James Chen is an American actor who is known for his versatile work in TV, international film, and theater. He trained as an actor at the prestigious Yale School of Drama where upon graduation he led the School of Acting in commencement ceremonies and was awarded the Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize.
He first began acting professionally in Philadelphia theater after attending the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completing Yale, he resumed his professional career in New York City, where he quickly began working in Off Broadway theater, TV, film, commercials, and audiobooks. For 2 seasons he re-occurred as CSU forensics Detective Adrian ‘Andy’ Sung on Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit, opposite Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Ice-T. Other TV work includes the CBS police drama Blue Bloods with Donnie Wahlberg and Jennifer Esposito, NCIS: LA with Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah, and the NBC hit The Blacklist with Diego Klattenhoff and Megan Boone.
Comedically, he has worked with Will Arnett, Peter Serafinowicz, Maulik Pancholy, and Keri Russell in the FOX comedy Running Wilde. He has also filmed pilots for Comedy Central (Evan and Gareth Are Trying to Get Laid) as well as the Adult Swim pilot, Dumb American Family, by co-creators of the cult hit Childrens Hospital.
In film he’s worked with Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Tilda Swinton, and Denis Leary in international studio films including Columbia Pictures’ The Amazing Spiderman (dir. Marc Webb), 20th Century FOX’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins (dir. Mark Waters), Paramount Pictures’ Labor Day (dir. Jason Reitman), and BBC Film’s We Need To Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay).
On stage he has worked regionally at the Chautauqua Theater Company, The Guthrie Theater, and the Philadelphia Theater Company.
His co-narrated title, The Last Chinese Chef, won an AudioFile Earphones Award for exceptional audio performance. Over a dozen of his other titles can be found at Audible.com.
He is trained in classical piano, is conversational in Mandarin, and has studied martial arts for several years. He splits his time between New York and Los Angeles.
