Matthew Moy
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Matthew James Moy (born February 3, 1984)[1][2][3][better source needed] is an American actor. He co-starred as Han Lee on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls and provides the voice of Lars Barriga on Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future.
Key Information
Early life and education
[edit]Moy was born and raised in San Francisco, California.[1][4] Moy is a fourth-generation Chinese-American.[4][5] He attended the University of California, Davis, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Japanese and a minor in linguistics.[4] Moy's father was a high school teacher, while his mother was a language therapist.[4] He has one older sister.[4]
Career
[edit]Television
[edit]Moy has appeared on several television shows, including How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Zeke and Luther, Good Luck Charlie, and Kickin' It, and had a recurring role as Shawn the Mathlete on iCarly. He played Trang in the ninth season of the sitcom Scrubs. He has also made guest star appearances on Big Time Rush as famous blogger Deke and on The Middle as Takayuki, the Heck family's Japanese foreign exchange student. He appeared on the fifth episode of the Syfy reality game show Cha$e and voices Lars Barriga on the Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe, a role which has earned him critical praise.
Moy co-starred as Han Lee on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, from 2011 to 2017. Moy's character was criticized by writer Andrew Ti as perpetuating "every possible Yellow Panic stereotype with an actually fairly impressive level of thoroughness"[6] and his use of broken English was characterized as being played "like some sorry minstrel show."[7] Moy responded to criticism by stating that "[w]e're a comedy, and we often go right to the edge. It doesn't bother me. I've encountered this all my life. I've been made fun of all my life."[8] In July 2017, Moy was cast as Zack Smith/Microbe in New Warriors on Freeform.[9] While a pilot was filmed, Freeform dropped the series and it was ultimately cancelled after languishing for a year.[10]
Film
[edit]Moy played Ron, Grover's best friend, in the 2010 independent film The Grover Complex. He played Chuck in the 2011 film No Strings Attached opposite Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman.
Video games
[edit]Moy voiced Firefly in the 2009 video game G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Raus in White Knight Chronicles, and Shroomboom in the Skylanders reboot of the franchise.
Artwork
[edit]When not acting, Moy enjoys drawing and painting.[11] He has credited Rebecca Sugar with giving him additional painting lessons during his time on Steven Universe.[citation needed]
Personal life
[edit]In 2012, while filming the second season of 2 Broke Girls, Moy unknowingly suffered a minor stroke in his sleep, causing weakness and motor skill loss in his right side. He drove himself to urgent care, and doctors discovered bleeding in his brain, but no further deterioration. The loss of motor skills in Moy's right side required a year of physical therapy, including walking with a cane for assistance on sets and re-learning to write with his right hand; he has since made a full recovery. Moy kept the incident private from media until 2017.[12]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Non Sequitur | Dallas | Short film |
| 2010 | The Grover Complex | Ron | |
| 2011 | No Strings Attached | Chuck | |
| 2011 | Accidentally in Love | Adam | Television film |
| 2012 | FDR: American Badass! | Officer Nguyen | |
| 2014 | The Future of Dough | Darren | Short film |
| 2015 | Unreal Estate | The stranger | |
| 2019 | White Snake | Dudou | English dub[13] |
| 2019 | Lucky | Security Gnome (voice) | Television film[14] |
| 2020 | Exorcism at 60,000 Feet | Thang |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Mind of Mencia | Short man | Season 4, episode 8 |
| 2009–2010 | iCarly | Shawn | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | Party guest | Episode: "Hair" |
| 2009 | How I Met Your Mother | Louis | Episode: "The Window" |
| 2009–2010 | Scrubs | Trang | 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Criminal Minds | Eric | Episode: "The Uncanny Valley" |
| 2010 | Zeke and Luther | School reporter | Episode: "Skate Squad" |
| 2010 | Big Time Rush | Deke | Episode: "Big Time Blogger" |
| 2010 | Good Luck Charlie | Usher | Episode: "Butt Dialing Duncans" |
| 2010 | The Middle | Takayuki | Episode: "Foreign Exchange" |
| 2011–2017 | 2 Broke Girls | Han Lee | Main cast |
| 2012 | Kickin' It | Shen | Episode: "Kickin' It in China" |
| 2013 | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness | Master Yijiro (voice) | Episode: "The Way of the Prawn"[14] |
| 2013–2019 | Steven Universe | Lars Barriga, Fox Man, Voltron (voice) | Recurring role[14] |
| 2016 | Bubble Guppies | Ping (voice) | Episode: "The New Year's Dragon!" |
| 2017 | Voltron: Legendary Defender | Vakala (voice) | Episode: "The Journey" |
| 2018 | Hell's Kitchen | Himself | Guest diner; Episode: "Stars Heating Up Hell" |
| 2018 | New Warriors | Zachary Smith/Microbe | Television pilot |
| 2019 | Steven Universe: The Movie | Lars Barriga (voice) | Television film |
| 2019 | Steven Universe Future | Lars Barriga (voice) | Episode: "Little Graduation"[14] |
