Ken Bhan
- Actor
- Producer
Kenneth Mark Bhan, pronounced like autobahn, has true gifts to offer for everyone who meets him, whether it's on or off a stage. He jumps from character to character in his stand up, and knows more about quantum physics than anyone I've ever met. In film and television he's a chameleon, the last film I saw he spoke with an entirely different accent and didn't look like the person sitting in front of me.
We recently had lunch, and after we talked about cars, investments and he showed me a few magic tricks... All while gabbing extensively about his favorite four letter word, which I'll come to later...
I finally began scribbling notes about his work as an actor, which began in his hometown of Annapolis Maryland which is also home of the United States Naval Academy, where actors like Alec Baldwin and Denzel Washington have portrayed characters that 'went to Annapolis' ...Ironically, after scoring a perfect score on his math SAT's, Ken was accepted into a special program at the US Naval Academy, in Annapolis, and began training to be an engineer on a nuclear submarine. It lasted for three consecutive years while he was attending high school, before eventually enlisting, after graduation. To everyone's surprise, his eyesight and glasses prevented him from serving active duty in the U.S. Navy, after years of preparation and being fully admitted and endorsed by Maryland State Senator, Barbara Milkulski.
Free from the constraints of the Navy, he was able to begin working in community theater where his talents were quickly recognized. He was offered the lead role of Aladdin in Klassika's Theater production of "Aladdin" (1998) in Washington, DC. This event would transform him.
Later he was a featured supernumerary in "Julius Caesar" (1999) at the world famous Washington Opera, part of the prestigious Kennedy Center Complex in Washington, DC. His role involved extensive swordplay and choreography where he eventually would grab one of the opera singers and hold a sword inches from her face as she sings to the heavens during a climactic scene. This furthered his fascination and desire to perform in front of a live audience.
Ken became an acting major at Howard University where he often butted heads with Chadwick Boseman, best known for his role as "T'Challa" in the Marvel series the "Black Panther" and Oscar nomination for his work in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" produced by Denzel Washington and was a popular production at the university. Although Ken and Chad never had a fist fight, once Chad picked Ken up and carried him several feet away, before placing him down gently, next to a trash can. It was a win, for both parties. Fellow Howard student, Pop Singer, Frenchie Davis, often came to Ken's rescue when things got out of hand.
A year later Ken was back at the Kennedy Center as "Malik" along with fellow Howard student, Ronald Hysten, in the world premiere of "Chump Changes" (2000) an original play by Alan Sharpe, who wrote and directed the production. This time the stage was the prestigious AFI Theater which is part of the Kennedy Center Complex. His acting professor, Dr. Vera J. Katz would later rave about his performance, describing it as brilliant.
Also in 2000 he was asked to join the Screen Actors Guild while working on the TV show "The Young Americans" on the WB Network which was a spinoff of "Dawson's Creek." Ken was featured in multiple episodes and eventually left the show to travel to the United Kingdom where he received a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. Commonly referred to as BADA. A handful of actors from his university were selected, although he was the only one to receive a partial scholarship.
While training with BADA his teachers included John Barton, Fiona Shaw, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Turner and Ian Wooldridge who was also dean of the school. Ken was cast as the lead "Aimwell" in George Farquhar's, "The Beaux Stratagem" which he performed at the Baliol pavilion.
Ken became electrified by the theater scene in London, and performed in many plays and productions when he returned to Washington DC to complete his BFA in acting while minoring in directing. He booked another lead role in "Dancing with the Devil" in Washington, DC, where he was able to play a version of Mephistopheles. This was the first dark role he played and worked with his professor, Timmy Ray James at Howard University to help unlock the darkness, while not getting lost down the rabbit hole. It was at this time that he was able to develop his acting technique with the aid of professors like Dr. Vera J. Katz, Mike Malone, Kim Bey and Mark Jolin within the Fine Arts program at the university.
One day while he was sitting on the quad, he received a phone call from "Sex and the City" casting asking him to play a New York City cabbie. It's about five hours from Washington, DC to New York City, he made that drive many times during college. The next day, he ended up playing a taxi driver in the episode "Running with Scissors" giving Sarah Jessica Parker and Bridget Monaghan a ride in a cab, directed by Dennis Erdman.
