The path of “Jury Duty” star Ron Song to Hollywood is unique

Andy Riesmeyer and Christine Samra

15 minutes ago

Ron Song’s road to fame began in Hollywood, but he never planned to become an actor.

The former UC Irvine employee decided to take classes at Second City Hollywood after his 50th birthday to “become a better manager” because he felt that the higher up the hierarchy you get, the more “isolated” you become. At the time, Song was managing teams at the university.

He worked in higher education for nearly twenty years, serving at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Santa Clara University before returning to his native Southern California.

The San Gabriel Valley native got his big break when his teacher at Second City thought he would be a good fit for a role in Amazon’s freevee series “Jury Duty.” The show became a huge hit, earning two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.

As you can imagine, Song has now given up his job at the university and is concentrating full-time on acting.

His latest project is the production of “Unbroken Blossoms”, a film story within a play.

“I’m learning so much as I work on it,” he explained. “The story is about two Asian-American consultants who were part of the silent film era, which I didn’t even know Asians were a part of at the time when they were working on DW Griffith’s film ‘Broken Blossoms.'”

Although the play is set in the early 20th century, Song noticed some similarities to the present day.

“The United States is facing the Spanish flu and World War I. There is a lot of turmoil. And now, in this moment after the COVID pandemic, we are seriously thinking about Asian American representation. We have a chance to really advance our representation,” he said.

Song noted that the piece was “a moment of reflection” for him and hopefully for the audience.

“The same hopes and dreams existed over 100 years ago. When we reflect on the progress we have made, we are so happy about it and also ask ourselves, ‘How far do we have to go?'”

See “Unbroken Blossoms” at the David Henry Hwang Theater at East West Players, June 27-July 21.