Tzi Ma (born 10 June 1962; age 63) is the actor who played a biomolecular specialist in the Star Trek: The Next Generation second season episode "Samaritan Snare".
Ma was born in Hong Kong but moved to the United States with his family as a child. He grew up in Staten Island, New York, where his family owned a restaurant, and started acting at the New York theatre scene in the 1970s. He made his cinema debut in Cocaine Cowboys (1979).
Ma is well known for his role as Consul / Ambassador Han in Rush Hour (1998, with Mark Rolston and Gene LeBell) and Rush Hour 3 (2007, with Hélène Cardona). He is also known for his recurring role as Cheng Zhi on 24 between 2005 and 2007 (with Mia Kirshner, Roger Cross, Jude Ciccolella, Gregory Itzin, Keith Szarabajka, Jonathan Del Arco, Glenn Morshower, Megan Gallagher, Raphael Sbarge, Robert Duncan McNeill, James Cromwell, and Bob Gunton).
Ma also appeared in such films as The Money Pit (1986), RoboCop 2 (1990, with Stephen Lee, Robert DoQui, Jeff McCarthy, Mark Rolston, John Glover, and Bill Bolender), Dante's Peak (1997, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, with Bill Bolender), Red Corner (1997), The Ladykillers (2004, with Stephen Root, Greg Grunberg, Aldis Hodge, and Freda Foh Shen), Akeelah and the Bee (2006, with Craig Wasson and Bonita Friedericy), and Arrival (2016, with Russell Yuen and Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon).
Besides his film work, Ma appeared in (occasionally recurring) guest roles on L.A. Law (starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake, directed by Win Phelps), MacGyver (with Robert Ito and Keone Young), Chicago Hope (with James W. Jansen and Bruce Davison), Walker, Texas Ranger (with Reggie Lee), Nash Bridges (with Cary-Hiroyuki, Serena Scott Thomas, Mary Mara, Athena Massey, Tracey Walter, Stephen Lee, and Nikita Ager), ER (with Michelle Krusiec and Lisa Vidal), Law & Order (with Chris Sarandon), The Practice (with Freda Foh Shen), JAG (with Zoe McLellan, directed by Richard Compton), Deadwood (starring Timothy Olyphant, with Jim Beaver, Brad Dourif, Titus Welliver, and Pasha Lychnikoff), Grey's Anatomy (with Rosalind Chao), Cold Case (with Irene Tsu), Fringe (starring Joshua Jackson and John Noble, developed by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci), NCIS: Los Angeles, Lie to Me (with Melissa George and Tarina Pouncy, directed by Roxann Dawson), Hawaii Five-0 (starring Daniel Dae Kim, developed by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci), Perception (with Neal McDonough, created by Kenneth Biller and Michael Sussman), Saving Hope (starring Huse Madhavji, with Tyler Hynes), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Elementary.
Ma also voiced the character Bah Bah in ten episodes of Seth MacFarlane's American Dad!, starring Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, and Dee Bradley Baker, with Patrick Stewart, Amy Hill, and Fred Tatasciore.
In 2015, Ma had a recurring role in the fifth season of Hell on Wheels, starring Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, and Christopher Heyerdahl, with Chelah Horsdal and Fiona Vroom in guest roles, and including an episode directed by David Straiton. In the following year he had a recurring role on The Man in the High Castle, alongside Cary-Hiroyuki, Stephen Root, Daniel Roebuck, Rick Worthy, Chelah Horsdal, Callum Keith Rennie, Hiro Kanagawa, Kenneth Tigar, and Fiona Vroom. Between 2016 and 2019, he appeared in a recurring role on Veep, starring Gary Cole, Sufe M. Bradshaw, Diedrich Bader, and Sam Richardson, with K Callan, Usman Ally, John Carroll Lynch, and Michael McKean in guest roles.
He also appeared in Mulan (2020), as the father of the titular character, with Rosalind Chao playing his wife, and co-starred in Kung Fu (2021-23).
External links[]
- Tzi Ma at Wikipedia
- Tzi Ma at the Internet Movie Database