| 2022 | Alice's Wonderland Bakery | David of Spades (voice) | Recurring role |
| 2022–2024 | Teen Titans Go! | Folding Paper Man (voice) | 6 episodes |
| 2023 | American Auto | Dale | 5 episodes |
| 2025 | Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage | Donnie | Episode: "A Bus Bench and Faith out the Wazoo" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Squatters | Hung | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Awkward Universe | Darren | Episode: "Wet Crotch Clarification" |
| 2011 | Aim High | Scotty Winelin | 5 episodes |
| 2015 | Not So Union | Orbit | Episode: "Silverback" |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Firefly | [14] |
| 2010 | White Knight Chronicles | Raus | English version[14] |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Giants | Shroomboom | |
| 2013 | Skylanders: Swap Force | Shroomboom | |
| 2014 | Skylanders: Trap Team | Additional voices | |
| 2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | Shroomboom | [15] |
| 2016 | Skylanders: Imaginators | Shroomboom | |
| 2023 | Starfield | Nyx | [16] |
| 2024 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Additional voices |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "2 Broke Girls Cast: Matthew Moy". Cbs.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ "California Births, 1905 - 1995". Familytreelegends.com. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Celebrity birthdays for the week of Feb. 2-8". Associated Press. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Crook, John (8 October 2012). "Matthew Moy of '2 Broke Girls'". From Inside the Box. Zap2It. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ Harris, Bill (30 November 2012). "Matthew Moy takes the jabs in '2 Broke Girls'". From Inside the Box. Toronto Sun.
- ^ Ti, Andrew (19 January 2012). "Yo, Is This Racist? 2 Broke Girls and the New Long Duk Dong We Never Asked For". Grantland. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (24 October 2011). "The Sorry State Of '2 Broke Girls': Racism and Lame Sex Jokes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Braxton, Greg (22 November 2012). "Matthew Moy casts his fate with '2 Broke Girls'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (10 July 2017). "Marvel's 'New Warriors' Sets its Cast — Including Squirrel Girl (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Polito, Thomas (15 September 2019). "Exclusive: Marvel's 'New Warriors is Dead; Superhero Show Fails to Find a New Home". The GWW. Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ "Matthew Moy (@themoywonder) • Instagram photos and videos".
- ^ "Serein Wu | Behind the Beauty Podcast #30 (Matthew Moy)". YouTube. 8 August 2017.
- ^ Post, NYAV (13 November 2019). "Introducing the English cast of White Snake Blanca - Stephanie Sheh Verta - Vivian Lu Xuan - Paul Yen Dark General - James Sie Little General - Vincent Rodriguez III Fox - Faye Mata Snake Queen - Karen Huie Dudou - Matthew Moy Chang Pan - Kaiji Pan #WhiteSnake #Gkids #NYAVPostpic.twitter.com/zRhsGJOuiQ". @nyav_post. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Matthew Moy (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 1 December 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^ Vicarious Visions. Skylanders: SuperChargers. Activision. Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.
- ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
External links
[edit]- Matthew Moy at IMDb
Matthew Moy
View on GrokipediaEarly life and education
Family heritage and upbringing
Matthew Moy was born on February 3, 1984, in San Francisco, California, to parents of Chinese descent, making him a third- or fourth-generation Chinese American.[5][6] His family's roots trace back to China through great-great-grandparents who immigrated, establishing a multi-generational presence in the United States.[5] Moy was raised in San Francisco as the younger of two children, in an environment shaped by his parents' professional lives.[7] His father worked as a high school teacher, providing a structured educational influence in the household.[5][3] In contrast, Moy's mother served as a speech and language therapist, a career path that reportedly aligned more closely with his early interests in communication and performance.[3][2] This parental dynamic fostered an upbringing emphasizing education and expressive skills amid the diverse cultural fabric of San Francisco's Chinese American community.[5]Academic background
Moy attended the University of California, Davis, where he majored in Japanese and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, complemented by a minor in linguistics.[5][3] His coursework emphasized language acquisition and structural analysis, reflecting an interest in East Asian studies that aligned with his Chinese-American heritage.[8][9] During his time at UC Davis, Moy engaged in voice-over training, which he later credited as a foundational experience bridging his academic pursuits with performance arts, though he did not pursue formal theater or film degrees.[3][7] No records indicate postgraduate studies or additional certifications in acting or related fields prior to his professional entry into entertainment.[10]Professional career
Early roles and breakthrough
