Ken Leung thought he was going to be blue. When the audition for an unnamed, high-profile project came, the actor’s mind went to James Cameron’s Na’vi, not the martial arts world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s a fitting story for a career built on unexpected turns. Acting wasn’t the plan for the kid from New York’s Lower East Side who enrolled at NYU to study physical therapy. He stumbled into it during his junior year, taking a class that rerouted his entire future. This accidental path led him from downtown black-box theaters to a blistering debut as the villain Sang in Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour, a role that etched his intense presence into the minds of audiences and filmmakers alike.

Leung became a secret weapon for auteurs, a character actor who elevated every frame he occupied. Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg both came calling. He brought a quiet, unnerving energy to franchises like Saw and Star Wars, and then, a world-weary gravitas to the enigmatic Miles Straume in Lost, the role that made him a household face. Still, he moves like an artist avoiding a comfortable groove, whether playing a cutthroat managing director in HBO’s Industry or lending his talents to the Broadway stage in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Each performance is a quiet defiance of expectation, a reminder that the most interesting journeys are the ones that begin without a map.