Jamie Chung Biography

Jamie Chung was born on April 10, 1983, in San Francisco, USA. Her parents are first generation Korean immigrants, who moved to the USA in 1980 and opened a burger joint called Tony’s in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of North Beach. Her father too changed his name to Tony.

Jamie and her elder sister Jean were brought up in Korean tradition in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood and were required to speak only in Korean at home. They mostly ate Korean dishes like kimchi and were sent to Korean church camps during summer, where she developed a love for acting.

As a child, she suffered from identity crisis, being teased at school, struggling to fit into the American society. Simultaneously, she struggled hard to speak fluently in Korean, attending Korean classes throughout her student life

She began her education at Commodore Sloat Elementary School before moving to Aptos Middle School, graduating from there in 1997. Thereafter, she switched to Lowell High School, from where she graduated in 2001.

In 2001, she entered University of California, Riverside, where she became a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, paying her way by working two jobs, including one as a waitress in a small bar. In 2005, she graduated from there with a B.A. degree in economics.

In 2003, Jamie Chung got her breakthrough when MTV held a casting call for The Real World in the bar she was working in. Encouraged by the casting director, she participated in the audition, eventually being selected for its San Diego based fourteenth season, working in it from January 6 to June 29, 2004.

In 2005, she appeared in its spinoff, a realty game show called The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II as a member of the Good Guys team. The show ran from March 7 to June 20 and although her team won the challenge, it had a negative repercussion on her career.

Possibly in 2005, after graduating from college, she moved to Los Angeles, aspiring to be a full time actress. But because of her realty show background the casting directors refused to take her seriously and she continued to fail in auditions. But she would not give up.

Every day for eighteen hours, she would hang around in the sets, hoping to get hired as extra, eventually managing one-liner roles in number of television productions. Finally in 2006, she appeared as flirting girl in the Spit & Eggs episode of Veronica Mars.

By 2007, she began to appear in number of television productions, including ten episodes of Days of Our Lives. Also in the same year, she debuted in films as a hooters girl in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.

In 2008, Jamie Chung had her first major onscreen role, appearing as the series lead, Heavan Kogo, in Samurai Girl, an ABC Family television miniseries. It was followed in 2009 by an award winning television film called Princess Protection Program, in which she appeared as Chelsea Barnes.

Also in 2009, she appeared in three films; starring as Chi Chi in DragonBall Evolution, as Clarie Wen in Sorority Row and as Ginny Bai in Burning Palms. It was followed in 2010 by Grown Ups, in which she played the role of Amber Hilliard.

In 2011, she had two films released; The Hangover Part II and Sucker Punch, appearing in the star role of Amber in the last mentioned film. The role required her to undergo physical training with Navy SEALs and work with stunt and fight choreographers.

Appearing as Nima in Premium Rush (2012) was another milestone of her career. The work was followed in the same year by Eden, The Man with the Iron Fists and Knife Fight. Also in 2012, she was selected to enact the role of Mulan in 12 episodes of Once Upon a Time.

In 2014, she appeared as Janice Channing in 13 episodes of Believe. Equally successful on the big screen, she had five films released that year. They were Flight 7500, Bad Johnson, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Rudderless and Big Hero 6, appearing in voice role in the last-mentioned film.

Continuing to appear on small and big screens, Jamie Chung enacted the role of series regular Olivia in seven episodes of Resident Advisors in 2015. That apart, she had two films released; Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong and A Year and Change.

In 2016, she appeared in six episodes of Gotham and had two feature films, Flock of Dudes and Office Christmas Party, released. Also in the same year, she was cast as attorney Lana Harris in Miranda's Rights; but it was not telecast by NBC for some reason.

From November 2017 to February 2021, she appeared as Go Go Tomago in 45 episodes of the animated television series, Big Hero 6: The Series. Concurrently from October 2017 to February 2019, she played the role of Clarice Fong/Blink in 29 episodes of The Gifted.

In 2019, she lent her voice to the character of Rose Trefgarne in Sherwood, an American-Irish-New Zealander computer animated science fiction streaming television series. Simultaneously, she continued to appear on big screen in films like Band Aid (2017), 1985 (2018), DC Showcase (2019), and Dangerous Lies (2020).

Since August 2020, she has been enacting the role of seemingly naïve Korean nursing student, Ji-Ah, in the HBO horror drama series, Lovecraft Country.

Her upcoming film, The Misfits, in which she plays the part of Violet, is expected to be released on June 11, 2021.

Jamie Chung is possibly best known for her 2012 film, Eden. In this film, she appeared as Hyun Jae, an 18-year old Korean-American girl, who has been kidnapped by the traffickers and forced into prostitution, earning great critical acclaim for her work.

In 2009, Jamie Chung co-won the Female Stars of Tomorrow Award for her work in Sorority Row.

In 2012, she won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress for her work in Eden.

On October 31, 2015, Jamie Chung married actor-musician Bryan Greenberg in Santa Barbara, California. The couple does not have any children.