Tim Kang

---

title: "Tim Kang" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1973-births", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-actors-of-korean-descent", "american-male-television-actors", "institute-for-advanced-theater-training,-harvard-university-alumni", "living-people", "university-of-california,-berkeley-alumni", "21st-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kang" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Tim Kang
birth_name	Yila Timothy Kang
birth_date
birth_place	California, U.S.
occupation	Actor
years_active	2002–present
education
spouse	Gina May
children	1
module	{{Infobox Korean name/auto
child	yes
hangul	%강일아
hanja	康一芽
::

|name = Tim Kang |birth_name = Yila Timothy Kang |birth_date = |birth_place = California, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |occupation = Actor |years_active = 2002–present |education = | spouse = Gina May |children = 1 |module = {{Infobox Korean name/auto |child = yes |hangul = %강일아 |hanja = 康一芽

Yila Timothy Kang (born March 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Kimball Cho in the television series The Mentalist and Gordon Katsumoto in the reboot series Magnum P.I.

Early life and education

Kang was born in California, and is the eldest of three brothers. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Fine Arts from Harvard's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at the American Repertory Theater and the Moscow Art Theatre.

Kang began acting at age 26. He had been working in the finance industry at the Pacific Exchange when he passed by the American Conservatory Theater and signed up for night acting classes on a whim. In an interview with the Korea Society, he stated that he decided to switch to acting full-time when he realized that he could no longer concentrate on his day job at the exchange.

Career

Kang was a series regular on CBS's The Mentalist as Special Agent Kimball Cho. He appeared in Rambo (2008) and on TV shows like The Office, Chappelle's Show, The Vampire Diaries, and Monk. He returned to his theater roots for Julia Cho's new play Aubergine, playing one of the lead characters, Ray. It premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in February 2016 before touring to various theatres.

In 2012, Kang launched a production company named One Shoot Films with its first film project focusing on child abduction and sexually abused children. Kang recurred as Ivan Hess on Marvel's Cloak & Dagger. He is a series regular as Detective Gordon Katsumoto in the 2018 reboot of Magnum P.I.. CBS cancelled the series after four seasons but he continued in the role after the series was picked up for another season by NBC.

Personal life

Kang has a black belt in Taekwondo.

With wife actress Gina Marie May, Kang has a daughter, Bianca Jooyung Kang, born November 7, 2009.

Kang is a national spokesman and active supporter for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table title="Film roles"]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Two Weeks Notice	Paul the attorney
2003	Robot Stories	Young John
Justice	Bodega owner
2004	The Forgotten	Agent Alec Wong
2006	Spectropia	Client
What Remains	Ender
2008	Rambo	En-Joo
2010	Mister Green	Mason Park
2018	A Wrinkle in Time	School superintendent
::

Television

::data[format=table title="Television roles"]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The Sopranos	Dr. Harrison Wong	Episode: "Whoever Did This"
2003	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Murakami	Episode: "Legion"
2004	Third Watch	Detective Gary Yoshimura	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Dr. Liam Kelly	Episode: "Baby Boom"
2006	Chappelle's Show	Car wash manager / Mummy's probation officer	Episodes 3.1 & 3.3
Ghost Whisperer	Warren Chen (burning ghost)	Episode: "The Night We Met"
2007	Monk	William Lee	Episode: "Mr. Monk Is Up All Night"
The Office	Koh	Episode: "Local Ad"
The Unit	Chaplain Alan Lantz	Episodes: "Gone Missing", "Play 16"
2008–15	The Mentalist	Agent Kimball Cho	Main role, 151 episodes
2015	The Vampire Diaries	Oscar	Episodes: 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5
Criminal Minds	Charlie Senarak	Episode: "The Witness"
2017	Chicago Justice	Detective Steve Kim	Episode: "Fool Me Twice"
American Horror Story: Cult	Tom Chang	Episode: "Election Night"
2018	Lethal Weapon	Mike Serrano	Episode: "Diggin' Up Dirt"
Madam Secretary	Neal Shin	Episode: "The Things We Get to Say"
Cloak & Dagger	Ivan Hess	Recurring role, 4 episodes
2018–24	Magnum P.I.	Detective Gordon Katsumoto	Main role
::

Video games

::data[format=table title="Video game voice roles"]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Mirror's Edge Catalyst	Dogen
2017	Prey	Morgan Yu / January (male)
::

References

References

1. [http://allthingsgirl.com/2010/07/man-of-the-moment-tim-kang-with-elia-sheldon Profile at allthingsgirl.com]
2. [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/bio/tim_kang/bio.php CBS.com] {{webarchive. link. (2010-02-20)
3. {{usurped
4. [http://www.rosscarey.com/2011/03/09/episode-29-featuring-tim-kang Conversations with Ross Carey profile]
5. (June 1, 2008). "Commercial Appeal". [[KoreAm]].
6. (November 6, 2013). "Actor Tim Kang at The Korea Society". [[YouTube]] (thekoreasociety).
7. (September 12, 2016). "'Aubergine': Theater Review". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
8. Isherwood, Charles. (September 12, 2016). "Review: 'Aubergine,' a Stew of Regret and Impending Loss". [[The New York Times]].
9. McNulty, Charles. (March 1, 2016). "In 'Aubergine,' Julia Cho turns choked-off emotions into a tale of sustenance". [[Los Angeles Times]].
10. (2012-03-05). "New Film Project Launched By CBS "The Mentalist" Actor Tim Kang Praised By the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children".
11. (2013-01-27). "Crime Stopper: Interview with The Mentalist 's Tim Kang".
12. (June 30, 2022). "‘Magnum P.I.’ Rescued By NBC With 2-Season, 20-Episode Order".
13. (2010-10-18). "Picks and Pans Review: The Mentalist's Tim Kang Straight and Narrow". [[People (magazine).
14. (September 13, 2011). "The Mentalist's Tim Kang Is All About Pushing The Limits". [[KoreAm]].
15. "Bianca Jooyung Kang". Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC.
16. "Tim Kang". CBS Interactive, Inc..
17. (2012-03-05). "New Film Project Launched by CBS "The Mentalist" Actor Tim Kang Praised by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children".
18. "The Mentalist Star Tim Kang on Child Safety".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::