After a long career working in New York theater, actor C.S. Lee emerged as a prominent supporting player. Though he struggled a bit in the early going of his transition from stage to small screen, he established himself nonetheless with a regular role on the acclaimed cable series, “Dexter” (Showtime, 2006- ). Thanks to his exposure on the show, Lee was able to branch out into other roles, including one as the cloying co-worker of an unwitting nerd secret agent on “Chuck” (NBC, 2007- ), thus establishing himself as a fine character performer on the rise.Born on Dec. 20, 1971 in Chonju, South Korea, Lee was raised in Vancouver, WA where he played running back and quarterback for Hudson’s Bay High School. During his junior year, Lee began performing in school productions, even though he had aspirations of taking up engineering in college. Instead, he attended Cornish College of Arts in Seattle on full scholarship, where he studied theater. After graduation, he earned his Master’s of Fine Arts from Yale University’s prestigious drama school. He moved to New York City where he spent eight years doing mostly theater before breaking into television on an episode of “Law & Order” (NBC, 1990- ), the typical starting point for most New York-based actors.
He had an onscreen lull in the early millennium, but returned to television with an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (NBC, 2001- ), followed by a two-episode arc on “The Sopranos” (HBO, 1999- ), playing one of Tony Soprano’s (James Gandolfini) doctors taking care of the mobster during his coma. After appearing in episodes of “Monk” (USA, 2001- ) and “The Unit” (CBS, 2006- ), he finally landed a regular series part on “Dexter,” a dark comic thriller about a mild-mannered blood spatter analyst (Michael C. Hall) for the Miami Police Department who also happens to be a serial killer. Lee played Vince Masuka, the department’s sex-obsessed forensics expert who enjoys making come-ons to Dexter’s detective sister (Jennifer Carpenter). Because of his exposure on “Dexter,” Lee landed a recurring role as the smug and overbearing Harry Tang on “Chuck.”
