Courtesy John Russo

No one wants to go through life known as “the Asian dude.” But for Harry Shum, Jr., it’s a dream come true. The 27-year-old plays football player and show-choir member Mike Chang on the hit show “Glee,” but he’s much better known for being “the other Asian,” a nickname dubbed by Jane Lynch’s scary cheerleading coach character, Sue Sylvester.

Shum is no stranger to being a token Asian. Growing up in Costa Rica, he was often the only Asian in a crowd of Latin American faces. “My parents spoke three different languages in one sentence, and I would get so confused as a kid,” he recalled. While he spoke Spanish and English at school, it wasn’t until he moved to San Francisco at age six that he began to learn Cantonese as well. But that wasn’t the only difficult part of his childhood. “I was a really shy, really quiet kid—almost to the point where my parents thought something was wrong with me,” he said. So how did a young child who never spoke or socialized with others end up with a life in the spotlight?

“I always loved movies,” said Shum. “Inside, I always wanted to perform in some way or the other, but I never did. I was just too shy.” But in his room, alone, he was free to emote as he pleased. “I would sing songs and act out scenes in movies. But if anyone had walked in the door, and saw me, I would have been so scared.” His favorite performances to reenact were cartoons like “Transformers” and Michael Jackson’s music videos.

It wasn’t until one day in junior high that he got up the nerve to try out for a school play, which led to multiple performances at school. Then in high school, a good friend dared him to audition for the dance team, which exposed him to different styles of dancing, like hip-hop. “We did dances to songs by Ginuwine, and girls would scream,” Shum said. “And the football players suddenly wanted to join us.” Sound familiar? “In high school, I fell into the dance team like Mike [Chang] fell into Glee club.”

Shum’s experience acting, singing and dancing in high school set him on a path to pursue a career in the performing arts. After a brief, three-month stint at San Francisco State (where he studied cinema and international business—“to make my parents happy”), Shum and his best friend took off one day and never looked back. “He’s a music producer now,” said Shum. “We wanted to go and live our dreams.” While his parents originally had their doubts, Shum was able to convince them to let him give performing a real shot.

Courtesy John Russo

It goes without saying that the bet has paid off. He went on to dance in “Stomp the Yard” and “Step Up 2.” While working on the latter, he hit if off with director Jon M. Chu and joined his dance crew, The LXD (short for The League of Extraordinary Dancers). “Chinese people aren’t known for dancing, especially hip-hop wise,” Shum said. “I’m not saying they can’t do it, but they haven’t been portrayed [doing so]. It’s something that resonates as cool and hip, not the geeky Asian that people usually see.” The LXD is slowly changing this perception with the national attention they’ve received from their performances at the Oscars and the TED conference.

Of his breakthrough role in “Glee,” Shum remembers hearing that people were auditioning for Vocal Adrenaline, the rival show choir, in the pilot. “They told me [“Glee”] was cool and funny, but you hear that about a lot of shows,” he said. “I auditioned like everybody else, and I had to sing and dance.” When he got the call and e-mail letting him know he had received the part, there was no word on how involved of a role it would be. “I thought I’d be there for one day, and it ended up being rehearsal tomorrow, shooting next week. And then it kept going on, and no one told me how long I would be staying. That’s when I realized I would be there for awhile,” he said.

In the time he’s been a full-time cast member, Shum has developed a strong bond with his “Glee” cast and crew. “We don’t get sick of each other, which is really special about the cast. To be honest, that’s what makes the show work,” he said. “I’m close with everyone in different ways. Cory [who plays Finn] and I sit around for hours talking about technology. Matt Morrison [Mr. Schuester] knows some Chinese words, which he learned from friends. He can’t understand much, but he knows some Cantonese, which is always funny. Jenna [who plays Tina] and I cheer each other on, like ‘Go, Asian!’ Best of all, being part of the Glee crew means working with stellar guest stars, like Kristin Chenoweth. “She is an incredible person. Aside from being a little bundle of joy, you can learn so much from her,” said Shum. “I think the whole cast has a professional crush on her.”

When “Glee” returns from its mid-season hiatus, fans can expect a Madonna-centric episode, cameos from Neil Patrick Harris, Molly Shannon and Jonathan Groff, and much more singing. “[Creator] Ryan Murphy took the fans’ requests for stories developing in song, and you’ll see a lot more of that,” said Shum. And in the future, he hopes his character will get a love interest like Kurt and Mercedes allegedly do in upcoming episodes. “Mike Chang needs some loving!” he joked.

