Christopher Sean
Sean in 2016
Born
Christopher Sean Friel

(1985-10-25) October 25, 1985 (age 38)
Oak Harbor, Washington, U.S.
Other names
  • Christopher Friel
  • Chris Friel
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present
Known for
TitleMr. Asia USA (2007)

Christopher Sean Friel (born October 25, 1985) is an American actor known for his role as Paul Narita on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. He previously played Bing Lee in the critically acclaimed web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and his recurring role of Gabriel Waincroft on CBS's Hawaii Five-0. Sean also gained recognition for his lead voice over role as Kazuda Xiono in Star Wars Resistance and his recurring role as Brandon in You.

Personal life

Christopher Sean Friel was born on October 25, 1985, in Oak Harbor, Washington to Sayuri and Patrick Friel. He has two sisters, Candis and Melody.[1] Sean grew up mainly in Southern California.[2] Sean is Japanese on his mother's side and Irish, Spanish and German on his father's side.[3][4]

Sean grew up in the military because his father was in the Navy. When Sean's father was stationed away from home, he put himself on video reading books to his children and Sean's mother would record videos of the kids and reply back. As a result, Sean was always very comfortable in front of the camera and those experiences inspired him to try acting.[3] Growing up, Sean had a big poster of Bruce Lee on his wall and admits there weren't many people for him to relate to in the entertainment industry.[2] Sean speaks Japanese, which he picked up from his parents when his father was assigned to the USS Tripoli.[3][2] Sean is trained in boxing, Taekwondo, wrestling, Jujutsu and mixed martial arts.[1]

Career

Sean said that he was working at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia, California when he was first "discovered." He started doing modeling work, and in 2007 he won the Mr. Asia USA pageant.[5] Sean earned a $1,500 cash prize and a one-year acting class at the Michael John Studio in Van Nuys, California.[6]

Sean revealed that he struggled early on his career due to his mixed ethnicity, saying "I'm not Asian enough to play Asian roles and I'm not white enough to play white roles."[2] He auditioned for ABC's daytime soap opera General Hospital, where he admitted to screwing up the audition due to his lack of experience.[7] Sean has made appearances on Hollywood Heights, The Mindy Project, and the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.[8] In 2014, he began playing the recurring role of Gabriel Waincroft on CBS's Hawaii Five-0.[9]

In October 2014, it was announced that Sean had joined the cast of Days of Our Lives as a contract cast member.[10] His character, pro baseball player Paul Narita, comes out as gay and becomes involved in a love triangle with supercouple Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis,[11][12] and is the illegitimate son of longtime character John Black.[13][14] Sean left the series in 2018, but reprised the role in the 2022 limited-run series Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.[15]

Sean voiced lead character Kazuda Xiono in the animated series Star Wars Resistance.[16][17]

In November 2020, Sean was cast in a recurring role on the third season of the Netflix psychological thriller series You.[18]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2010 The Bold and the Beautiful Waiter 2 episodes
2010 King Eternal Kele Short film
2012 Hollywood Heights Solo dude #1 2 episodes
2012 Back to Blue Chris Short film
2012–2013 The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Bing Lee Main role; web series
2013 Twiharder JB Lycan Lead role; parody of 2008 film Twilight
2013 The Mindy Project Frat Bro #2 Episode: "Frat Party"
2013 Great American Dream Frates Film
2014 Progress: Ask a Cam Harlot Chance Von Thundermast 2 episodes
2014 CineDopes Yoga Student #3 Episode: "Ratinee"
2014–2016 Hawaii Five-0 Gabriel Waincroft Recurring role; 13 episodes
2014–2018, 2023 Days of Our Lives Paul Narita Series regular
2017 Young Again Frates
2018–2020 Star Wars Resistance Kazuda Xiono Lead role; voice
2019 Home Is Where the Killer Is Kyle Hayes
2021 You Brandon Recurring role
2021 Star Wars Visions Asu[19] The Village Bride; voice (English dub)
2021 NCIS: Los Angeles LAPD RHD Detective Jack Tanaka
2022 Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem Paul Narita
2024 Ultraman: Rising Ken Sato/Ultraman Voice[20]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Source
2018 Epic Seven Ludwig, Ken, Romann Voice role [21]
2020 Fallout 76: Wastelanders Dr. Bernard, Greg Goldstein, Lawrence Kessler, Cultist Priest, Raiders Voice role [22]
2020 Ghost of Tsushima Additional Voices Voice role
2020 Marvel's Avengers Additional Voices Voice role
2022 Horizon Forbidden West Arokkeh Voice role
2022 Gotham Knights Dick Grayson / Nightwing Voice role

