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Hoon Lee, The King and I’s Newest King

Hoon Lee takes the stage. It’s one of those striking theatrical moments you know is coming, you know will take your breath away, and still it never disappoints: the ecstatic “Shall We Dance” in The King and I, where Anna and the King of Siam sweep the vast stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in blissful abandon and the world melts away. And it all hinges on the chemistry between the characters and the actors who inhabit themin this case Tony-winner Kelli O’Hara, who was seemingly born to play Anna, and Hoon Lee, whose path to the role of King was far less direct.

hoon lee the king and I

Image: Paul Kolnik

“I came to acting as a second careerI was in web development and interface design,” says Lee, who was born in Minneapolis and grew up in Boston. His performance background, he says, consisted of rock bands and singing in an a cappella group at Harvard (he graduated in 1994).

hoon lee on stage

Image: Paul Kolnik

His career transition came in 2001, when he was asked to audition for Making Tracks, a rock musical that played in Taiwan. When he returned to the States, the first job he landed was in a Papermill production of The King and I, in which he understudied the role of the King. “It was a great orientation to the role,” says Lee, who feels age and experience have been instrumental in coloring his current performance.

“I like to come into a role without preconceived ideas, so I go to the text to see what is appropriate,” says Lee, moving on to credit director Bartlett Sher with distilling what’s pertinent and resonates with today’s audiences. “You have to look at this character through a modern lens, which means a wider purview without losing the historical context,” he continues. “The big challenge is taking into account different theatregoers and their perceptions. This is very exciting to me.”

As for his costar, he is clearly a fan of O’Haraboth onstage and off. “I was blown away when I first saw her,” he observes, noting that on a professional level she is a combination of talent and kindness. “Without being conscious she’s doing it, she sets the bar high. That work ethic was great for me to walk into. She made me aware that excellence will be demanded on many levels.”

king and I hoon lee

Image: Paul Kolnik

Being third in the production’s lineup of actors portraying the King (Lee was preceded by Tony-nominee Ken Watanabe and Jose Llana), he was impressed with how they molded themselves into the role. That said, his performance is unquestionably his own, reflecting his sense of how the book is both comedy and drama, and how they balance each other out.

“The show’s comedy allows you to go deeper and darker, which is something I’m examining as I get further into the show,” he says, contrasting the show’s most violent moment with the humor inherent in the relationship between the King and Anna. “It’s a good mirror for the dynamic of the two aspects in what I see as two roles: the King caught up in his job, and the King who needs a playmate who doesn’t treat him like a king.”


Hoon Lee’s acting credits include Pacific Overtures, Flower Drum Song, and Urinetown on Broadway, as well as a celebrated run in the Off-Broadway production of Yellow Face.  On TV, Lee plays the “gender fluid” Job in Banshee!, set to air its final season beginning in January.

About the Author

City Guide Theatre Editor Griffin Miller moved to New York to pursue an acting/writing career in the 1980s after graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, she has written for The New York Times, For the Bride, Hotels, and a number of other publications, mostly in the areas of travel and performance arts. An active member of The New York Travel Writers Association, she is also a playwright and award-winning collage artist. In addition, she sits on the board of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Griffin is married to Richard Sandomir, a reporter for The New York Times.

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