Leonardo Nam (born November 5, 1979) is an American[1] actor. Born in Argentina to South Korean immigrant parents, he emigrated to Australia as a child before moving to the United States in the 1990s to begin his career as an actor. He made his breakthrough as Roy in The Perfect Score (2004), and gained further recognition for his roles as Morimoto in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) and Brian McBrian in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008).

Leonardo Nam
Born (1979-11-05) November 5, 1979 (age 45)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
CitizenshipUnited States[1]
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
OccupationActor
Years active2001–present
SpouseMichael Dodge
Children2

In 2016, Nam began starring as Felix Lutz in Westworld (2016–2020) which brought him widespread recognition.

Early life

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Nam was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to South Korean immigrant parents. At the age of six, he moved to Sydney, Australia.[2] Nam attended Sydney Technical High School and studied architecture at the University of New South Wales.[3] Nam left Sydney to follow his dreams of an acting career in New York City, United States, at age 19.[4] He studied with several acting teachers in New York, namely Austin Pendleton and William Carden at HB Studio.[3]

Career

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Before his Hollywood success, Nam traveled to New York City to pursue his acting career. His first few nights he slept in Central Park and then found jobs working as a waiter and bartender.[3] His breakthrough role came in his performance of Roy in The Perfect Score (2004). He had a small role in the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as Brian McBrian, a hardcore gamer. He played Brian again in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; in the sequel, his character has a larger role. Nam also made an appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) as Morimoto.[5] In 2016, he joined the cast of the HBO series Westworld.[6] In 2018 he was featured in the music video "Waste It on Me" by Steve Aoki featuring BTS.[7]

Personal life

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Nam is married to Michael Dodge. They have twin sons (born 2017) together. The family lives in San Diego.[8][9][10][11]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Hacks Phuong
2004 Debating Robert Lee Jordan Kramer
The Perfect Score Roy
2005 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Brian McBrian
Little Athens Kwon
2006 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Morimoto
Undoing Joon
10 Items or Less Kid at Target
2007 Finishing the Game Eli
American Pastime Lane Nomura
2008 Half-Life Scott Parker
Quid Pro Quo Engineer
Vantage Point Kevin Cross
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Brian McBrian
2009 He's Just Not That Into You Joshua
Crossing Over Kwan
2012 Watching TV with the Red Chinese Chen
One for the Money John Cho
2013 Snake and Mongoose Roland Leong
2014 Murder of a Cat Yi Kim
Cat Run 2 Zhang
2018 Perfect Haskell
Happy Anniversary Hao
2019 DC Showcase: Death Vincent Omata Voice, short film
2020 Phobias Johnny
2021 Yes Day Mr. Chan
Marvelous and the Black Hole Angus
2023 Origin TBA
2024 Descendants: The Rise of Red Maddox Disney+ Original Film
TBA Love is the Monster Justin Filming

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 Bones Nate Grunenfelder 1 episode
2010 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Miyamoto Takahashi 1 episode
2011 Franklin & Bash Gene Toy 1 episode
2013–2014 Betas Michael Lau 4 episodes
2014 Royal Pains Billy 1 episode
Stalker Howard Granger 1 episode
2016–2020 Westworld Felix Lutz Recurring role

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2016)

2017 Hawaii 5-0 Harley Taylor 1 episode
2018 Disjointed Jesus Bruce Lee Christ 1 episode
Corporate Sonnet 1 episode
The Flash Matthew Kim / Melting Point 2 episodes
2019 Sneaky Pete Alexandre Park-Sun 3 episodes
Prince of Peoria Mark Yoshi Takimoto 1 episode
Historical Roasts Bruce Lee 1 episode
Swamp Thing Harlan Edwards 4 episodes
2020 MacGyver Aubrey 3 episodes
Room 104 Bruce 1 episode
2021 The Rookie Sato 1 episode
Robot Chicken Zack Martin/Chunin Exam Proctor Voice, episode: "May Cause Lucid Murder Dreams"
2021–present Pacific Rim: The Black Rickter Voice
2022 Maggie Dave 13 episodes
Werewolf by Night Liorn Disney+ television special
2023 Star Trek: Lower Decks Australian Street Punk Voice, 1 episode
Animaniacs Australian Prime Minister Voice, 1 episode

Music videos

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Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref.
2018 "Waste It on Me" Steve Aoki feat. BTS Himself [7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "AANHPI Men for Kamala". YouTube. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  2. ^ "DiCaprio Who? The Other Leo". UCLA International Institute. 20 August 2004. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Pham, Jason (21 February 2017). "Leonardo Nam went from sleeping in Central Park to HBO's 'Westworld'". NBC News. NBC. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ^ "An interview with Leonardo Nam". IGN. 29 January 2004. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  5. ^ Staff, Hollywood.com (2 February 2015). "Leonardo Nam | Biography and Filmography". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Leonardo Nam went from sleeping in Central Park to HBO's 'Westworld'". NBC News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Steve Aoki and BTS's "Waste It on Me" Music Video: A Guide to the All-Asian Cast". W. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Leonardo Nam: The 'Westworld' Star Is Poised for More "Exposure"". Out. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  9. ^ Brathwaite, Lester Fabian (23 March 2020). "Leonardo Nam on How "Westworld"—And Gay Fatherhood—Changed Him". Logo TV. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  10. ^ Nardino, Meredith (1 June 2020). "'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' Cast: Where Are They Now?". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  11. ^ Kim, Lee Ann (16 April 2020). "Someone San Diego Should Know: Leonardo Nam". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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