Catch Harry Shum, Jr. on the small screen when “Glee” returns April 13 and online at www.thelxd.com.

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If there is one thing Nan Zhang – that’s Kati Farkas to “Gossip Girl” fans – would like the public to know, it would be this: She was never in a fight with Leighton Meester, and she did not leave the show because of a supposed rift with the Queen Bee.

“I couldn’t believe what I was reading,” says Zhang of the tabloid gossip. “I mean, Leighton is such a sweetheart and just so incredibly nice.” However, gossip happens in real life just as much as on “Gossip Girl”. When her character, Kati, left the Upper East Side (and the show) under the explanation that her family moved to Israel, rumors abounded that Zhang had left to attend Brown University—a school that she has no connection with whatsoever.

“I think for one episode I was talking to a Brown representative. It’s really funny,” says the Chinese American actress. “Once, the Brown school newspaper called me and asked me for an interview, and I was like, ‘You know, I go to Hopkins.’”

At Johns Hopkins University, Zhang studies neuroscience in hopes of graduating next year, then entering a medical school and becoming an optometrist. She started pursuing neuroscience research with professors when she was only 16 years old, realizing that she could save lives and help people with her abilities. Modeling and acting, both passionate pursuits of hers, still lie second to her love of medical research.

While Zhang seems to have the qualities many girls dream of, from her glamorous good looks to her sparkling intellect, she, too, has struggled with coming to terms with her cultural identity—and with her parents. Born in China to strict parents, Zhang and her family moved to New Orleans when she was still a child. Her parents, both doctors, never encouraged her to pursue a life in the entertainment industry.

“I’ll just be honest: my parents are severely traditional. I actually didn’t tell them that I was modeling at first, but when they found out, they weren’t very happy about it. But I realized that I was trying to impose an American way of life on them, and that as parents they just wanted the best for me,” she recalls. “When they saw the ‘Gossip Girl’ trailers, they realized that it was real and now they understand. They were like, ‘If you can do this, you can get into Harvard med school.’”

As an only child, she was often told by her parents to go back to college. Zhang had temporarily left school in order to pursue a modeling career, because driving back and forth from modeling assignments to school had begun to take a toll on her health and spirit. However, during the writers’ strike of 2007-2008, she realized that she had to make a definitive decision about her future—especially because the future of Gossip Girl was shaky. Ultimately, she chose to return to school in order to attain a degree.

“Honestly, you can’t go back to school once you’re 30; don’t believe anyone who tells you that you can,” she says.

Her agency, William Morris, and the “Gossip Girl” production office were very supportive of her decision to become a full-time student again. There were also no catfights or dramatic last words – contrary to what the gossip blogs and tabloids claimed. In fact, Leighton Meester, Nicole Fiscella (who plays Isabel Coates), and Zhang frequently hung out on set. Consequently, Zhang left the show feeling very good about her choice despite between being entwined in the dilemma that many young Asian Americans face—choosing whether to follow a traditional route supported by their parents or to take a completely different path.

“When you’re in that business, with my upbringing, you have certain values that are priority,” she said.

Additionally, as “Gossip Girl” became increasingly popular and as the season progressed, that Zhang became concerned that she might only be playing the token Asian girl. “It was a fun character; I enjoyed every part of it. But I wish they would have portrayed the characters with more dimension.” In being one of the few minorities on the show, Zhang had a lot of pressure to be an example to Asian American teens who watch the show—which was tough to achieve, considering she barely had any lines to be a fully-developed character.

While she is no longer in the limelight—at least for the time being, as she is still signed with William Morris Agency—Zhang has become a greater inspiration to girls with diverse interests. For those who know the real reason why she left, it’s clear that one can be a Gossip Girl and change the world too.

Photos courtesy of Nan Zhang.

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“She came in confident,” says Sung. “She was very focused, and it was very obvious that she loved what she was doing.” Unafraid, Brenda took the stage and impressed Sung with her “spontaneity, sense of ease, and playfulness.” Sung remembers an innate quality in Brenda that helped her stand out as a “smart, intelligent girl that talks to you like she’s a little adult.” She became the first director to cast Brenda in a film, giving the then seven-year-old a role in her short film “Requiem.”

From there, Brenda was on her path to fame. She signed a contract with Disney in 2002, and has been a familiar face on the small screen ever since. Judy Taylor, the vice president of casting and talent relations at Disney, remembers her initial meeting with Brenda and the way the actress lit up any room she walked into. “She’s completely engaging, and you want to spend time with her,” Taylor says. On top of that, Taylor recognized that even at age 14, Brenda was a talented actress who was great with comedy.

