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Born Insub Choi in South Korea in 1974, Choi moved to Canada at the age of one and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario, which is now part of Toronto.<ref name="library.ryerson.ca">{{Cite web|title=Ins Choi {{!}} Asian Heritage in Canada|url=https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/ins-choi/|access-date=June 3, 2019}}</ref> An immigration officer misspelled his name as "Insurp" and in Grade 9 Choi began using the name "Danny." <ref>{{Cite web|last=Bell|first=David|date=November 2, 2018|title=Kim's Convenience co-creator on anglicization, role models and comedy as a uniting force|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ins-choi-kims-convenience-1.4889951}}</ref> When he went to the acting program at York University, he met other struggling Asian immigrants and became inspired to adopt Ins as a shortened form of his birth name. {{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}
Born Insub Choi in South Korea in 1974, Choi moved to Canada at the age of one and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario, which is now part of Toronto.<ref name="library.ryerson.ca">{{Cite web|title=Ins Choi {{!}} Asian Heritage in Canada|url=https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/ins-choi/|access-date=June 3, 2019}}</ref> An immigration officer misspelled his name as "Insurp" and in Grade 9 Choi began using the name "Danny." <ref>{{Cite web|last=Bell|first=David|date=November 2, 2018|title=Kim's Convenience co-creator on anglicization, role models and comedy as a uniting force|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ins-choi-kims-convenience-1.4889951}}</ref> When he went to the acting program at York University, he met other struggling Asian immigrants and became inspired to adopt Ins as a shortened form of his birth name. {{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}


As a child, Choi played volleyball, football, rugby, hockey, was cast in a school production called "Damn Yankees" at Victoria Park S.S., and performed in ''Banana Boys''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Big Interview: Playwright Ins Choi makes it big with Kim's Convenience {{!}} The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2012/01/12/the_big_interview_playwright_ins_choi_makes_it_big_with_kims_convenience.html |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=thestar.com |language=en}}</ref> After school he worked at his parents’ friends' convenience stores.<ref>{{Cite web |last=May 20 |first=Ottawa Citizen Updated |last2=2014 |date=January 21, 2014 |title=A convenient solution {{!}} Ottawa Citizen |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/a-convenient-solution |access-date=June 3, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Choi attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute in the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lexis Advance® - Sign In {{!}} LexisNexis |url=https://signin.lexisnexis.com/lnaccess/app/signin?back=https%3A%2F%2Fadvance.lexis.com%3A443%2Furl-api%2Flaapi%2Fdocument%3Fcollection%3Dnews%26id%3Durn%253AcontentItem%253A5BB9-NCY1-DY2T-82V4-00000-00%26context%3D1516831.&aci=la |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=signin.lexisnexis.com}}</ref> Choi graduated from York University's theatre program in 1998<ref name="library.ryerson.ca" />
As a child, Choi played volleyball, football, rugby, hockey, was cast in a school production called "Damn Yankees" at Victoria Park S.S., and performed in ''Banana Boys''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Big Interview: Playwright Ins Choi makes it big with Kim's Convenience {{!}} The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2012/01/12/the_big_interview_playwright_ins_choi_makes_it_big_with_kims_convenience.html |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=thestar.com |language=en}}</ref> After school he worked at his parents’ friends' convenience stores.<ref>{{Cite web |last=May 20 |first=Ottawa Citizen Updated |last2=2014 |date=January 21, 2014 |title=A convenient solution {{!}} Ottawa Citizen |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/a-convenient-solution |access-date=June 3, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Choi attended [[North Toronto Collegiate Institute]] in the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lexis Advance® - Sign In {{!}} LexisNexis |url=https://signin.lexisnexis.com/lnaccess/app/signin?back=https%3A%2F%2Fadvance.lexis.com%3A443%2Furl-api%2Flaapi%2Fdocument%3Fcollection%3Dnews%26id%3Durn%253AcontentItem%253A5BB9-NCY1-DY2T-82V4-00000-00%26context%3D1516831.&aci=la |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=signin.lexisnexis.com}}</ref> Choi graduated from York University's theatre program in 1998<ref name="library.ryerson.ca" />


Choi was rejected the first time he applied to the fine arts program at York. "I wasn't talented enough", Choi says.<ref name=":0" /> He completed a Master of Theological Studies instead at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.<ref name="library.ryerson.ca" /> In that time he was forced to read more and do more reading analysis; Choi asserts that this scholarly activity made him a better writer and were a contributing factor to his success.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Kim's Convenience Creator Reflects on his background as a theology student {{!}} Faith Today Blog |url=https://l.faithtoday.ca/2NKZCnf |access-date=June 3, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> His professors at Wycliffe, such as John Bowen, Brian Walsh, and Marion Taylor were a great influence, and encouraged him to be an artist.<ref name=":1" />
Choi was rejected the first time he applied to the fine arts program at York. "I wasn't talented enough", Choi says.<ref name=":0" /> He completed a Master of Theological Studies instead at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.<ref name="library.ryerson.ca" /> In that time he was forced to read more and do more reading analysis; Choi asserts that this scholarly activity made him a better writer and were a contributing factor to his success.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Kim's Convenience Creator Reflects on his background as a theology student {{!}} Faith Today Blog |url=https://l.faithtoday.ca/2NKZCnf |access-date=June 3, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> His professors at Wycliffe, such as John Bowen, Brian Walsh, and Marion Taylor were a great influence, and encouraged him to be an artist.<ref name=":1" />

Revision as of 17:11, 14 March 2021

Ins Choi
Born1974
South Korea
NationalityCanadian
Alma materYork University
Occupation(s)Playwright, Screenwriter, Actor

Ins Choi (Korean: 최인섭; RR: Choe Inseob) is a Korean Canadian actor and playwright best known for his Dora Mavor Moore Award-nominated 2011 play Kim's Convenience[1][2] and its subsequent TV adaptation.

