Dennis Dun
Dennis Gong Dun is an American stage and screen actor.
Early life and education
Of Chinese Jamaican descent, Dun was born in Stockton, California. He trained in martial arts and Chinese opera growing up. He originally studied marketing in college, before developing an interest in acting.Career
Theatre
Dun began acting at the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco, California. He has appeared onstage at East West Players, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. For his performance in Chay Yew's A Language of Their Own at the Celebration Theatre, he won an LA Weekly Theater Award for Ensemble Performance. He has participated in both the film and theatre labs at the Sundance Institute.Dun wrote and performed the one-man show Giant Oranges, commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum and produced by Chay Yew's Solo Works Festival in Los Angeles.
Film and television
Dun made his film debut in Michael Cimino's crime drama Year of the Dragon. He was cast to play the co-lead role, Wang Chi, in John Carpenter's cult classic film Big Trouble in Little China. He played Puyi's valet Big Li in the historical epic The Last Emperor, which won nine Oscars including Best Picture.Dun has also had prominent roles in Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive, Thousand Pieces of Gold, and Warriors of Virtue.
In addition, he has appeared in independent Asian American projects such as My American Vacation and My Life Disoriented.
For three seasons he was a regular cast member on the NBC television series Midnight Caller.