But eliciting laughs wasn’t Brenda’s only skill. As a young girl, Brenda’s mother wanted her and her brother to participate in extracurriculars. Brenda begged to take ballet, while her younger brother Timmy was set on taekwondo. However, “my mom only wanted to take us to one place,” she says. And since it was unlikely that Timmy would join ballet class, Brenda had to tag along to taekwondo. “I cried all the way through my first class,” she says. But eventually, she fell in love with it—while Timmy quit halfway through, Brenda went on to get a black belt. Her unique athletic ability made her a prime candidate for her first starring role in a movie as Wendy Wu, a girl who revisits her Chinese heritage and uses martial arts to save the world. According to Lydia Look, one of the script’s cowriters, the directors of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior were having trouble finding a suitable actor with both the comedic presence and taekwondo ability to play the main character, originally named Kenny Lu. “Brenda was originally brought in to play the [supporting] monk’s role,” says Look. “We started training with her in martial arts, and that’s when we realized that she should be Kenny Lu.” They quickly switched things around and offered Brenda the lead in the movie. “She had the perfect combination of wit and martial arts,” said Look. The movie was such a hit that a sequel—in which Wendy Wu returns to China—is currently in the works.

Brenda’s agenda doesn’t stop there, though. After a successful run on The Suite Life as hotel heiress London Tipton, she has a starring role in its spinoff, The Suite Life on Deck. As one of the more seasoned actresses on set, Brenda has taken on a sisterly role, serving as a mentor for some of the younger actresses such as Debby Ryan, who is five years younger than her. At their first meeting, Debby remembers being starstruck and nervous about sharing a stage with someone she had watched on TV growing up. “She teaches me new things every day,” says Debby. She adds that Brenda’s calm presence keeps the younger actors grounded on the set. “She watches out for us, and I can’t think of a better female coworker to have.”

While acting is Brenda’s first love, she loves to read, cook, and bake in what little spare time she has. She separates her professional and personal life by making a conscious effort to draw a definitive line between the two. “I’m 20 years old,” says Brenda. “I want to go have fun, to be able to go to the movies with my brothers.” Most of her free time is spent with her family, especially younger brothers Timmy, 18, and sous-chef Nathan, 12, whom she affectionately calls Nay-nay. Though the two drive her insane—like all little brothers do—all three are extremely good friends. When Timmy turned 18 and graduated from high school in the same week, Brenda remembers tearing up at the idea of her younger brother growing up so quickly. Luckily for her, he’ll be attending college in California, close to the family.

As for Brenda, she manages to squeeze in courses at UC Berkeley while the cameras aren’t rolling. Her best friend Danielle Panabaker, who she met on the set of Stuck in the Suburbs, had taken courses in psychology and suggested the same for Brenda. Brenda fell in love with the subject after taking an elective in high school and now plans to get her bachelor’s degree in psychology. “It works hand-in-hand with my acting,” says Brenda. “It teaches you why people do certain things, and it helps me get into character.” Brenda’s dad is a secondary school teacher, so the importance of education has been drilled into Brenda since she was young. “It’s a personal endeavor for me,” she says. “Education is the one thing that no one can take away from you. It’s what you learn, and what you take from it.”

Understanding the importance of education isn’t the only thing Brenda’s learned from her parents. Brenda is half Hmong and half Thai, and while she loves being American, she’s also very attached to her parents’ native cultures. Her dad only speaks Hmong at home, so Brenda has picked up the language. “I speak it with a little bit of my valley girl accent,” she jokes. “It’s such a close-knit culture, and very family-oriented. As with many Asian cultures, no matter where you branch off, you’re family.” Brenda also laughingly admits that her favorite part about the Hmong culture is the food. “There’s a chicken drumstick dish where they stuff it with noodles,” she says. “It’s my favorite dish.”

Like many others, growing up as an Asian American was both a challenge and a blessing for Brenda. “Being an actress is difficult,” says Brenda. “Sometimes they won’t look at you because you don’t have blue eyes and blond hair, and it’s 10 times as hard to get through the door.”

