Comedian Ken Jeong heading to Australia for stand-up tour
BEST known for playing Leslie Chow in The Hangover films, and more recently starring in Crazy Rich Asians, comedian Ken Jeong is heading to Sydney — but he wants to say sorry first.
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
COMEDIAN Ken Jeong has apologised to his Australian fans ahead of his first ever national stand-up tour Down Under.
Best known for playing Leslie Chow in The Hangover films, and more recently Goh Wye Mun in Crazy Rich Asians, the 49-year-old actor will play the Sydney Opera House on November 21.
It will be his first ever trip here and he is sorry for not coming sooner.
“Can I just apologise to the country of Australia, I need to start with that,” Jeong told BW Magazine on the phone from Los Angeles.
“In this marriage of life, I just wanted to save myself for Australia. No excuses. This is a heartfelt apology.”
Jeong described his stand-up show — he’s also playing Melbourne’s Hamer Hall — as “very autobiographical”.
“I look at my stand-up act as really a one-man-show,” explained Jeong, who has also been announced as the lead actor in upcoming Australian film, Occupation: Rainfall, that will shoot next month.
“I talk about my wife and my kids, who will also be travelling to Australia with me. We are calling it the Jeong Family Apology Tour that we are doing.
“I really wanted my act to be something that people would not see in a film or a TV show that I am on so I am not jumping out of a piano naked and I’m not going to recreate scenes.”
Jeong came to acting comparatively late in life.
He was a medical doctor before he landed his first big screen acting gig as Dr Kuni in Knocked Up in 2007 and has since appeared in titles including Despicable Me, Zookeeper, The Muppets and Transformers.
Despite playing a smaller role, global box office hit Crazy Rich Asians has been one of his most fulfilling jobs to date.
“It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my career,” he said.
“It feels like a cultural milestone where you have an all Asian American cast in a Hollywood studio.
“I knew it would be a good movie and I knew it would have a cultural resonance but I didn’t know it would be this commercially successful. That came as a pleasant surprise.”
Originally published as Comedian Ken Jeong heading to Australia for stand-up tour
$14k a clip: NSW YouTube stars making more than you
YouTube stars in NSW are raking in thousands of dollars per video but it’s what they do in their clips that will drive traditional workers mad. Check out the rich list.
Glamming it up for a return to the racecourse
The first official racing carnival featuring the new $46.6m WINX stand at Randwick Racecourse is kicking off, with model and new mum Ksenija Lukich among those dressing up for the occasion.