Reggie Telmo Valdez (born October 4, 1975), known professionally as Reggie Lee, is a Filipino actor. He is known to television audiences for his roles as Bill Kim on Prison Break (2006–07), Sgt. Drew Wu on Grimm (2011–17), and Deputy District Attorney Thomas Choi on All Rise (2019–23). He is also known for his role in films like The Fast and the Furious (2001), Tropic Thunder (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Early life Valdez was born in Quezon City, the Philippines, to Zenaida Telmo and Jesus Espiritu Valdez. Although fluent in English, he also speaks Tagalog. At the age of five, he moved with his family to the Cleveland, Ohio area, including Parma and Strongsville. While still a student, he performed in shows at the Greenbrier Theatre (now the Cassidy Theatre) in Parma Heights and was an intern at the Cleveland Play House. He graduated from Padua Franciscan High School in Parma.
Although accepted to Harvard, he instead decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He later changed his last name from Valdez to Lee, stating in a 2001 interview that "they kept calling me in for Hispanic roles, and I'm a far cry from Hispanic"; he took the name Lee from his grandparents.
Career In 1992, at the age of 17, Lee moved to Los Angeles, where he joined a national tour of Miss Saigon. He later worked as a dancer for Prince on the MTV Video Music Awards and toured nationally with the musical Heartstrings. He was in the original company of the 1994 Broadway revival of Carousel. In 1997, he received a Drama-Logue Award for his performance in F.O.B. at East West Players, an Asian-American theatre organization in Los Angeles. With his role garnering critical acclaim, he also starred in their production of Carry the Tiger to the Mountain.
Since starring as Lance Nguyen in The Fast and the Furious, Lee appeared as Tai Huang in the Walt Disney Pictures film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. He has played Secret Service Special Agent Bill Kim in the FOX drama Prison Break, a character he describes as "a guilty pleasure to play, wonderfully complex and devious". He appeared in Chinaman's Chance, about which he said "It's an important story that definitely needs to be told and humanized. Plus I get to play pretend in the Old West. How great is that?"
In 2010, he guest-starred as Tom in the NBC series Persons Unknown.
In 2012, he played Ross, a Gotham City police officer in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.
From 2011 to 2017, he played Desk Sergeant Drew Wu in the NBC supernatural police drama Grimm.
In 2018, for NCIS: New Orleans, he appeared as Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Thompson. He previously appeared in an unrelated role in an episode of NCIS. In 2021, Blogtalk with MJ Racadio named him one of the "75 Most Influential Filipino-Americans".
Personal life Lee has two younger brothers, musician Nathan and comic book artist R.V. Valdez.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1999 The Big Blind 2000 Southstreet Lullaby Mahler Greeter Psycho Beach Party Dancer Drift Ryan as 'R.T. Lee'2001 XCU: Extreme Close Up Huy Phan The Fast and the Furious Lance Nguyen The Parlor Slappy Sue Short film2002 Black Hole Justin Reality School Student The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Suit 2003 Masked and Anonymous Armed Man Net Games Laurence 2005 Amateur Ron Harper 2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Headless Dimples Dr. Ross Hammer 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Tai Huang 2008 I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell Sing a.k.a. Chinaman's Chance Tropic Thunder Byong 2009 Drag Me to Hell Stu Rubin Star Trek Test Administrator Kobayashi Maru 2010 Life as We Know It Alan Burke 2011 Crazy, Stupid, Love Officer Huang 2012 Safe Quan Chang Here Comes the Boom Mr. De La Cruz The Dark Knight Rises GCPD Officer Ross 2019 Disappearance Detective Park 2021 Sweet Girl Dr. WuTBDThe WeepingJimPost-productionAbove the BreakSheriff LangfordFilming
Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Diagnosis: Murder Kim Ho Episode: "The ABC's of Murder"1997 Dangerous Minds Student Episode: "Teach, Don't Touch" Moloney Ramon Episode: "Loves and Lost"1998 Babylon 5 Chen Hikaru Episode: "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father" The Wayans Bros. Reporter #2 Episode: "Pops' Campaign" ER Christian Episode: "Split Second" Sister, Sister Lawson Hicks Episode: "We Are Family" Hyperion Bay Lives-on-Pizza Episode: "Family Business" Mad About You Gardner's Assistant Episode: "Weekend in L.A." Seven Days Duncan Episode: "Shadow Play"1999 Beverly Hills, 90210 Richard Episode: "The Following Options" Two of a Kind Waiter Episode: "When a Man Loves a Woman" Sons of Thunder Bad Guy Episode: "Thunder by Your Side"2000 Walker, Texas Ranger Lee Chan Episode: "The General's Return" Chicago Hope Sam Episode: "Have I Got a Deal for You"2001 The Ellen Show Kwan Episode: "Pilot" Philly Brian Chin2 episodes 2001–02 Judging Amy Dr. Oliver Lee 2001–03 The Division Officer Jim Chang 4 episodes 2002 Strong Medicine Dr. Nakashima Episode: "House Calls" 2003 Luis Zhing Zhang Main role2004FrankenfishAntonTV movie 2005 Blind Justice Don Yun Episode: "Seoul Man" 2006 Night Stalker Stanley Kim Episode: "What's the Frequency, Colchak?" 2006–07 Prison Break William "Bill" Kim recurring, 16 episodes 2008 NCIS Jonathan Chow Episode: "Stakeout"2010 No Ordinary Family Dr. Francis Chiles 5 episodes Persons Unknown Tomrecurring, 7 episodes 2010–25 American Dad! Hideki Yoshida (voice) 7 episodes 2011 White Collar Ambassador Kyi Episode: "What Happens in Burma" 2011–17 Grimm Sgt. Drew Wu Main role 2017 Hawaii Five-0 Joey Kang Episode: "E uhi wale no 'a'ole e nalo, he imu puhi" 2017–19 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Dr. Ronald Yee 2 episodes2018 LA to Vegas Lewis Episode: "The Affair" NCIS: New Orleans Special Agent Steven Thompson2 episodes 2018–19 Fresh Off the Boat Julius 2019–21; 2023 All Rise Thomas Choi Recurring role (Season 1), Main role (Season 2), Guest role (Season 3)2021The RookieMike WestonEpisode: "Red Hot"2022 Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Paul Lee Episode: "Did You Believe in Miracles?" The Lincoln Lawyer Angelo Soto 5 episodes2024CSI: VegasUndersheriff Zhao2 episodes
Video games Year Title RoleNotes 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Tai HuangVoice and likeness
References
External links
Reggie Lee at FEARnet