The journey from being a doctor to an actor! Ken Jeong and his career and personal life!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In Health , Relationship

Ken Jeong, 50 is an American actor who used to be a doctor and do stand-up comedy on the side.
But he soon found being in front of the camera more fascinating and left medicine completely to pursue a career in acting full-time.

Ken had said in an earlier interview:

“Sometimes people think, you know, ‘Hey, mid-hernia surgery Ken wanted to do stand-up.’ It’s like, I was at the operation table and mid-appendectomy I was like, ‘Maybe I do the funny bone.’ For me, I was always kind of the nerd who loved comedy,”

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Ken Jeong and his career in medicine

Comedian Ken who hailed from Detroit used to love acting. He was selected by Duke University for their drama program. But since he was a pre-med, he had been forced to decline to accept the program.

Ken had once said:

“There was no way I could do both,”

The medical school training took up most of his time. Ken disclosed that he used too many times do 90 hours a week while he was completing his residency program at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. He had revealed:

“That was kind of my boot camp in life so to speak,”

Ken Jeong’s change of profession

Ken’s first love was always acting. In the year 2007, he luckily landed his first major acting role in the film ‘Knocked Out’. He played a doctor in this movie and appeared along with Katherine Heigi and Seth Rogen.

And two years later, he starred as the infamous drug lord Mr. Chow in the movie series Hangover. This was the breakthrough role that made him famous. And he never looked back.

His days in a white coat helped him in his acting. Additionally, he wrote, produced, and also acted in a sitcom on ABC called Dr. Ken. This was aired for the first time on the channel from 2015 to 2017.

It is the story of a Korean-American doctor who tries to come into comedy while being a doctor. The series was Ken’s own experience as he was doing medicine harboring the love for comedy in his heart throughout.

Ken Jeong’s use of the medical career in real-life

Besides, his career in medicine was not a waste. Once he was doing a stand-up show in Phoenix when a person in the audience developed a seizure. Ken literally jumped off the stage to rush to the man and try to control his convulsion and save his life.

Actor Ken Jeong’s personal life

Besides, Ken also met his wife Tran Ho during his medical days. She is also a doctor and a breast cancer survivor. He also has made a movie series on how his wife had been a source of inspiration for him in the early part of his career.

He admitted:

“My wife is the biggest muse I had,”

Tran was battling breast cancer and was on chemotherapy for it when he landed the role of Mr. Chow. He was about to turn down the role since he wanted to be beside his wife during this time. Recalling those days, Ken said:

“I remember feeling stressed out that I couldn’t be with my wife during chemo. I wanted to be with her for every round of it,”

But director Todd Phillips adjusted his shifts so that Ken could be with his wife during the time she was getting her chemotherapy sessions. He was upset and angry and channeled his emotions into his act.

He admitted:

“Playing Mr. Chow was therapeutic for me,”

Short Bio on Ken Jeong

Multi-talented Ken Jeong is an American comedian, actor, and physician. He is active in the entertainment field since 1997 and he is best known for his roles as Ben Chang on the critically acclaimed NBC/Yahoo! sitcom Community and gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover Trilogy. More bio…

Source: Market Watch

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