Choi was born in South Korea and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He is a graduate of the theatre program at York University.[1]

Early life

Born Insub Choi in South Korea in 1974, Choi moved to Canada at the age of one and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario, which is now part of Toronto.[3] An immigration officer misspelled his name as "Insurp" and in Grade 9 Choi began using the name "Danny." [4] When he went to the acting program at York University, he met other struggling Asian immigrants and became inspired to adopt Ins as a shortened form of his birth name. [citation needed]

As a child, Choi played volleyball, football, rugby, hockey, was cast in a school production called "Damn Yankees" at Victoria Park S.S., and performed in Banana Boys.[5] After school he worked at his parents’ friends' convenience stores.[6] Choi attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute in the early 1990s.[7] Choi graduated from York University's theatre program in 1998[3]

Choi was rejected the first time he applied to the fine arts program at York. "I wasn't talented enough", Choi says.[5] He completed a Master of Theological Studies instead at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.[3] In that time he was forced to read more and do more reading analysis; Choi asserts that this scholarly activity made him a better writer and were a contributing factor to his success.[8] His professors at Wycliffe, such as John Bowen, Brian Walsh, and Marion Taylor were a great influence, and encouraged him to be an artist.[8]

Choi worked with fu-GEN, a Toronto based Asian Canadian theatre company, which helped him figure out what he wanted to portray to an audience through his work.[5] Choi has cited the importance of community and said it was his goal to take his shows to Korean communities worldwide.[5] Working with fu-GEN showed him "who [he] really was and what [he] really wanted to say mattered in the world of art," according to Choi, and inspired him to write Kim's Convenience.[5]

Career

Choi's writing experience came from songwriting, poetry, and eventually play-writing. He proceeded to write for television and turned Kim's Convenience into a popular TV show on CBC. He is an official co-creator, producer, and main screenwriter. Choi claims to take inspiration in strange places, exemplified by his play The Subway Stations of the Cross, which Choi says was inspired by the homeless and mentally ill men he met in parks and public spaces across Toronto.[9] He has also created the show, The Beats and the Breaks, about hip-hop, as well as The KJV: The Bible Show.[10] In 2018 and 2019 Choi toured with his stage show Ins Choi: Songs, Stories and Spoken Word. [11]

On March 8, 2021, the Kim's Convenience TV series producers announced the show would end after its fifth season, due to Choi and co-creator Kevin White, "moving onto other projects."[12]

Some awards and achievements won by the Kim's Convenience team are:

  • Best Picture Editing in a Comedy Program or Series (Kye Meechan) (2017)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) (2017)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role or Guest Role in a Comedy Series (Andrew Phung) (2017)
  • Best Supporting or Guest Actor, Comedy (Andrew Phung) (2018)
  • Best Lead Actor, Comedy (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) (2018)
  • Best Comedy Series (2018)[13]

Personal life

Choi has said his father was born in North Korea and "walked south" with his family as a child. Choi's mother grew up in South Korea, where she met and married her husband before emigrating to Canada with Choi and his two siblings in 1975. [14]

According to Choi, his mother is strict. However, she gets things done, which is where he maintains dual attributes of being artistic, focused, and determined.[5] His father used to be a pastor of an immigrant church in downtown Toronto that he personally owned and founded.[15]

Ins met his wife Mari before her birthday. Years later he saw her again at a mutual friend's wedding and finally found the courage to ask her out. According to Choi that was one of the best days of his life.[15] Choi currently lives in Canada with his wife. He is enjoying family life, which was always a substantial value for him, especially since his father was a religious person and believed in the family as an institution.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Kim's Convenience drawing TV interest, Ins Choi says". CBC News, July 7, 2013.
  2. ^ "Ins Choi: Actor/writer sells some hard-hitting immigrant truths in Kim’s Convenience". NOW, July 7, 2011
  3. ^ a b c "Ins Choi | Asian Heritage in Canada". Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Bell, David (November 2, 2018). "Kim's Convenience co-creator on anglicization, role models and comedy as a uniting force".
  5. ^ a b c d e f "The Big Interview: Playwright Ins Choi makes it big with Kim's Convenience | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  6. ^ May 20, Ottawa Citizen Updated; 2014 (January 21, 2014). "A convenient solution | Ottawa Citizen". Retrieved June 3, 2019. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Lexis Advance® - Sign In | LexisNexis". signin.lexisnexis.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Kim's Convenience Creator Reflects on his background as a theology student | Faith Today Blog". Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Goldman, Jessica (October 3, 2013). "Subway Stations of the Cross – Review". Applause! Meter. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  10. ^ "12 to watch in 2012: Ins Choi | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  11. ^ "Ins Choi: Songs, Stories and Spoken Words". On The Boards Staging Company. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  12. ^ "Kim's Convenience closing after 5 seasons on CBC | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  13. ^ "Kim's Convenience Gets Five Thumbs up at Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". National Post. May 31, 2012.
  14. ^ 2150191. "Kim's Convenience - Playbill". Issuu. Retrieved March 10, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  15. ^ a b Leadlay, Christina (February 10, 2017). "15 Things You Didn't Know about Playwright Ins Choi". The Hill Times.
  16. ^ Leadlay, Christina. "12 to watch in 2012: Ins Choi". thestar.com. The Star. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
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