The epitome of cool — as any fan of "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" or his other work can attest — John Cho is ideal to follow in the footsteps of George Takei as "Hikaru Sulu" in the J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" movie, slated for release on Christmas Day 2008.

The son of a reverend, Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated with his family to Los Angeles at the age of 6. Growing up in the entertainment capital, he was exposed to show business at a young age, even competing on the game show Family Feud along with his older brothers. Cho went to college at the University of California at Berkeley and studied English Literature, a subject he later taught for some time at a prep school in West Hollywood.

While he was still teaching Cho auditioned for, and landed, several acting jobs, including parts in the movie "Wag the Dog," the TV movie "The Tiger Woods Story" which was directed by LeVar Burton, and TV shows like Charmed and Felicity — the latter created and produced by Abrams. Cho started catching people's attention when he appeared in the 1999 comedy "American Pie" and uttered the famous line, "Dude, that chick's a MILF!" He then made millions of girls swoon in the ensemble teen drama "Better Luck Tomorrow" about a group of overachieving Asian-American students in Southern California engaging in a life of crime out of sheer boredom.

Cho then achieved near-household name status in 2004 with the aforementioned "Harold & Kumar," starring with Kal Penn in the title roles (Cho was Harold). There is a sequel to that road-trip movie now in post-production, with release slated for 2008. Other movies and TV shows the Asian-American has appeared in include "American Beauty," "American Pie 2," "American Wedding," American Dreamz and Seth MacFarlane's American Dad!, among many others. He's been on stage a number of times, particularly with the East West Players company. Starting October 18, 2007, Cho has a recurring role on the Emmy-winning sitcom Ugly Betty as "Kenny."

Aside from his acting career, Cho is the lead singer of a local rock band called Left of Zed, which released an album in 2004 called "Furious Bloom." Thanks in part to his musical talent, along with his profuse coolness, he and Kal Penn earned "Harold & Kumar" nominations for MTV Movie Awards in the categories "Best Musical Performance" and "Best On-Screen Team," as well as a Teen Choice Award for "Choice Movie Rockstar Moment." In 2006 Cho was listed by People Magazine as the 11th sexiest man alive.

Cho lives in L.A. with his wife Kerri Higuchi, whom he married in 2006.