkie2012Detention of the DeadAsh2012Rock JocksSeth2012Hang LooseBJ201321 & OverJeff Chang2013Innocent BloodBrad Lee2014Revenge of the Green DragonsSonny2015Seoul SearchingSid Park2015Man UpRandallAlso director, writer, executive producer2016SatanicSeth2016HeartbeatsJae Juarez 2016Like LambsJasper 2017Gook Eli Also director 2017Dead TriggerDaniel Chen2018High ResolutionPaul Chen2019Coming Home AgainChangrae2021Blue BayouAntonio LeBlancAlso writer and director
Directorial work YearTitleRole Notes2013You're Stoopid Director, writerShort film2013Full Circle Director, writer, actorShort film201590 Day Visa Director, writer, actorShort film2015Man Up Director, writer, actor, executive producerFeature film2017Gook Director, writer, actor, executive producerFeature film2019Ms. PurpleDirector, writer, producerFeature film2021Blue BayouDirector, writer, actorFeature film2022PachinkoDirectorTV series; 4 episodes2023JamojayaDirector, writerFeature film2025Chief of WarDirectorTV series; 2 episodes
Television YearTitleRole Notes2005Jack & BobbyGreek ChorusEpisode: "Under the Influence"2006The O.C.Big Korea Episode: "The Party Favor"2006 Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior Peter Wu Television film2007–2008Just JordanTony Lee30 episodes2009Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach Joe ChangTelevision film2011HouseHarold LamEpisode: "The Dig"2013New GirlBrianEpisode: "Menus"2015Sin City SaintsByron Summers 8 episodes2016-2021DramaworldSeth KoMain role, 19 episodes2016–2017Dr. KenJae5 episodes2018DeceptionJordan Kwon13 episodes2021The CasagrandesYoon KwanVoice role; 3 episodes
Accolades Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result 2022Peabody AwardsEntertainment Pachinko
References
External links
Official Twitter Official YouTube