Keiko Agena

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Keiko Agena
Born
Christine Keiko Agena

(1973-10-03) October 3, 1973 (age 50)
OccupationActress
Years active1992–present
Spouse
Shinichiro "Shin" Kawasaki
(m. 2005)
Websitemskeikoagena.com Edit this at Wikidata

Christine Keiko Agena (born October 3, 1973)[1] is an American actress. She is mostly known for playing Lane Kim in Gilmore Girls and NYPD medical examiner Dr. Edrisa Tanaka on FOX's crime drama Prodigal Son (2019–2021).

Personal life[edit]

Agena, of Japanese descent, was born in Honolulu, and began acting at the age of 10. She attended Mid-Pacific Institute preparatory school in Oʻahu, and Whitman College for one year as a drama major.

Agena married Shin Kawasaki in a helicopter over Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, on December 19, 2005.

Career[edit]

Agena is best known for her role in Gilmore Girls, where she played Lane Kim, a Korean-American teenager who is the best friend of Rory Gilmore, one of the lead characters. Agena played this role despite being significantly older than her character, who was 16 at the start of the series, when Agena was 27. Agena has also played the role of Mearing's Aide, Mearing being played by Frances McDormand, in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Agena also appeared in three episodes of Felicity as Leila Foster, a girl who comes to the lead character for assistance in acquiring the morning-after pill and participates in a protest when denied the medication. She was a recipient of the Best Female Actor award in the Ammy Awards, which honor Asian and Asian-American achievement in film or television. She also provided the voice of Yori in the Disney cartoon series Kim Possible in seasons 2, 3, and 4 of the show. Also, Agena played Jun Ni in the movie Hair Show starring Mo'Nique. She guest-starred on Private Practice, Castle, and episode 12 of the final season of ER. She also appeared in Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous alongside Jessica Simpson as an army private. In 2010, she appeared onstage in No-No Boy in Santa Monica, California. She later appeared in an episode of House as Dr. Cheng.

While in Austin, Texas for the Gilmore Girls reunion panel at the 2015 ATX Television Festival, she also participated in two live tapings of the podcast Gilmore Guys,[2] as well as a live performance by Lane Kim's band Hep Alien.[3]

In September 2015, Agena launched Drunk Monk Podcast with fellow improv comedian Will S. Choi, wherein they watch every episode of the television series, Monk, while consuming alcohol.[4] Agena plays a high school teacher in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

She was featured in commercials for Verizon Wireless ("Flipside Testimonials: Apartment") in 2015 and UnitedHealthcare ("Pool Vault") in 2016.[5][6]

Filmography[edit]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1998 Hundred Percent Casey
2002 Tomato and Eggs Maria Short film
2003 Cats and Mice Sue Short film
2003 Red Thread Matilda Wong Short film
2003 Western Avenue Miya Short film
2004 The Perfect Party Kiko
2004 Hair Show Jun Ni
2006 Chances Are Heather Short film
2008 Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous Hailey Hamamori
2009 Labor Pains Pregnant Bookstore Woman
2010 Road Rage Connie Short film
2011 I Hate L.A. Segment: "Downtown"
2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Charlotte Mearing's Aide
2012 Lil Tokyo Reporter Mrs. Sato Short film
2013 Family Gathering Charlotte Short film
2014 Me + Her Lead Puppeteer Short film
2015 Unfriended Computer Voice role
Short film
2015 The Night Is Young Cara
2020 “The Never List” Jennifer Jeffries
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1993 Renegade Mitsuko Episode: "Samurai"
1995 Sister, Sister Student Interviewer Episode: "Kid in Play"
1998, 2009 ER Mrs. Shimahara
Mrs. Vasquez
Episodes: "Good Luck, Ruth Johnson", "Dream Runner"
1999 Beverly Hills, 90210 The Competitor Episode: "Agony"
2000 Felicity Leila Foster Episodes: "Revolutions", "Party Lines", "Running Mates"
2000–07 Gilmore Girls Lane Kim Main cast; 102 episodes
2001 The Nightmare Room Janet Bingham Episodes: "School Spirit", "Full Moon Halloween"
2001 Strong Medicine An-Soo "Alison" Kim Episode: "Control Group"
2003–07 Kim Possible Yori (voice) 4 episodes
2006 Without a Trace Kimiko Episode: "Odds or Evens"
2007 Private Practice Sister Amy Episode: "In Which Cooper Finds a Port in His Storm"
2010 Castle Kelly Episode: "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice"
2010 House Dr. Cheng Episode: "Unplanned Parenthood"
2011 The Homes Nami Unknown role
2012 Scandal White House Press Secretary Britta Kagan Episode: "Happy Birthday, Mr President"
2013–14 Twisted April Tanaka 2 episodes
2013 Shameless Brittany Sturgess 3 episodes
2016 Grimm Madoka Akagi Episode: "Inugami"
2016 Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Lane Kim 4 episodes
2017 Colony Betsy 3 episodes
2017 Sweet/Vicious Title IX Officer 2 episodes
2017 NCIS: Los Angeles Tara Episode: "Getaway"
2017–18 13 Reasons Why Pam Bradley 7 episodes
Recurring role (Season 1); Guest role (Season 2)
2017 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Tamamara Episode: "Chelsea Leight-Leigh Lately"
2018 This Close Dorinda 2 episodes
2018 Here and Now Sonni Little 2 episodes
2018–19, 2022 Better Call Saul Viola Goto 6 episodes
2018 Dirty John Nancy Recurring role (season 1)
2018 The First Aiko Hakari Main role
2019-2021 Prodigal Son Dr. Edrisa Tanaka Main Cast
2022 Doom Patrol Dr. Margaret Yu Episode: "Butt Patrol"

Video games[edit]

List of voice performances in video gaming
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Law & Order: Justice Is Served Toki Yamamoto
2017 Prey Miyu Sato, Station Announcer

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Result Category Work
2001 Teen Choice Award Nominated TV Choice Sidekick Gilmore Girls
2002 Young Artist Award Won Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actress Gilmore Girls
2002 Teen Choice Award Nominated TV Choice Sidekick Gilmore Girls
2003 Teen Choice Award Nominated TV Choice Sidekick Gilmore Girls
2013 Asians on Film Festival Won Winter Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Short Lil Tokyo Reporter
2014 Asians on Film Festival Nominated Short Film Lil Tokyo Reporter

References[edit]

  1. ^ Keiko Agena official site: Date of birth. Archived 2007-04-28 at the Wayback Machine; URL accessed April 27, 2007.
  2. ^ Mlotek, Haley (July 13, 2015). "Why the 'Gilmore Girls' Fandom Lives On". New York Times.
  3. ^ "Hep Alien Reunion". Huffington Post. June 8, 2015.
  4. ^ "Drunk Monk Podcast". Soundcloud. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  5. ^ Verizon TV Commercial, "Flipside Testimonials: Apartment" (2015) – iSpot.tv. Retrieved October 2, 2019
  6. ^ UnitedHealthcare TV Commercial, "Pool Vault" (2016) – iSpot.tv. Retrieved October 2, 2019

External links[edit]