--- name: "Tim Kang" canonical: "https://film.one/person/tim-kang" fi1m_id: "tim-kang" imdb_id: "nm1085727" tmdb_id: 52947 wikidata_id: "Q316982" roles: ["Actor"] born: "16 March 1973" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 71 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-23T12:14:45.369759+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Tim Kang ## Identity Tim Kang - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/tim-kang - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** tim-kang - **IMDb ID:** nm1085727 - **TMDB ID:** 52947 - **Wikidata ID:** Q316982 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kang, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316982, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1085727/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/52947 Actor. Born 16 March 1973 in San Francisco, California, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 16 March 1973, San Francisco, California, USA - **Active:** 2008–2009 - **Also known as:** Yila Timothy Kang , טים קאנג - **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kang, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316982, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1085727/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/52947 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*The Mentalist*](https://film.one/tv/the-mentalist.md) (71) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Tim Kang > Tim Kang’s quiet, deadpan authority gives a busy crime programme someone worth watching without demanding that it stop for him. We value that restraint, though the dependable policeman has become too easy a casting choice. As Kimball Cho in *The Mentalist* (2008), Tim Kang keeps his delivery level beside Simon Baker’s mischievous Patrick Jane. He gives Jane someone to play against without competing for the cleverest line. We were grateful for Cho’s deadpan delivery when Jane’s cleverness edged into smugness. That contrast helps an agreeable crime programme whose cases too often follow familiar lines, and it makes Kang useful for more than supplying another person to hear the explanation. Bruno Heller, the programme’s creator and writer, has an ensemble we would happily spend more time with. Robin Tunney’s Teresa Lisbon also gives Jane someone to play against, but recurring disagreements too often stand in for relationships that develop. Kang’s restraint suits the procedural; it cannot make repeated friction interesting on its own. We recommend *The Mentalist* with that caveat, and would hesitate to treat the writing’s limitations as evidence of an actor’s shortcomings. That long run established Kang in television detective drama, and the casting pattern is plain. His supporting role as En-Joo in *Rambo* (2008) sits alongside it, while playing Ray in Julia Cho’s *Aubergine* (2016) took him back to the stage. As Detective Gordon Katsumoto in *Magnum P.I.* (2018), he returned to regular police work on television. These are different jobs, but the repeated choice of Kang for authority figures is hardly mysterious. His focused delivery makes him a natural fit for parts that call for seriousness without much display. The danger is that dependability becomes all he is asked to provide. A performer who can hold to a quiet manner in a busy ensemble may be useful to a programme without getting much freedom within it. *The Mentalist* makes us wish for fuller relationships for Cho, not simply more disagreements for him to take part in. Start there for Kang, with patience for the formula; we would welcome a role that asks something less predictable of his composure. ## Biography Tim Kang is an American actor. Born Yila Timothy Kang on 16 March 1973 in San Francisco, California, he is of Korean descent. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at the American Repertory Theater and the Moscow Art Theatre. Kang began acting at the age of 26 after working in finance. He is best known for playing Special Agent Kimball Cho in the CBS series *The Mentalist* (2008–2015), appearing in all 151 episodes. His other credits include roles in *Rambo* (2008), *The Vampire Diaries* (2015), *American Horror Story* (2017), *A Wrinkle in Time* (2018) and the reboot of *Magnum, P.I.* (2018–2024) as Detective Gordon Katsumoto, as well as guest appearances in series such as *The Office*, *Monk* and *Ghost Whisperer*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, tvinsider.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Vampire Diaries* (2009), Fi1m 71, as Oscar — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-vampire-diaries.md) - *The Mentalist* (2008), Fi1m 71, as Kimball Cho — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mentalist.md) ## Complete filmography (29) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Traces* (2021), as Mark - *Magnum P.I.* (2018), series, as Gordon Katsumoto - *Dark, Deadly & Dreadful* (2018), as Dr. Ken (Room 731) - *Marvel's Cloak & Dagger* (2018), series, as Ivan Hess - *A Wrinkle in Time* (2018), as School Superintendent - *Chicago Justice* (2017), series, as Steve Kim - *Lethal Weapon* (2016), series, as Mike Serrano - *Rise* (2016), as Private Young - *Room 731* (2015), as Dr. Ken - *Weird Loners* (2015), series, as Adam - *Bound for Greatness* (2014), as Dr. Lyle - *None of Them Will Collect My Soul* (2013), Producer - *American Horror Story* (2011), series, as Tom Chang - *Mr. Sadman* (2009), as Agent Wang - *The Vampire Diaries* (2009), series, as Oscar — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-vampire-diaries.md) - *The Mentalist* (2008), series, as Kimball Cho — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mentalist.md) - *Rambo* (2008), as En-Joo - *The Unit* (2006), series, as Chaplain Alan Lantz - *Ghost Whisperer* (2005), series, as Warren Chen - *The Office* (2005), series, as Koh — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-office-2005.md) - *Law & Order: Trial by Jury* (2005), series, as Liam Kelly - *The Forgotten* (2004), as Agent Alec Wong - *Robot Stories* (2003), as Young John - *Two Weeks Notice* (2002), as Paul the Attorney - *Monk* (2002), series, as Mr. Brenneman - *Law & Order: Criminal Intent* (2001), series, as Murakami - *Third Watch* (1999), series, as Detective Kent Yoshihara - *The Sopranos* (1999), series, as Dr. Harrison Wong — Fi1m 94, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md) - *wasit rohi*, as Kimball Cho --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/tim-kang