Eventually I said, you know, "I'm going to give it a go, I’m going to try it" and so I dropped out of school, I packed up all of my belongings, which was not much, [I] saved up enough money to buy a one-way Greyhound ticket and I came out West.
Choi was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean immigrants.[3] His father worked as an electrical engineering professor and businessman. His mother was a registered nurse before becoming a stay-at-home mother. Choi is the middle of three children. He attended Longwood Elementary in Glenwood, Illinois. He attended intermediate and junior high school at Brookwood School District 167. Choi performed as a break dancer during his junior high years. He ran cross-country and was a gymnast at Homewood-Flossmoor High School where he held the sophomore record for the pommel horse. His parents, especially his father, discouraged his childhood dreams of becoming an actor, instructing him to pursue a "responsible and reasonable" career, like accounting.[3] Choi followed the advice of his parents and majored in accounting at Purdue University, but decided to drop out in order to pursue his acting dreams.[3] Choi stated: "I came from a very traditional Asian upbringing so they were very strict. When I decided to pursue acting, I knew that I had to do it all on my own. When I left the Midwest, I cut all ties with my family. I basically ran away from home."[3]
Choi moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue a career in acting. He had no prior work experience so he gained employment at a local Blockbuster video store. He spent the next five years training with local Portland acting teachers, most notably with Paul Warner.
Choi has appeared in television. He played Henry Lin in Sons of Anarchy, Captain Ed Rollins on the NBC TV series Ironside, and Sam Luttrell for the NBC TV series Allegiance.
In October 2017, Choi was cast as Howie "Chimney" Han on Fox TV's show 9-1-1.[6][7] In 2018, Choi played Bob Dwyer on Starz's Counterpart.[8] Also that year, he appeared in the feature films Gringo, and Hotel Artemis.[9]