He also worked on other popular HBO television series, "The Sopranos" and was featured in the episode "In College" and other critically acclaimed HBO TV series "The Wire" witch filmed in Baltimore, Maryland less than an hour away from his home.
Ken booked his first commercial in 2000 for the professional basketball team the "Washington Wizards" and would go on to book three more commercials the next year.
During college Ken would often play roles in Manhattan and New York and drive six hours up the New Jersey Turnpike to work on productions like "Madigan Men" (2000) between classes. He considered it training for his eventual drive to Los Angeles, where he knew he was headed.
After graduating from Howard University with a BFA in acting he set off on a cross country venture to Los Angeles where he settled in Venice Beach and managed to book an AT&T commercial within a couple of months of landing on the west coast. Ken trained with Bernard Hiller in Burbank California in scene study classes and prompted Bernard to describe some of his work as "an Oscar-worthy performance."
Ken's greatest accomplishment was cast in a TV sitcom series on Fox Television in 2008 with Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard, Patricia Heaton and Josh Gad directed by James Burrows. His greatest accomplishment became his biggest disappointment when the network television show was canceled due to a writer's strike.
He also appeared in the popular TV series "Lie to Me" (2009) where he played a lab technician opposite Tim Roth and Erica Christiansen with 20th Century Fox.
While the lead roles for East Indian actors are limited, he was featured in huge blockbuster films "Inception" (2009) directed by Christopher Nolan and "Iron Man: 2" (2010) directed by Jon Favreau.
Ken was cast in another lead role of "Sterling Raffey" in the TV pilot "The Trainer" (2010) where he plays an overconfident personal trainer, and complete idiot opposite Barry Williams, Alex Petrovitch, Tarneisha Stimage and Alice Walker, written and directed by Richard Alan Elias. Ken enjoyed the project so much he promoted it within the industry and was able to create multiple opportunities for the creator, who later gave Ken a 'producer' credit, at the advice of his publicist, who stated, "Ken is doing more for your project, then some of your actual producers."
Ken played a resident doctor in "The Good Doctor" (2011) directed by Lance Daly and winner in the Tribeca Film Festival. He supported fellow doctors, Orlando Bloom, Rob Morrow, Troy Garity and Taraji P. Henson in this feature film thriller written by John Enbom. Ken spent over a month on the project and was delighted when Rob Morrow and Orlando offered some career guidance and advice.
In 2012 Ken was involved in a near tragic automobile accident where somebody drove straight into the side of his car hitting the driver side door, which caused him to have two surgeries on his left arm and shoulder with three years of physical therapy following. After which he found himself addicted to prescription painkillers.
Once he was able to do pull ups again and got the okay from his surgeon to return to the gym, Ken made a resolve to never take prescription pain killers again.
During this time he began writing his first novel "One Man Wrecking Crew: New World Order" about two government agents working in the intelligence community, based in Washington, DC. His manuscript was noticed by former CEO of Pinnacle Books and Literary Agent, Stan Corwin, who described it as "a dynamite first novel" and gave it his blessing and began presenting Ken's manuscript to top publishers in New York.
In the wake of years of taking medication, he also returned to his childhood hobby of magic to help exercise his brain, and get his mind back in optimal form. In case you don't know, Ken's magic is all based on his favorite four letter word, which is math. Underneath his goofy exterior and persona, he's a complete nerd with an astonishing high IQ, scoring one hundred and fifty on his last IQ test. His deep dark secret, is he's a math genius.
Although magic is strictly a hobby for Ken, he's performed close-up magic at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and may become a member in the future. Ken prefers to be 'an actor pretending to be a magician' rather than an actual magician. This makes little sense to you or I, yet proves he's capable of overthinking just about everything.
Pontification comes easily to spiritual life coach "Guru Pradeep" Ken portrays in the dark feature film comedy "Bad People" (2016) written and directed by Alex Petrovitch and winner of multiple film awards and accolades. Producer Katherine Randolph noted Ken's performance in the film was particularly strong and many film goers said his scenes were the funniest part of the movie. Ken, of course credits the brilliant writing and is appreciative to Alex Petrovitch who introduced him to Richard Alan Elias, who cast Ken in the top billing role in the TV pilot, "The Trainer."
