Aaron Takahashi is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as the "male nurse" Lee in the film Yes Man (2008), one of the fake groomsmen in The Wedding Ringer (2015), as Troy in the film Welcome to the Jungle (2013), and his various roles on the talk show Conan on TBS, with Conan O'Brien. Takahashi has appeared in over 50 national commercials since 2004.[1]

Early life and education

Takahashi graduated from North Torrance High School.[1] Takahashi worked at Meidi-Ya supermarket while attending the University of Southern California (USC). He graduated with a degree in English and an emphasis on creative writing.[2] After graduation, he became the manager of the store. After the store closed, Takahashi pursued acting full time.[1]

Career

Film

Takahashi has appeared as the character "Takashi" in Justin Lin's directorial debut, Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). He also appeared in the film Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) as a Rickshaw Runner, and in Lane Nishikawa's film Only the Brave (2006) as one of the 442 2nd Squad soldiers. Takahashi has additionally appeared as the male nurse character "Lee" in Peyton Reed's Yes Man opposite Jim Carrey. In 2013, Takahashi appeared as "Troy" in Rob Meltzer's Welcome to the Jungle (2013) opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. In 2015, Takahashi appeared as Endo/Rambis (named after the coach Kurt Rambis), one of Josh Gad's character's "fake groomsmen" in Jeremy Garelick's The Wedding Ringer, starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad.

In addition to Better Luck Tomorrow, Takahashi has appeared in independent films such as Kiyong Kim's Ku Klux Korena (2007) (as Jin), Teruhisa Yoshida's Robert Hearts Miss Ing (2008), Tom Huang's Why Am I Doing This? (2009)(as Sung), James Huang's Starting From Scratch (2013) (as Jim), Peter O'Melia's The Grounds (2014) (as Applicant #4), and as Aaron, a fictionalized version of himself, in Awesome Asian Bad Guys (2013-2014), directed by Patrick Epino and Stephen Dypiangco.

Takahashi has also appeared in various short films such as Mike Nojun Park's Re: Your Balls (2009) (as Matt), James Huang's Represent (2010) (as Aaron), and Roman Cortez's My Best Friend Bigfoot Ep.1 & 2. (2010) (as Scott).

Television

Takahashi has appeared in a number of TV series, including Asia Street Comedy (2004-2005) (various characters), Reno 911! (as a Thai Delivery Man and a Storeowner), The Bill Engvall Show (2009) (as a Driver), Whacked (as a Korean Shopkeeper), Traffic Light (as a Nerdy Dad), Mr. Sunshine (as Jerry), ACME Saturday Night (as various characters), Community (as the Math Club Leader in the episode "A Fistful of Paintballs" Dir. Joe Russo), The Mentalist (as Tai Nguyen), Ben and Kate (as Shawn), Sullivan & Son (as Dr. Park), The Big Bang Theory (as a scientist), The Millers (as Kevin), Conan (as various characters), Drunk History (as a guest) and Dog Park (as Neal).

Takahashi currently has recurring roles in both the Yahoo! Screen original series Sin City Saints (as social media guru Henry), and the USA Network series Mr. Robot (as Allsafe Security employee Lloyd).

Takahashi has appeared in over 50 national ad campaigns for brands such as Snapple, the NFL, Esurance, McDonald's, Arlo Technologies and Amp'd Mobile (where he plays a worker that raps the song "U and Dat" (featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl) out loud in a bathroom before another employee notice him). Takahashi also provides the voice of "Paul Tard" in the videogame Slumber Party Slaughterhouse: The Game (2008).

Takahashi has also appeared on stage in Paul Kikuchi's Slice, at the Fremont Theater in Pasadena.[3]

He has been trained at East West Players, where he teaches the annual "On-Camera Commercial and Audition Class." He has also been a writer and performing member of the ACME Comedy Theater, and is also currently a workshop instructor and core performing member of the improv group Cold Tofu.

He was an honoree at East West Players 2019 Night Market for "advancing the visibility of Asian Americans nationally" through his work.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha Rickshaw Runner Uncredited
2006 Only the Brave 442 2nd Squad
2007 Reno 911!: Miami Japanese Tourist Uncredited
2007 Balls of Fury Ling
2007 Ku Klux Kornea Jin
2008 Yes Man Lee
2009 Why Am I Doing This? Sung
2013 Starting from Scratch Jim
2013 Welcome to the Jungle Troy
2014 Awesome Asian Bad Guys Aaron
2015 The Wedding Ringer Endo / Rambis
2018 The Grounds Applicant #4

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004–2005 Asia Street Comedy Various Characters 3 episodes
2007, 2008 Reno 911! Thai Delivery Man / Store Owner 2 episodes
2009 The Bill Engvall Show Driver Episode: "Car Trouble"
2009–2011 ACME Saturday Night Various 16 episodes
2010 Whacked Korean Shopkeeper Episode: "Weapon of Choice"
2011 Traffic Light Nerdy Dad Episode: "All the Precedent's Men"
2011 Mr. Sunshine Jerry 2 episodes
2011 Community Math Club Leader Episode: "A Fistful of Paintballs"
2011–2019 Conan Various roles 15 episodes
2012 The Mentalist Tai Nguyen Episode: "Not One Red Cent"
2012, 2013 Ben and Kate Shawn 2 episodes
2013 Sullivan & Son Dr. Park Episode: "The Pilot, One More Time"
2013 The Big Bang Theory Scientist Episode: "The Hofstadter Insufficiency"
2013 Back in the Game Billy Episode: "She. Could. Go. All. The. Way!"
2014 The Millers Kevin Episode: "Walk-n-Wave"
2014 Dog Park Neal 9 episodes
2015 Sin City Saints Henry 6 episodes
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Wally Episode: "Mary Elizabeth Winstead"
2015–2019 Mr. Robot Lloyd Chung 7 episodes
2016 New Girl Car Rental Employee Episode: "Road Trip"
2017 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Donny Episode: "Disaster Drills"
2017 American Vandal Mr. Maeda Episode: "Gag Order"
2018 Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever. Donut Guy Episode: "Issue 2"
2018–2019 Drunk History Various roles 3 episodes
2019–2020 Sydney to the Max Mr. Tanaka 4 episodes
2020 Curb Your Enthusiasm Alex Episode: "Elizabeth, Margaret and Larry"
2021 Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens Jacques Episode: "Shadow Acting"
2021–2022 Kenan Bruce 4 episodes

References

  1. 1 2 3 Komai, Chris (August 28, 2014). "That Guy in That Commercial". www.rafu.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  2. ↑ "English Major > Department of English > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences". dornsifelive.usc.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  3. ↑ Asians on Film Review, Paul Kikuchi's Slice,
  4. ↑ BWW News Desk. "East West Players to Honor Jeanne Sakata and Aaron Takahashi at EWP NIGHT MARKET". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
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