Byron Mann is a Hong Kong American actor of film and television. His roles include Wing Chau in The Big Short, Chang in Hell on Wheels, Ryu in Street Fighter, Silver Lion in The Man with the Iron Fists, Admiral Nguyen in The Expanse, Yao Fei in the first season of Arrow and Uncle Six in the Netflix series Wu Assassins.
Early life
Mann was born in Hong Kong. Mann grew up bilingual in English and Cantonese. Mann attended the Diocesan Boys' School, an all-boys secondary school in Hong Kong, where he was active in community theatre as both an actor and a writer. After graduating, Mann moved to California.
Education
Mann received a degree in philosophy from UCLA in Los Angeles, California. After college, Byron attended USC Law School, but took a sabbatical after the first year. Back in Hong Kong, he received an acting role in the NBC Movie TV movie Last Flight Out. He returned to Los Angeles, graduated from USC Law, passed the California bar, and pursued acting full-time.
Career
In 1994, Mann's acting career began. Mann starred in films such as Red Corner and The Corruptor, and in the television showDark Angel, and has also co-starred in Catwoman and Invincible. He is best known as Ryu in Street Fighter and Koh in the manga-based movie Crying Freeman. In 2012, Mann starred alongside Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu in The Man with the Iron Fists, directed by RZA, and presented by Quentin Tarantino. In 2015, Mann appeared in The Big Short, a Paramount Picturesfeature film directed by Adam McKay, alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. He also was a series regular on AMC's Hell on Wheels, playing the powerful railroad mercenary Chang. In 2018, Mann was a recurring character on Netflix's Altered Carbon. Mann is interested in sports, especially tennis and golf. He was at one point a top-ranked tennis player, under 16 division, in Hong Kong. He is also a wushu practitioner, displaying his skills in a number of movies including Invincible and Street Fighter. In June 2018, it was announced that Mann was cast in the series regular role of Uncle Six on the Netflix series, Wu Assassins.
