Bowen Yang
Yang in 2025
Born	(1990-11-06)November 6, 1990 (age 35) Brisbane,Queensland, Australia
Citizenship	United States Canada[1]
Education	New York University (BA)
Occupations	Actor comedian writer podcaster
Years active	2013–present

Bowen Yang (born November 6, 1990)^[2] is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Yang was hired to join the writing staff of theNBCsketch comedy seriesSaturday Night Live in September 2018, ahead of its44th season, and a year later was promoted to on-air cast status forSNL's45th season. In 2021, he became the firstSNL featured player to be nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award (in theOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category).^[3] He was promoted to repertory status before the47th season.^[4]

Yang has appeared in the television seriesGirls5Eva,Ziwe, andThe Other Two, and was recurring onAwkwafina Is Nora from Queens. He is also known for his appearances in theLGBTQ romantic comediesFire Island andBros, both released in 2022, and in the musical fantasy filmsWicked (2024) andWicked: For Good (2025). He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast,Las Culturistas, withMatt Rogers.^[5][6] In January 2019, he was named toForbes magazine's30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list.^[7]

Yang was born inBrisbane,Queensland, Australia, to a family that hademigrated from China in 1986.^{[5][8][9][10]} His father, Ruilin, was raised in a rural part of theInner Mongolia region ofmainland China, growing up in a straw and mud hut.^[11] Yang's mother, fromShenyang, was a highly educated, now retired physician who was an obstetrician-gynecologist in China before working indiagnostics.^[10][11][12] The couple moved to Brisbane so Ruilin could earn his doctorate inmining explosives.^[11]

Yang has an older sister.^[10] The children spokeMandarin in their home, and attended Chinese Sunday school.^[11] When Yang was six months old, the family moved to Canada and eventually settled inBrossard, Quebec,^[13] where Yang first discoveredSaturday Night Live (SNL). When he was nine, they moved again, toAurora, Colorado.^[8][11][14] As a child, he was drawn to late-night comedians and hostsDavid Letterman andConan O'Brien.^[12]

Yang's high schoolcalculus teacher, Adrian Holguin, was also his coach forSmoky Hill High School'simprovisational comedy group, Spontaneous Combustion.^[15] Yang graduated from high school in 2008. He was named homecoming king and also voted "Most Likely to Be a Cast Member onSaturday Night Live" in his high school'syearbook.^[16][17]

When he was seventeen, Yang's father found out his son was gay from an "openchat window" on the family's computer.^[12] His parents were not receptive to the news, stating that such things "did not happen in China".^[18] Yang's father cried often over the revelation and, being non-religious but wanting to "solve problems", arranged for him to attend eight sessions ofgay conversion therapy.^[12][18] He agreed to attend the sessions to appease his parents, who said they would otherwise not allow him to move to New York to attendNew York University, which his sister was already attending.^[10] He was immediately alarmed by the counselor's mix of religion and use ofpseudo-scientific reasoning to explain away positive homosexual manifestations.^[11][12] In an interview forThe New York Times,Maureen Dowd questioned why his parents, both scientists, did not see the disconnection.^[11] Yang said, "It was a cultural thing for them, this cultural value around masculinity, around keeping the family line going, keeping certain things holy and sacred." He also said "It was me wanting to meet them halfway but realizing it had to be pretty absolute. It was an either-or thing."^[11]

In 2008, Yang moved to New York City and joined his sister at NYU.^[10] His father assigned her to chaperone him during this period as Bowen tried "straightness on for size and fail[ed] miserably."^[18][19] He came to accept being gay, incorporating it into his comedy, and hoped his parents would learn to accept that aspect of him.^[18] They have since found a truce and enjoy a "great relationship."^[12] At NYU, he was in the improv group Dangerbox, and he occasionally performed withStephanie Hsu, a member of the school's sketch comedy group.^[20][21]

Yang was inspired bySandra Oh's characterCristina Yang onGrey's Anatomy for her neurotic and relentless pursuits, and aspired to be a doctor.^[11][22] He went to pre-med classes and graduated from NYU with a bachelor's degree in chemistry.^[11][23][15] After realizing he was actually inspired by Oh for her acting ability, he decided to pursue a career in comedy instead.^[22] At NYU, he metMatt Rogers, with whom he startedLas Culturistas, a weekly comedy podcast where Yang "unapologetically expresses his personality, story and himself by sharing his experiences as a member of the LGBTQ community".^[9][22]