References

  1. ^ a b Di Lauro, Janet. "Profile of Christopher Sean Days of our Lives". About.com. IAC. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Madison, Ira (March 27, 2015). "The Actor Who Is Changing How We See Asian Men On Television". BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed Inc. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Clifford, Kambra (February 20, 2015). "DAYS' Christopher Sean speculates on PaulSon's future and which major character could be Paul's dad". Soap Central. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  4. ^ Sean, Christopher [@ChristopherSean] (September 10, 2012). "half Japanese and half Irish German Spanish" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Larson, Kelli M; Moro Parkerton, Michelle (January 26, 2015). "The Rookie". Bonus Section. CBS Soaps In Depth. Bauer Media Group. 19 (4): 82–85.
  6. ^ Carnay, Oliver (April 13, 2007). "Chris Friel wins first star-studded Mr. Asia USA 2007 pageant". Hollywoodflip.com.
  7. ^ "Hottest Newcomers of 2015". Days of Our Lives: Christopher Sean (Paul). Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. 40 (41): 60. October 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "Christopher Sean Joins Days of our Lives as Baseball Player Paul Narita on November 7". Serial Scoop. October 6, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  9. ^ Burbridge, Wendie (June 7, 2014). "Five-0 Redux: Sean a big hit as bad brother". Honolulu PulseHonolulu Pulse. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  10. ^ Lewis, Errol (October 31, 2014). "Christopher Sean Joins DAYS Cast". Soap Opera Network. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  11. ^ Madison, Ira (February 5, 2015). "A Groundbreaking Coming-Out Story Was Told Entirely In Japanese On Days Of Our Lives". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  12. ^ Giddens, Jamey (December 31, 2014). "Which One of Salem's Gay Husbands Will Offer to Catch Paul's Fly Balls on Days of Our Lives?". Daytime Confidential. Zap2it. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  13. ^ Logan, Michael (March 30, 2015). "Exclusive: Drake Hogestyn Previews His Days of Our Lives Bombshell". TV Insider. TVGM Holdings, LLC. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  14. ^ Waldron, Robert (June 22, 2015). "Family Expansion". Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. 40 (25): 38–41, 66–67.
  15. ^ Rice, Lynette (June 2, 2022). "Days Of Our Lives: Beyond Salem Adds Loretta Devine, Eileen Davidson, Vince Van Patten & More To Second Chapter". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  16. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 26, 2018). "Star Wars Resistance Animated Series Set at Disney Channel". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  17. ^ Breznican, Anthony (August 17, 2018). "Watch the soaring new trailer for the Star Wars: Resistance animated series". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  18. ^ Petski, Denise (November 18, 2020). "'You': Saffron Burrows Upped To Series Regular, Dylan Arnold, Tati Gabrielle Among 12 Cast In Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  19. ^ "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts". StarWars.com. August 17, 2021.
  20. ^ Dominguez, Noah (November 9, 2023). "Ultraman: Rising Teaser Trailer Reveals the Superhero Movie's Voice Cast". SuperHeroHype. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  21. ^ "Christopher Sean (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  22. ^ Bethesda Game Studios Austin (April 14, 2020). Fallout 76: Wastelanders DLC. Bethesda Softworks. Scene: Credits: Voice & Music - Cast.

External links

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