I might be the only person on this planet to have not yet seen Industry, so my point of reference for this week’s subject, Ken Leung, is not the character Eric Tao but Miles Straume of Lost fame. It’s one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Before his breakout roles in Rush Hour and The Sopranos, Leung grew up in Manhattan, moving to Brooklyn in high school and finally settling in the New Jersey suburbs. He tells me he discovered acting during his junior year of college at NYU by accident. “I was taking a speech class and we had to write and perform a skit,” he remembers. When his friend noticed how much he enjoyed it, he suggested he take acting.
“Acting gave me a way of finding myself—learning how to relate to people and make sense of feelings. It’s just a great, safe environment that puts you in all manner of social situations, and it gave me what I think I was missing and I found it very healing,” he says. “It also taught me how to be part of the world.” Below, Leung and I discuss his career path, why he considers comfort over fashion, dressing for temperamental New York weather, and more.
Fit One
Sweater by Alo Yoga, trousers by The North Face, and shoes (throughout) by On.
What were you doing at NYU originally?
Pre-physical therapy, and the pre part is almost like pre-med with all the prerequisites you need to take. It was very science heavy. Part of the reason that I took my friend’s advice is, I thought it would be a nice break from the science to take something like intro to acting, which it was.
What was your first big break?
I guess I’ve had several because I know I was cast in a play at The Nuyorican Poets Café, a legendary place for poets and art makers. I would call that a break because it was my first lead role in a play. It was called the The Goong Hay Kid by Alvin Eng. It’s about a Chinese American rapper. It was really amazing to not only headline this play, but be in that kind of space.
How old were you?
Early to mid 20s. Film-wise, Rush Hour was my first real thing.
Fit Two
Shirt by James Perse and trousers by Bellerose.
Do you think being a New Yorker has any impact on your ability to act or how you act?
Yes, probably, in that there’s a sense of nobody cares—in a good way. Acting may tend to put this attention on yourself, that may lead you to present in a way where you’re always seeking approval. New York conditions you not to care about that so much, because you don’t get that approval, which is ironic because with Industry, I have people stopping me all the time now in this town that is famously unimpressed. A lot of people are really impressed, which is really just surreal and cool and a gift.
More so than Lost?
Yeah. By the time I was on Lost, it was the halfway point of the show already. And I think ’cause it was new as far as attention was new to me, maybe I wasn’t open to it as much. Suddenly people are stopping you, and if that’s never happened before. It could be very off-putting.
I’m a big fan of Lost. I wanted to hear a little bit about your time on the show. How did you get the role of Miles, and was there anything interesting you took away from it all?
It was because of the episode of The Sopranos that I did.
Fit Three
Shirt Boglioli and trousers by Descendant of Thieves.
Which is amazing.
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Hughes watched it and then offered me the role. I remember that first phone call with Carlton, I was trying to get to what kind of character I was playing. I didn’t really know the show that well. I knew of it; I didn’t really watch it. He was very vague and basic with the information that he gave me, which looking back, that is how they did things. He just basically said, “Just show up, be present, and let’s see how it goes.” I was nervous about it. I’m a city animal and I had never been to Hawaii. I had this image of what it must be like based on… I don’t know what. The Brady Bunch and travel shows. Vast green fields and How am I going to get anywhere? How am I going to get everything I need?It was the fourth season that I joined, so by that time, a lot of the cast, they were friends already. They had their relationships already, so it took a little adjusting to. Hawaii is a famously idyllic paradise. But underneath is a people fighting for their sovereignty. Native Hawaiians still see Hawaii as occupied territory, and I wasn’t ever aware of that part of it. So, to be aware of that and to be aware of things like the H-3, which is this highway that runs through these mountains that are royal burial grounds where Hawaiian royalty was buried. Crazy, weird things happen on that highway. This is land that the U.S. Military has taken over and practiced runs of bombing these sacred burial grounds. You almost feel called to action when you’re brought into something like that. To this day, my wife and I have a very strong, deep relationship with Hawaii. It’s thanks to Lost. I have been back for projects since then. We still have friends there from [the Lost days]. I never think of Hawaii as a place where I will never go back. I’ve never thought that about any other place other than New York. In that sense, it’s almost like a second home. I’m reluctant to say that because of all the things we’re talking about. It’s not your home. You’re lucky to be a guest there.
I haven’t watched Industry yet. What do you like about the show? Did you seek it out?
It was an open call audition. What drew me at first is the writing is unlike any other project, in that it’s about high finance that takes place in the London branch of this American investment bank, and Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the two creators and showrunners, they’re of this world. They’re writing from a place of lived experience. You can feel that in the writing, in that the writing doesn’t always make sense, but you can feel the ring of truth in it, even though you don’t hundred percent understand what’s going on sometimes. Because it’s finance and there’s a lot of jargon, you can tell that the writing is coming from knowledge. You don’t always feel that. Sometimes you feel cleverness in the writing, which is not good or bad. It’s just very different. The other thing I was drawn to was the challenge of inhabiting this world that I knew zero about. It was like, “I don’t know if I can do this.” And often that impulse of, “I don’t know if I can do this,” is the loudest reason to do it.
Fit Four
Jacket by Descendant of Thieves, shirt by Officine Générale, and trousers by Bellerose.
When did you first become interested in clothing and style?
I still have yet to be. I like to say that I have the fashion of the invisible. I like to wear what I can sleep in. I feel like I get a lot of attention in life just by virtue of being an actor. Cameras or lights—I’m being lit and cameras are in my face, people are watching me. So I don’t need any more of that, or certainly don’t need to ask for any more of that. As far as dressing day-to-day, I want to be comfortable. Don’t need to impress anybody. I typically wear the same thing every day, and it’s because it’s what I took off and threw by the side of my bed and it’s right there, so I grabbed that. So it’s also the fashion of convenience.
Can you remember your first significant purchase?
This Sage de Crete jacket here is like a house. I love it because it comes apart and I just wear this as a raincoat when I don’t need it to be so warm. But this shearling liner makes it super warm. I’ve had it for, gosh, maybe close to 10 years, and it was like a thousand dollars, which at the time it was unheard of that I would buy something that would cost that much. It’s like part of my identity now.
Fit Five
Sweater by Battenwear, hoodie by Express, and trousers by Descendant of Thieves.
Do you think New York City has any impact on your style growing up here?
Just the extremity of the weather. That coat is one of very few things that will keep one warm enough when it gets to these brutal winters. And likewise, the brutal summers.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
It would be this sweater. Those baggy grey pants. This scarf thing, but it’s got a lot of holes in it. In my mind, I feel like I can wear this in a way where it can fit almost any occasion, no matter how casual or even how formal.
And these On sneakers?
I just wear these all the time because they’re waterproof. They feel comfortable. They don’t take any breaking in.
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