Yang taught himselfAdobe Photoshop andgraphic design software and later worked atOne Kings Lane, a luxuryinterior and home design website, from 2013 to 2018 as a graphic designer.^[11][24] The company was flexible with Yang's time-off needs for comedy.^[11] Yang has also performed improv at theUpright Citizens Brigade.^[25] During this time, Yang designed graphics for his own shows and for his friends' comedy shows.^[24]

Thepodcast that Yang co-hosts withMatt Rogers,Las Culturistas, is described byVulture as both "delightfully screwy" and a "two-headedsnark routine".^[26] The podcast premiered in 2016 and as of September 2019^[update], has over 300 episodes.^[27] Each one opens with an interview with a pop culture guest, then goes to one-minute rounds of "I Don't Think So, Honey!" (IDTSH) where the hosts and guests each expound onpet peeves.^[26] IDTSH has also morphed into its own live show.^[26] Yang credits theLas Culturistas podcast with Rogers for building hisfanbase. In 2018 it was nominated for aShorty Award recognizing the best in social media.^[5][28][29]

Yang appeared in shows such as Comedy Central'sBroad City, aVimeo web seriesThe Outs, and theHBO web comedyHigh Maintenance.^[7][30][31] He was a supporting cast member in the 2019 filmIsn't It Romantic. Yang performed stand-up onHBO's2 Dope Queens.^[30] He played fashion designerAlexander Wang in a sketch series on Comedy Central,Up Next.^[32] In 2019, Yang received press coverage for his viral Twitter posts consisting of "expertly-timedlip-sync videos of famous movie scenes", in which he "reproduces dialogue fromdiva scenes" and well-known moments in popular culture. Past videos featured a monologue byMiranda Priestly inThe Devil Wears Prada,Tyra Banks yelling at contestantTiffany Richardson onAmerica's Next Top Model, and a viral video ofCardi B talking about the2019 government shutdown.^[11][22] Each garnered thousands of likes andretweets.^[6][33]

In 2018, Yang was hired as astaff writer onSaturday Night Live for the show's44th season.^[12] He said he "always lovedSNL growing up, but had trouble imagining himself on the show, because he'd never seen people who looked like him associated with the series".^[34] Yang has writing credits on 21 episodes of the show for the 2018–2019 season.^[27] His writing included: "GPYass", a play on a vehicle'sGPS navigation device that utilizesdrag queens to deliver driving directions; and two sketches co-written withJulio Torres, which features Yang's talent for infusing "drama, tension, and exquisite backstory" into an everyday activity like paying bills in "Cheques" withSandra Oh, and an actress doing acameo in agay pornography film, "The Actress" withEmma Stone.^[30] "The Actress" was hailed by Out as the "gayestSNL sketch of all time," and featured Stone as an earnestmethod actress taking her role as a cheated-on housewife too seriously alongside real-life gay porn actorTy Mitchell.^[35][36] The pre-tape—so-called as it is filmed days ahead rather than acted live—was championed by Stone to be included on air.^[35][36]SNL creatorLorne Michaels knew Yang would be an on-air talent but wanted him to be comfortable on their stage first.^[12] Yang made a cameo appearance during theSandra Oh/Tame Impala episode as North Korean leaderKim Jong-Un while Oh played his translator.^[37]

In September 2019, Yang was promoted to featured player for the45th season, alongside improviserChloe Fineman, both of whom were promoted to repertory status at the start of the show's47th season in September 2021.^[38] Yang is the show's first ever Chinese-American cast member, and third gay male cast member afterTerry Sweeney andJohn Milhiser.^[39][40]