He recently returned to the screen in the independent feature film "Kings of L.A." (2023) where he played "Samir" opposite William Johnson, starring Paula Jai Parker, Michael Paré and Alimi Ballard directed by Van Elder. The cast also includes Darris Love and Janel Rodriguez. It's a gritty crime thriller set in south central Los Angeles and has become a favorite within the Los Angeles film community, which can only be described as a cult following and indie film at its best.
Ken just finished working on a Hulu Documentary series "High Guys" which should be airing in 2024.
When it comes to casting Ken, he prefers "cold read auditions" because his booking ratio is much higher for those. This is where the actor is given the script upon their arrival to the studio, with limited time to prepare. He says this helps him not "overthink" the role and provides an organic experience, working with casting, the director and other producers or actors... Which leads to better work.
When Ken is not on a film or television set you can find him doing stand-up comedy in local comedy clubs, or, in his garage tinkering with his automobiles, adding custom features that can do things like brew a cup of tea, inflate your tires, and turn your car into a private lighted makeup studio... Which is perfect for auditioning, or filming, something actors are familiar with. All this, and occasionally "drifting" around corners with millimetric precision. Ken possesses the rare ability to "drift" cars which he tells me is called "Power Oversteer" and started when he was fifteen years old. Ken has done several car stunts in film and television, mostly in a taxi cab. His roadster was featured in a video by hiphop artist "ScHoolboy Q" which was played at a recent Coachella concert where he does an impressive burn out in the manual transmission sports car.
Although Ken is an avid car enthusiast he also promotes intelligent driving and has an immaculate record with zero tickets in the last fifteen years, even though he often drives from Los Angeles to Washington DC, and back again to visit his family in Annapolis. I asked him how many times have you driven across the country, he said, "At least fifty, probably more... Every time you drive across the country, you usually have to drive back, so you double the number..."
I replied, "Let me guess, math?"
If you have a chance to bump into him and he asks if you want to see a magic trick, my advice is to say yes, because he'll blow your mind, it's a mathematical certainty.
We recently had lunch, and after we talked about cars, investments and he showed me a few magic tricks... All while gabbing extensively about his favorite four letter word, which I'll come to later...
I finally began scribbling notes about his work as an actor, which began in his hometown of Annapolis Maryland which is also home of the United States Naval Academy, where actors like Alec Baldwin and Denzel Washington have portrayed characters that 'went to Annapolis' ...Ironically, after scoring a perfect score on his math SAT's, Ken was accepted into a special program at the US Naval Academy, in Annapolis, and began training to be an engineer on a nuclear submarine. It lasted for three consecutive years while he was attending high school, before eventually enlisting, after graduation. To everyone's surprise, his eyesight and glasses prevented him from serving active duty in the U.S. Navy, after years of preparation and being fully admitted and endorsed by Maryland State Senator, Barbara Milkulski.
Free from the constraints of the Navy, he was able to begin working in community theater where his talents were quickly recognized. He was offered the lead role of Aladdin in Klassika's Theater production of "Aladdin" (1998) in Washington, DC. This event would transform him.
Later he was a featured supernumerary in "Julius Caesar" (1999) at the world famous Washington Opera, part of the prestigious Kennedy Center Complex in Washington, DC. His role involved extensive swordplay and choreography where he eventually would grab one of the opera singers and hold a sword inches from her face as she sings to the heavens during a climactic scene. This furthered his fascination and desire to perform in front of a live audience.
Ken became an acting major at Howard University where he often butted heads with Chadwick Boseman, best known for his role as "T'Challa" in the Marvel series the "Black Panther" and Oscar nomination for his work in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" produced by Denzel Washington and was a popular production at the university. Although Ken and Chad never had a fist fight, once Chad picked Ken up and carried him several feet away, before placing him down gently, next to a trash can. It was a win, for both parties. Fellow Howard student, Pop Singer, Frenchie Davis, often came to Ken's rescue when things got out of hand.
