Reggie Lee

Before he became widely known as the sardonic cop Sgt. Wu on the NBC fantasy series "Grimm" (2011-17), Reggie Lee built his career playing tough guys in both movies and television. His first major role came in 2001 when he was cast as a villainous biker in "The Fast and the Furious." The action-driven racing movie went on to earn over $200 million at the box office, thus catapulting Lee and the rest of his cast into the national spotlight. From there the offers began to pour in, with Lee playing similar bad guy roles in movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006) and Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell" (2009), as well as on the popular FOX series, "Prison Break" (2005-09). With his most recent role on "Grimm," however, Reggie Lee has proven he's just as effective playing a wisecracking police detective, thus cementing his status as a versatile character actor with a bright future of colorful roles ahead of him.

Born Reggie Valdez in Quezon City, Philippines, Reggie moved to the United States with his family while still a young boy. The newly arrived family settled in the suburbs of Cleveland, and although Reggie's first language was Tagalog, he quickly became fluent in English. Never one for sports, Reggie became the school's spelling bee champion in junior high. He took a serious interest in acting while in high school, performing in local plays throughout his community, and even taking an internship at the Cleveland Playhouse. By the time graduation rolled around, Lee, who excelled academically throughout high school, had to choose between college and acting. By this time Lee had already been accepted into Harvard, and his parents were pushing for him to become a doctor like his father. But for Lee, choosing a career in medicine was never something he envisioned himself doing for the rest of his life. Now with his mind made up, Reggie Lee packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles.

Whereas most aspiring actors struggle for years, sometimes even decades, before landing a break, success came relatively quickly for Lee. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, he landed his first major role performing on the national tour of the traveling musical, "Miss Saigon." He then appeared in the 1994 Broadway revival of "Carousel," before landing bit roles in numerous television shows throughout the late '90s. However, it was not until he appeared as the villainous member of a biker gang in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) that Lee's career really began to take off. In the years that followed, Lee earned more of a following for playing similar bad guy roles in films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006) and the Jason Statham actioner "Safe" (2012), as well on the television show "Prison Break." Then in 2011, he nabbed the part of Sgt. Wu on "Grimm," a television series with a fantastical take on the classic crime procedural. As Sgt. Wu, Lee is able to show off his facility with humorous fare, often serving as the show's comedic relief, while spouting his character's sarcastic one-liners with bone-dry delivery.