Reggie Valdez was born on the 4th October 1975, in Quezon City, Philippines, and is an American actor who, as Reggie Lee, is probably best known for his portrayal of Sergeant Wu in the TV series “Grimm”, and for appearing in Hollywood’s blockbuster movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007).
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this popular actor has accumulated so far? How rich Reggie Lee is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total of Reggie Lee’s net worth, as of early 2018, exceeds the sum of $2 million and includes assets such as a Craftsman style house in Portland, Oregon, and a condominium in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California. It has all been acquired trough his acting career which has been active since 1996.
Reggie Lee Net Worth $2 Million
Reggie was the eldest of three children of Jesus Espiritu Valdez and Zenaida Telmo. At the age of five, alongside his family Reggie migrated to the state of Ohio, USA, where he attended Padua Franciscan High School in the city of Parma. He was also a member of the Cleveland Play House as well as of the Greenbrier Theatre (nowadays referred to as the Cassidy Theatre). Despite acceptance from Harvard University, in 1992 Reggie moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue his acting career full time, and spent the next several years touring with the crews of musical productions “Miss Saigon” and “Heartstrings”, as well as with Prince, and appeared in stage plays “Carousel” and “F.O.B.” for which he received the Dramalogue Critics Award. These endeavors provided the basis for Reggie Lee’s current net worth.
His on-camera debut occurred in 1996 when he briefly appeared in an episode of “Diagnosis Murder” TV series, which was followed by an appearance in an episode of “Dangerous Minds” in 1997. In the course of the next few years, Lee mastered his acting skills through a variety of supporting roles in over 16 TV series, including “ER” and “Beverly Hills, 90210”, before making his big screen debut in the 1999 movie “Big Blind”. In 2000 he was cast for the leading role in the romantic drama movie about a young gay couple entitled “Drift”, while in 2001 he was cast for the role of cold-blooded killer Lance Nguyen in the action thriller “The Fast and the Furious”. All these involvements helped Reggie Lee to establish himself in the profession, as well as enlarging his net worth.
Between 2001 and 2003 he portrayed Officer Jim Chang in “The Division” TV series, while in 2003 he appeared in the first season of “Luis”. The breakthrough in Reggie’s acting career occurred in 2006 when he was cast for the role of Secret Service Special Agent William ‘Bill’ Kim in the “Prison Break” TV series, before starring as sea warrior Tai Huang in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007). These were followed by supporting roles in movies such as “Tropic Thunder” (2008) and “Star Trek” (2009), before in 2010 starring in several episodes of “No Ordinary Family”, while between 2010 and 2013 he voice-acted in the animated comedy series “American Dad!”. It is certain that all these achievements made an impact on the size of Reggie Lee’s net worth.
After performing as Officer Huang in the 2011 comedy drama movie “Crazy, Stupid, Love”, Lee began portraying Sergeant Drew Wu in the TV series “Grimm”, appearing in its 120 episodes as well as in its spin-off shows “Grimm: Bad Hair Day” in 2012, and “Grimm: Meltdown” in 2014. Doubtlessly, these involvements have helped Reggie Lee to add a considerable sum to the total of his revenues.
Additionally, Lee had appeared in TV series such as “NCIS”, “Person Unknown”, “Hawaii Five-0” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, and in movies including “Chinaman’s Chance: America’s Other Slaves” (2008), “Drag Me to Hell” (2009), “Safe” (2012) as well as in “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) and “Here Comes the Boom” (2012) which all helped in boosting Reggie Lee’s net worth.
Speaking of his personal life, Reggie Lee has managed to keep it quite private as there aren’t any relevant details about any love affairs or romantic connections.
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Choreography
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Frequently plays law enforcement officers
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[on his last name] I took the Lee from my grandparents who took care of me during the day while my mom was away working.
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[on his younger days] When I was about 10, I saw Timothy Bottoms in a tele-movie called A Shining Season and it really moved me. I was maybe 8 or 9. Timothy played a runner who had cancer and he defied the odds by coaching a girls' team to victory. I thought, 'If this guy could move me and other people so much, then I want to do what he's doing, I wanted to be an actor. So I went to my parents and I said, 'I want to be an actor.' And they said, 'Oh no, you can't do that. Being an actor is not a stable career. You can go to college and have a degree first and you can do anything you want'. After summer, I asked for their permission for me to visit relatives in L.A.
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[on his cultural background] Oh no, it hasn't. I'm Pinoy through and through. I watch The Filipino Channel (TFC) and Pinoy TV (of GMA) all the time. I miss the culture. I watch A.S.A.P. and S.O.P. because I love the singing. I watch all the tele-series. Name them and I watch them. I'm a big fan of Christopher De-Leon, whom I first saw in American Adobo, and Sharon Cuneta.
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[on working with Chow Yun-Fat in the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" film] It was fantastic! He was like an older brother to me. He was the kind of person who would come to the set every morning and give you a hug, whether you are a star or an extra. He was just so gracious and happy to be there.
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[on Asians in film] Hollywood used to look at Asian actors as the bad boys, the delivery boys, whatever. But now, they are starting to see beyond that; they're starting to see Asian actors as human beings and casting them in better roles. So I always tell Asian actors, especially Filipinos wanting to break into Hollywood to study, study and study, and show their best. I haven't stopped studying. There's an abundance of roles and all you have to do is prove to them that you are good for the role(s). Prove to them that you are just as good as anyone else. See yourself as a human being first, and not just an Asian.
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Parents wanted him to be a doctor, regardless of the fact that this would have made him unhappy. Instead, he became an actor and ended up much happier.