A year later Ken was back at the Kennedy Center as "Malik" along with fellow Howard student, Ronald Hysten, in the world premiere of "Chump Changes" (2000) an original play by Alan Sharpe, who wrote and directed the production. This time the stage was the prestigious AFI Theater which is part of the Kennedy Center Complex. His acting professor, Dr. Vera J. Katz would later rave about his performance, describing it as brilliant.
Also in 2000 he was asked to join the Screen Actors Guild while working on the TV show "The Young Americans" on the WB Network which was a spinoff of "Dawson's Creek." Ken was featured in multiple episodes and eventually left the show to travel to the United Kingdom where he received a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. Commonly referred to as BADA. A handful of actors from his university were selected, although he was the only one to receive a partial scholarship.
While training with BADA his teachers included John Barton, Fiona Shaw, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Turner and Ian Wooldridge who was also dean of the school. Ken was cast as the lead "Aimwell" in George Farquhar's, "The Beaux Stratagem" which he performed at the Baliol pavilion.
Ken became electrified by the theater scene in London, and performed in many plays and productions when he returned to Washington DC to complete his BFA in acting while minoring in directing. He booked another lead role in "Dancing with the Devil" in Washington, DC, where he was able to play a version of Mephistopheles. This was the first dark role he played and worked with his professor, Timmy Ray James at Howard University to help unlock the darkness, while not getting lost down the rabbit hole. It was at this time that he was able to develop his acting technique with the aid of professors like Dr. Vera J. Katz, Mike Malone, Kim Bey and Mark Jolin within the Fine Arts program at the university.
One day while he was sitting on the quad, he received a phone call from "Sex and the City" casting asking him to play a New York City cabbie. It's about five hours from Washington, DC to New York City, he made that drive many times during college. The next day, he ended up playing a taxi driver in the episode "Running with Scissors" giving Sarah Jessica Parker and Bridget Monaghan a ride in a cab, directed by Dennis Erdman.
He also worked on other popular HBO television series, "The Sopranos" and was featured in the episode "In College" and other critically acclaimed HBO TV series "The Wire" witch filmed in Baltimore, Maryland less than an hour away from his home.
Ken booked his first commercial in 2000 for the professional basketball team the "Washington Wizards" and would go on to book three more commercials the next year.
During college Ken would often play roles in Manhattan and New York and drive six hours up the New Jersey Turnpike to work on productions like "Madigan Men" (2000) between classes. He considered it training for his eventual drive to Los Angeles, where he knew he was headed.
After graduating from Howard University with a BFA in acting he set off on a cross country venture to Los Angeles where he settled in Venice Beach and managed to book an AT&T commercial within a couple of months of landing on the west coast. Ken trained with Bernard Hiller in Burbank California in scene study classes and prompted Bernard to describe some of his work as "an Oscar-worthy performance."
Ken's greatest accomplishment was cast in a TV sitcom series on Fox Television in 2008 with Kelsey Grammer, Fred Willard, Patricia Heaton and Josh Gad directed by James Burrows. His greatest accomplishment became his biggest disappointment when the network television show was canceled due to a writer's strike.
He also appeared in the popular TV series "Lie to Me" (2009) where he played a lab technician opposite Tim Roth and Erica Christiansen with 20th Century Fox.
While the lead roles for East Indian actors are limited, he was featured in huge blockbuster films "Inception" (2009) directed by Christopher Nolan and "Iron Man: 2" (2010) directed by Jon Favreau.
Ken was cast in another lead role of "Sterling Raffey" in the TV pilot "The Trainer" (2010) where he plays an overconfident personal trainer, and complete idiot opposite Barry Williams, Alex Petrovitch, Tarneisha Stimage and Alice Walker, written and directed by Richard Alan Elias. Ken enjoyed the project so much he promoted it within the industry and was able to create multiple opportunities for the creator, who later gave Ken a 'producer' credit, at the advice of his publicist, who stated, "Ken is doing more for your project, then some of your actual producers."
