Phong Tran

Phong Tran, was born in Pasco, Washington. The middle son of 5 boys to immigrant parents who were forced to flee their native Vietnam due to the war, he was the first to be born in the U.S. Without many influences or creative outlets in his hometown for acting, his first introduction to the arts was the saxophone, which he played for 3 years in the school jazz band. He also played football, ran track, and wrestled. However, even with all these activities, he couldn't help but feel that something was missing. He didn't realize his passion for acting until the age of 21, when he and his girlfriend moved to Seattle and he began attending a small community college in the area. Always looking for new ways to impress her, and with her full support, he found the courage to step on the stage of the college theatre and audition for that season's production. After booking the dramatic lead role, he knew he'd found what he was looking for his whole life. And it impressed his girlfriend too...he married Ashley in 2005. Since arriving in L.A., Ian vowed to stay away from stereotypical roles he felt were degrading to people of Asian descent, and has since been cast in a wide range of characters including Fragz, an internet pirate in the award winning festival favorite short film "Shadow.net", and even a zombie slaying gangster named Howard in "Mutant Vampire Zombies from the Hood!" starring C. Thomas Howell. He's most proud of his latest turn as the Indonesian-Muslim-Punk-Skater-Stoner Fasiq in the feature film "The Taqwacores", adapted from the novel by Michael Muhammad Knight, and directed by Eyad Zahra. It is an Official Selection for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and will have its world premiere in Park City, Utah on January 24th, 2010.