Tzi Ma


Tzi Ma is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as The Man in the High Castle and 24, and films, such as Dante's Peak, Rush Hour, Arrival, and The Farewell.

Early life and education

Ma was born in British Hong Kong, the youngest of seven children. In 1949, Ma's father moved to Hong Kong following the Chinese Communist Revolution and then to the United States when Ma was five years old following political turmoil in Hong Kong. Ma grew up in New York, where his parents ran an American Chinese restaurant in Staten Island. He found his love for acting when he played Buffalo Bill in an elementary school production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Career

Although often referred to as the familiar Asian face in film and television, Ma has deep ties to theatre. He cites Mako's performance in Pacific Overtures in 1976 as a major influence on his acting career. And he is close friends with playwright David Henry Hwang, having collaborated with him on several plays, such as FOB, Yellow Face, Flower Drum Song, and The Dance and the Railroad, throughout the years and starring in the film, Golden Gate, which was written by Hwang. Ma started professionally acting in 1973 through experimental theater. At that time, he was in a residency at Nassau Community College studying acting and teaching movement. His first theatre performance was in 1975 at an outdoor theater in Roosevelt State Park as the Monkey King in a stage adaptation of a Beijing opera titled, Monkey King in the Yellow Stone King. He estimated that there were about 5 to 10 thousand audience members in attendance.
Ma also practiced martial arts prior to doing film work. He leveraged those skills in his film debut as Jimmy Lee in Cocaine Cowboys.
During the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Ma found work at South Coast Repertory in Orange County playing various characters in the play, In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe. The play closed the weekend the strike ended, and by next week, he landed a role in the L.A. Law television series. In 1994, he was the assistant director on a stage production of Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
His major film roles include credits in The Quiet American, the remake of The Ladykillers, and Dante's Peak. Additionally, he has appeared as Consul Han in the Rush Hour series and General Shang, the commander of the Chinese military in Denis Villeneuve's Arrival.
Ma has appeared in numerous Asian American-produced independent films, such as Red Doors, Catfish in Black Bean Sauce, Baby, The Sensei, and The Farewell.
Ma was interviewed for The Slanted Screen'', a documentary directed by Jeff Adachi about the representation of Asian, primarily East Asian, men in Hollywood.

Television

He is also known for his recurring role as Cheng Zhi, the head of security for the Chinese Consulate, on the television series 24, first appearing in the series's fourth season and reprising the role in '. He also voiced Bàba Ling, Francine's adoptive father, in the animated TV series American Dad!
He also had a role in the first season of Martial Law as Lee "Nemesis" Hei, first major antagonist and Sammo Law's arch-nemesis.
Ma's other TV credits include guest appearances on MacGyver, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, ER, Boomtown, Commander in Chief, Chicago Hope, The Unit, ', L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, Millennium, Fringe, Cold Case, , Hawaii Five-0, Lie to Me, The Cosby Show, Grey's Anatomy, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Hell on Wheels. Ma also had a voice role in the video game Sleeping Dogs. He also appeared on the ABC series Once Upon a Time as "The Dragon". He also appeared as a zen master on the USA series Satisfaction.
He appeared as General Onoda in the Amazon show The Man In The High Castle and as Tao on AMC’s Hell On Wheels.
In July 2018, it was announced that Ma was cast in the recurring role of Mr. Young on the Netflix series Wu Assassins.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1979Cocaine CowboysJimmy Lee
1981They All LaughedExtraUncredited
1986The Money PitHwang
1990RoboCop 2Tak Akita
1992Rapid FireKinman Tau
1993Golden GateChen Jung Song
1995Make a Wish, MollyDavid WongShort film
1996Chain ReactionLu Chen
1997Dante's PeakStan
1997Red CornerLi Cheng
1998Rush HourSolon Han
1999Catfish in Black Bean SauceVinh
2002The Quiet AmericanHinh
2004The LadykillersThe General
2005Red DoorsEd Wong
2006Akeelah and the BeeMr. Chiu
2007BabyPops
2007Rush Hour 3Solon Han
2007Battle in SeattleThe Governor
2008The SenseiBuddhist Monk
2008ManagementTruc Quoc
2008All God's Children Can DanceGlen
2009Formosa BetrayedKuo
2012The CampaignMr. Zheng
2013Mad in ChinatownHangmanShort film
2014A Good ManMr. Chen
2014Million Dollar ArmChang
2014SuturesJimShort film
2015DiabloQuok Mi
2015Baby StepsMr. Lin
2015Pali RoadArnold Zhang
2016ArrivalGeneral Shang
2017Meditation ParkBing
2017The Jade PendantYu Hing
2018SkyscraperFire Chief Zheng
2019The FarewellHaiyan Wang
2020MulanHua Zhou
2020TigertailPin-Jui