Ken played a resident doctor in "The Good Doctor" (2011) directed by Lance Daly and winner in the Tribeca Film Festival. He supported fellow doctors, Orlando Bloom, Rob Morrow, Troy Garity and Taraji P. Henson in this feature film thriller written by John Enbom. Ken spent over a month on the project and was delighted when Rob Morrow and Orlando offered some career guidance and advice.
In 2012 Ken was involved in a near tragic automobile accident where somebody drove straight into the side of his car hitting the driver side door, which caused him to have two surgeries on his left arm and shoulder with three years of physical therapy following. After which he found himself addicted to prescription painkillers.
Once he was able to do pull ups again and got the okay from his surgeon to return to the gym, Ken made a resolve to never take prescription pain killers again.
During this time he began writing his first novel "One Man Wrecking Crew: New World Order" about two government agents working in the intelligence community, based in Washington, DC. His manuscript was noticed by former CEO of Pinnacle Books and Literary Agent, Stan Corwin, who described it as "a dynamite first novel" and gave it his blessing and began presenting Ken's manuscript to top publishers in New York.
In the wake of years of taking medication, he also returned to his childhood hobby of magic to help exercise his brain, and get his mind back in optimal form. In case you don't know, Ken's magic is all based on his favorite four letter word, which is math. Underneath his goofy exterior and persona, he's a complete nerd with an astonishing high IQ, scoring one hundred and fifty on his last IQ test. His deep dark secret, is he's a math genius.
Although magic is strictly a hobby for Ken, he's performed close-up magic at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and may become a member in the future. Ken prefers to be 'an actor pretending to be a magician' rather than an actual magician. This makes little sense to you or I, yet proves he's capable of overthinking just about everything.
Pontification comes easily to spiritual life coach "Guru Pradeep" Ken portrays in the dark feature film comedy "Bad People" (2016) written and directed by Alex Petrovitch and winner of multiple film awards and accolades. Producer Katherine Randolph noted Ken's performance in the film was particularly strong and many film goers said his scenes were the funniest part of the movie. Ken, of course credits the brilliant writing and is appreciative to Alex Petrovitch who introduced him to Richard Alan Elias, who cast Ken in the top billing role in the TV pilot, "The Trainer."
He recently returned to the screen in the independent feature film "Kings of L.A." (2023) where he played "Samir" opposite William Johnson, starring Paula Jai Parker, Michael Paré and Alimi Ballard directed by Van Elder. The cast also includes Darris Love and Janel Rodriguez. It's a gritty crime thriller set in south central Los Angeles and has become a favorite within the Los Angeles film community, which can only be described as a cult following and indie film at its best.
Ken just finished working on a Hulu Documentary series "High Guys" which should be airing in 2024.
When it comes to casting Ken, he prefers "cold read auditions" because his booking ratio is much higher for those. This is where the actor is given the script upon their arrival to the studio, with limited time to prepare. He says this helps him not "overthink" the role and provides an organic experience, working with casting, the director and other producers or actors... Which leads to better work.
When Ken is not on a film or television set you can find him doing stand-up comedy in local comedy clubs, or, in his garage tinkering with his automobiles, adding custom features that can do things like brew a cup of tea, inflate your tires, and turn your car into a private lighted makeup studio... Which is perfect for auditioning, or filming, something actors are familiar with. All this, and occasionally "drifting" around corners with millimetric precision. Ken possesses the rare ability to "drift" cars which he tells me is called "Power Oversteer" and started when he was fifteen years old. Ken has done several car stunts in film and television, mostly in a taxi cab. His roadster was featured in a video by hiphop artist "ScHoolboy Q" which was played at a recent Coachella concert where he does an impressive burn out in the manual transmission sports car.
Although Ken is an avid car enthusiast he also promotes intelligent driving and has an immaculate record with zero tickets in the last fifteen years, even though he often drives from Los Angeles to Washington DC, and back again to visit his family in Annapolis. I asked him how many times have you driven across the country, he said, "At least fifty, probably more... Every time you drive across the country, you usually have to drive back, so you double the number..."
I replied, "Let me guess, math?"
If you have a chance to bump into him and he asks if you want to see a magic trick, my advice is to say yes, because he'll blow your mind, it's a mathematical certainty.