Moy's professional acting career began with a guest appearance on the Comedy Central sketch comedy series Mind of Mencia, which aired from 2005 to 2008.[11] This marked his first credited television role, following his interest in acting sparked during high school theater involvement.[12] Subsequent early roles consisted primarily of one-off guest spots on various network and cable series. These included appearances on Nickelodeon shows such as iCarly (2007–2010) and Big Time Rush (2009–2013), as well as episodes of ABC's The Middle (2009–), CBS's How I Met Your Mother, and the crime procedural Criminal Minds in its fifth season episode "The Uncanny Valley" (2009).[11][2] He also featured in the 2010 independent film The Grover Complex as Ron, Grover's best friend, and had a small part as Chuck in the 2011 romantic comedy No Strings Attached.[13] Moy achieved his breakthrough in 2011 with the recurring co-starring role of Han Lee, the short-statured, socially awkward owner of the Williamsburg Diner, on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls.[2] The series, which premiered on September 19, 2011, and ran for six seasons until April 17, 2017, provided Moy with his first prominent series regular position, appearing in all 138 episodes alongside leads Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.[11] This role elevated his visibility in Hollywood, transitioning him from episodic guest work to sustained narrative prominence.[14]Television work
Moy's breakthrough in television came with his recurring guest appearances in the late 2000s and early 2010s on several popular series. He guest-starred as a receptionist in an episode of Criminal Minds in 2009, portraying a character involved in a behavioral analysis case.[1] In 2010, he appeared as a contest coordinator in iCarly and as a waiter in Big Time Rush, both Nickelodeon shows targeting younger audiences.[11] Additional early roles included episodes of How I Met Your Mother (2011), The Middle (2012), Zeke and Luther (2010), Good Luck Charlie (2011), and Kickin' It (2012), often in supporting comedic parts emphasizing his diminutive stature and energetic delivery.[1] His most prominent television role was as Han Lee, the short-tempered Korean-American owner of the Williamsburg Diner, in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, which aired from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017, across six seasons and 138 episodes.[15] Moy's character served as a foil to the protagonists Max Black and Caroline Channing, frequently involved in the diner's daily operations and comic mishaps, with Han's portrayal drawing on immigrant entrepreneur tropes and physical humor centered on his height of 5 feet.[16] The series averaged 11-13 million viewers in its early seasons before declining to around 5 million by its finale.[15] Following 2 Broke Girls, Moy took on the recurring role of Kai, a socially awkward employee, in the NBC workplace comedy American Auto, which premiered on January 4, 2022, and ran for two seasons until concluding in 2023.[1] In this series, set at a fictional Detroit automaker, Kai's character navigated corporate absurdities and diversity initiatives, appearing in multiple episodes alongside leads like Ana Gasteyer.[1] These roles established Moy as a go-to actor for quirky, ethnicity-inflected supporting parts in ensemble sitcoms.Film appearances
Moy's live-action film roles have primarily been in independent and low-budget productions, with appearances often limited to supporting or minor characters. His debut feature was in the drama The Grover Complex (2010), where he portrayed Ron.[11] In the same year, he contributed to the romantic comedy No Strings Attached, directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, though in an uncredited or brief capacity.[17] Subsequent credits include the satirical biopic FDR: American Badass! (2012), in which he played Officer Nguyen, a Vietnamese military officer in a fictionalized depiction of Franklin D. Roosevelt's life.[17] He appeared in the short film The Future of Dough (2014) as Darren, exploring themes of entrepreneurship in the food industry.[18] In Unreal Estate (2015), Moy took on the role of the unnamed stranger in this independent thriller.[18] Later films encompass voice work in animation, such as Dudou in the Chinese-American animated fantasy White Snake (2019).[11] He voiced Lars Barriga in the short Lars of the Stars (2018), a spin-off tied to the Steven Universe universe.[1] Additional credits include Thang in the horror film Exorcism at 60,000 Feet (2019), a confined-space thriller set on an airplane.[11] Moy also featured in Steven Universe: The Movie (2019), providing voice acting in the musical adventure film based on the Cartoon Network series.[17] More recently, he appeared in The Addiction of Hope (2025), though details on his role remain limited in available records.[11]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Grover Complex | Ron | Feature |
| 2011 | No Strings Attached | Minor role | Feature |
| 2012 | FDR: American Badass! | Officer Nguyen | Feature |
| 2014 | The Future of Dough | Darren | Short |
| 2015 | Unreal Estate | The Stranger | Feature |
| 2018 | Lars of the Stars | Lars Barriga (voice) | Short (animated) |
| 2019 | White Snake | Dudou (voice) | Feature (animated) |
| 2019 | Exorcism at 60,000 Feet | Thang | Feature |
| 2019 | Steven Universe: The Movie | Voice role | Feature (animated) |
| 2025 | The Addiction of Hope | Unspecified | Feature |