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984The Cosby ShowMr. Lee1 episode
1985The EqualizerLin1 episode
1989L.A. LawEd Chang1 episode
1989'Physiologist1 episode
1989MacGyverWing Lee1 episode
1990Yellowthread StreetDetective Eddie Pak6 episodes
1990Forbidden NightsLi DaoTelevision film
1990Midnight CallerArthur Chang1 episode
1990Head of the ClassKwong1 episode
1993Street JusticeBryn To Chi
1994The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.Chan
1994–2001NYPD BlueDetective Harold Ng3 episodes
1996–2000Nash BridgesJimmy Zee3 episodes
1998–99Martial LawLee Hei5 episodes
1998–99MillenniumDr. Takashi
Capt. Youfook Law		2 episodes
2000Chicago HopeMr. Wang1 episode
2000The PretenderKi Mok/Chen Thon1 episode
2000City of AngelsDr. Henry Lu4 episodes
2000Walker, Texas RangerGeneral Nimh1 episode
2001Gideon's CrossingDr. To1 episode
2002The Bernie Mac ShowEd1 episode
2002ERLiam Young1 episode
2002BoomtownRoger Lam1 episode
2002Law & OrderLi Chen1 episode
2003The PracticeTang Jingyu1 episode
2004Jake 2.0Nanda Sang1 episode
2004HawaiiJoseph Dao1 episode
2005JAGAdmiral Lutarno1 episode
2005–0724Cheng Zhi13 episodes
2006Commander in ChiefChinese Ambassador2 episodes
2006The UnitRudolph Hatano1 episode
2006DeadwoodMahjong Player1 episode
2007Dragon BoysHenry Wah2 episodes
2007–13American Dad!Bah Bah Ling11 episode
Voice role
2008Grey's AnatomyPatterson1 episode
2009The BeastKim Nam1 episode
2009Dirty Sexy MoneyTsung Shien Chun1 episode
2009Cold CaseBo-Lin Chen1 episode
2009FringeMing Che1 episode
2009DollhouseMatsu1 episode
2010'Jun Lee1 episode
2010Lie to MeMr. Chen1 episode
2010The Whole TruthJudge Garrett1 episode
2011Hawaii Five-OChi1 episode
2011CHAOSQuon1 episode
2012PerceptionProfessor Arthur Wei1 episode
2012VegasWatanabe1 episode
2013Saving HopeDr. Lin1 episode
2013Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Agent Quan1 episode
2013–16Once Upon a TimeThe Dragon3 episodes
2014'Cheng Zhi3 episodes
2014State of AffairsPremier Chu Jian1 episode
2014–15SatisfactionZen Master
Frank		9 episodes
2015Hell on WheelsTao6 episodes
2016ElementaryXi Hai Ching1 episode
2016Man Seeking WomanMaster Sheng1 episode
2016StitchersDe Deshei1 episode
2016Angie TribecaJoseph Takagi1 episode
2016The Man in the High CastleGeneral Onoda6 episodes
2016–17VeepLu Chi-Jung3 episodes
2017RansomSenator Vang1 episode
2017The CatchKenji Yoshida1 episode
2017'Inspector Cheong1 episode
2018Silicon ValleyFactory Manager Yao2 episodes
2018The ResidentTed Zhou1 episode
2018–19Star Wars ResistanceSenator Hamato Xiono2 episodes
Voice role
2019Wu AssassinsMr. YoungRecurring role
2020BoschBrent Charles1 episode
2021Kung FuJin ChenMain role

Awards

Ma has received awards for his acting roles including the Cine Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor for The Dance and The Railroad and the Garland Award for his acting in Flower Drum Song.