But Brenda is realistic about the industry. “Sometimes they’re just not looking for an Asian actress,” she says. “That was difficult when I was younger, but it’s all part of the job.” And in true Brenda style, she takes everything in stride. “At the end of the day, it makes you a better person. You can’t think of yourself as an Asian American actress. It’s not about what you look like, it’s about what you do … and who you are as a person.” Though Brenda doesn’t believe that she’s faced much discrimination as an actress, director Elizabeth Sung thinks that isn’t the case for most Asian American actors. “Brenda is a special case,” she says about the young girl she discovered in 1995. “Her talent cuts through all doors—it just knocks them down. It’s credit to Brenda’s unique talent.” Even at six years old, Brenda told Sung on the set of “Requiem” that she wanted to be a director one day. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a show-runner one day,” says Sung. “She will be the role model that inspires a lot more young Brendas to come.”

How does Brenda feel about being a role model to young girls everywhere, from budding Disney stars to young Asian American girls with dreams of acting? “Oh goodness,” she says. “I hope I can set a good example. If I can do it, anyone can. I’m living my dream every single day.”

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So far, Romi Dames has guest-starred in nine “Hannah Montana” episodes and plans to continue working for the show in the future.

Dames officially got into acting at age nine in Japan after begging her parents to let her audition for the musical Annie, and landing the role of Molly. When she moved to Seattle, the first thing she did was flip through the yellow pages and call every theater asking about auditions.

“Some of the theaters said, ‘No, we’re a movie theater,’” Dames said. Despite these mishaps, Dames began getting cast in plays, thus launching her acting career.

Traci is Dames’ favorite character to play. “I can be as big as I want to be,” said Dames who was born on an army base in Yokosuka, Japan. She was born on November 5, but the year remains a mystery to everyone except close friends and family.

“The more of a blank palate you are, the more roles you are free to play,” she said. “And I want to play everything.” Dames refuses to reveal her real age and enjoys seeing herself as anywhere between 15 and 30 on different websites. While most websites say she’s in her mid-20s, IMDB says she’s 29.

The Disney audition called for a rude and bratty girl, which Dames claims was interesting for her to play because she is the polar opposite in real life. Dames also artificially adds the nasally voice to her character. In fact, according to Dames, the only similarity between Traci and Dames is that they both like clothes and cats.

The actress enjoys playing Traci because the character behaves in a manner Dames does not. In reality, Dames cannot go around making unbelievably snobby comments to people as Traci does. “It’s fun to be the bad guy because people try so hard to make everyone happy,” Dames said.

In the world outside of “Hannah Montana,” Dames is a normal girl with a humorous streak. She passes her time by hiking, watching movies and feasting on salmon sushi. Like many girls, Dames adores shopping for clothes, particularly clothes by English Clientele. She was thrilled when she was allowed to choose which English Clientele outfits to wear for a magazine shoot earlier this year. English Clientele, catering to the more professional woman, launched in 2006 and is inspired by the 1940s fashion styles. The line has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and Genlux and ranges from $89 to $3,000 per article of clothing.

About two to three years prior to “Hannah Montana,” Dames’ agent formed Waiters and Extras in Burbank, California with Dames’ friends. Waiters and Extras is a sketch comedy group in which members write and perform their own sketches. Through this, Dames performed in several theaters and was delegated the responsibility of finding venues to rent. Since landing a role on “Hannah Montana,” however, Dames no longer has much time for Waiters and Extras.

The actress has always had a penchant for acting. When she and her family moved to Seattle, Washington when she was almost 13 years old, Dames liked to fool her neighbor into believing she had a twin by appearing in different clothes. Her neighbor eventually found out Dames was an only child when Dames had friends over. “[My friends] totally blew my cover,” she said. “I could have kept it going for years.”

Although she is living her dream, Dames claims that there is not much to do in between roles. “There’s a lot of patience involved,” she said. “And I’m not a super patient person. I want everything to happen quickly. There’s a lot of downtime in between roles and I can’t do much about it. I try to fill that time by taking classes. As an actor, I don’t feel like I have much control over my career.”

In 2007, the Writers’ Guild of America launched a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, an organization that represents the interest of 397 American film and television producers. During this time, many actors were out of jobs, but Dames found a job as a host and VJ for Ford auto shows from December 2007 through March 2008.

She considers herself fortunate to have found a job so quickly during the strike, but is happy to get back to acting. In the future, the actress would like to try her hand at movies. In the theater world, Dames’ dream role is Juliet from “Romeo and Juliet.”

“I love that she goes through everything and feels this wide range of emotions from the silly girl who has a big crush to being devastated,” Dames said. “She grows up during the course of the play and I think that’s a fun thing to do. You get to play everything.”

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