SNL has had "little representation from Asian actors, as cast members or hosts" over several decades.^[22][37] Up until Yang's promotion, there had been only three cast members,^[a] and six hosts who were of Asian descent.^[b][22][34] A 2016 study ofSNL revealed that 90% of 1975–2016's show hosts (826 total) were white, 6.8% were black, 1.2% were Hispanic, and 1.1% were labelled "other".^[41] Similarly,SNL has had comparatively low representation of LGBTQ on-air cast and guest hosts since the series started in 1975. Yang is the third gay male, and sixthLGBTQ cast member.^[c] The announcement of Yang's casting onSaturday Night Live was reported internationally, and within hours was overshadowed by revelations that comedianShane Gillis, who had been hired at the same time, airedhomophobic andanti-Asian jokes.^[47][48] Gillis issued an apology, but within days was fired bySNL.^[49][48]

Yang's first episode as a regular cast member was the season's opening episode September 28, 2019, with hostWoody Harrelson.^[50] Notably he was included in the show'scold open playingKim Jong-un giving advice to Trump on handling theUkraine controversy including the whistleblower who helped trigger the2019 impeachment hearings.^[50] In other sketches, he portrayed Democratic presidential candidateAndrew Yang in a parody town hall debate, and was an extra in a mock movie trailer forDownton Abbey.^[50] In October 2019, Yang made his debut onWeekend Update (WU), as Chinese trade representative Chen "Trade Daddy" Biao in a segment aboutDonald Trump's trade war that was "brief, funny and took some cleversatirical shots".^[51][11] Yang's Biao character returned toWU as the newly appointed health minister for theCOVID-19 pandemic which he unconvincingly tries to assure China has in control.^[52] Perhaps his "filthiest" sketch, also co-written with friendJulio Torres, was for guest hostHarry Styles as an incompetentSara Lee Corporation social media manager who mixes up his own gayBDSM account onInstagram with the company's "wholesome bread brand".^[11] He was listed No. 2 inVariety's Power of Pride list of most influential queer artists in Hollywood in 2021.^[53] The same year, Yang was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He is the first featured player to ever be nominated. He also played NBA hall-of-famerYao Ming in January 2022.^[54] Since 2023, he has also played embattled CongressmanGeorge Santos in multiple sketches which have received critical praise.^[55][56]

In 2021, Yang was applauded for speaking out on the recent surge in violence against Asian-Americans^[57] during a Weekend Update segment. He told audiences to "fuel up" (using the Chinese cheerJiayou) and do more for Asian Americans. Also in 2021, he appeared on theTime 100,Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.^[58]

Yang plays Nora Lin'smobile app-developer cousin in theComedy Central sitcomAwkwafina Is Nora from Queens, which premiered in January 2020 and was renewed for a third season in 2022.^{[59][60][61][62]} Yang is a writer on theApple TV+ musical comedy seriesSchmigadoon!, which stars his formerSNL castmateCecily Strong.^[63] In September 2021, he appeared as a guest on the NPR news quizWait Wait... Don't Tell Me! In 2022 he starred inFire Island, written by and co-starring his close friendJoel Kim Booster, whom he met at the beginning of his comedy career.^[64] He appeared in the 2022 filmBros and is part of the cast ofDicks: The Musical with Aaron Jackson,Josh Sharp, andMegan Thee Stallion.^[65] Yang appears as Pfannee in thetwo-part film adaptation of the musicalWicked, released in 2024. He reprised the role in its sequel,Wicked: For Good the following year.^[20]

Yang is a signatory of theFilm Workers for Palestine boycott pledge, which was published in September 2025.^[66]

In 2025, he became the most-nominated Asian male performer inEmmy history with his fourth nomination for NBC'sSaturday Night Live.^[85] Only Sandra Oh has more Emmy nominations among Asian performers.^[86]

• 2019 –Forbes30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list^[7]
• 2019 –Out 100 Entertainer of the Year list^[87]
• 2020 –Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award^[88]
• 2021 –PeopleSexiest Man Alive^[89]
• 2021 –Variety Power of Pride list^[53]
• 2021 –Time 100 Most Influential People^[58]
• 2021 –Just for Laughs Breakout Comedy Star of the Year^[90]
• 2025 –Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Vantage Award^[91]

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT people from New York City

• Schulman, Michael; McGinley, Ryan (September 16, 2024)."Bowen Yang Is Sorry He's Not Your Clown Today".The New Yorker. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2024.

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