Andrew Julian Hiroaki Koji is an English actor, martial artist and stuntman of mixed English and Japanese heritage.
Life and career
Born in 1987, Koji grew up in Epsom, Surrey. Raised in a single mother household, Koji witnessed his biological parents part ways as a kid. Koji cites his mother as one of the main factors to his wanting success, "My mum's getting old, and I have to be able to make sure she's okay." He is one part English and one part Japanese. Because of his mixed heritage, Koji identifies as belonging to mixed ethnicity. Koji started in the industry doing extra work and making short films as a teenager. At 18 he moved to Thailand while still training in martial arts and did some small jobs there where they were making a lot of films. Then he moved to Japan seeking work, where he was able to find work working both in front and behind the camera for a while before returning to England to train at the Actors' Temple Studio in London. Over time he started getting more jobs in theatre and TV, where Koji was quoted as saying, "In the UK my dual heritage has not particularly been advantageous. Opportunities for East Asian actors at the time was and still is quite limited although things are changing." With dreams of becoming an actor, Andrew Koji dropped out of college at the age of 19 to solely focus on his acting, and he began doing more towards his martial arts career. Into his 20s, Koji studied and competed in taekwondo and trained in Shaolin kung fu at the Shaolin Temple UK. While he writes and produces his own films, Koji also worked as a stunt double; most notably on Fast & Furious 6. In the past Andrew Koji also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, at the Regents Park Open Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court, Charing Cross, and Ovalhouse among others. Despite relative success, Koji felt discouraged due to the lack of high-profile roles he had received, but this changed when he auditioned and secured the main role of Ah Sahm on the cinemax series, Warrior. Luckily, although Andrew Koji was again discouraged to take on the role, "I didn't think I was right for it and all those things." but was encouraged by his mother, who told him, "Oh you should just try it. It sounds fun. Let's have fun and we'll do a self-tape.". To which he was able to film his audition tape, which they filmed in his garage, balancing makeshift lights and a camera on a ladder to film it, and the rest is history. In October 2017, it was announced Koji would be playing the lead character Ah Sahm in the Cinemax show Warrior. Based on an original idea by Bruce Lee and produced by filmmaker Justin Lin, the series is centered around a martial arts prodigy in the late 1870s who emigrates from China to America in search of his sister, only to be drawn into the Tong Wars of San Francisco. In a nod to Lee's ethnic background, Ah Sahm is of partial European ancestry from his white American grandfather, which Koji found relatable due to his own mixed ancestry. In April 2019 the show was renewed for a second season. In August 2019, Koji was cast as Storm Shadow for the upcoming Snake-Eyes movie.
Skills
According to his acting profile on the Eamonn Bedford Agency website, Koji's skills include: Acrobatics, Computer Literate, filmmaker, improvisation, Military training/ experience and he is able to speak in the following accents and dialects: American-New York, American-Southern states, American-Standard, Cockney, Irish-Southern, Japanese, London, RP, Scottish-standard, and South African. As for sports he is skilled in, they include: boxing, climbing, gymnastics, karate, kick boxing, kung fu, martial arts, stage combat, sword fighting, tae kwon do, and he is also able to do ADR and voice overs.
