Chu was working as a waiter in Taiwan when he was discovered by Cai Zhiping, the creator of the boy bandF4. He started in showbiz working as a part-time as an assistant for some artists, then acting in several idol series successfully which pushed him to the center of the stage. He starred in the TV series, Meteor Garden, its supplementary mini-series, Meteor Rain, and its sequel, Meteor Garden II. He was the lead in Sky of Love (2003) and Tokyo Trial (2006).
In January 2005, he released his debut solo album, On Ken's Time. The tracks "永不停止" (Never Stopping) and "La La La" were nominated for Top 10 Gold Songs at the Hong Kong TVB8 Awards, presented by television station TVB8, in 2005.[1]
He also released a cookbook, Mei Wei Guan Xi (Delicious Relations) on January 5, 2006. It was released in China on July 4, 2006, and four months later in Japan. Chu is now focusing on his solo acting career and has a huge fan base in Asia.
On February 24 and 25, 2007, he held his first solo concert in Japan, titled 2007 [I-KEN] 1st Concert at the Tokyo International Forum Hall A with an unplugged theme. December 2007, Chu starred alongside Iza Calzado in Philippine production movie Batanes: Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan of Ignite Media Films, directed by Adolf Alix.
Played the main lead in the recently concluded mainland comedy stage play, "Love on A Two Street/He and His Two Wives", which played to different cities in China from November 2009 to February 2010.
