Justin H. Min
Birth nameJustin Hong-Kee Min
Birth dateMarch 20, 1990 (age 36)
Birth placeCerritos, California, U.S.[1]
EducationCornell University (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present
RelativesAshley Park (second cousin)

Justin Hong-Kee Min[2] (born March 20, 1990) is an American actor. He began his acting career with roles in several Wong Fu productions.[3] He is known for portraying Ben Hargreeves in the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024), and for portraying the title role in After Yang (2021).

Early life and education

Min is a second-generation Korean American from Cerritos, California.[1] He is improving his Korean,[1] and wishes to participate in more Korean productions. He is also a second cousin of Ashley Park.[4] Min is a Christian, and still uses the Bible his parents gave him when he was in middle school.[5]

He graduated from Cerritos High School in 2007.[6] He then attended Cornell University, where he served on the Student Assembly as the Minority Liaison; he graduated from the school's College of Arts & Sciences in 2011 with degrees in Government and English.[1][7][8]

Career

Prior to acting, Min was a journalist and photographer for various magazines.[3] He completed photography assignments for the J.A.M. Awards, inVISIBLE, and The Served.[9]

Min began acting in 2012. His early roles include appearances on TV series Faking It, ', and Pure Genius.[9] He is a collaborator of Wong Fu Productions, an independent production company based in Los Angeles, having starred in their 2017 short film How I Became an Adult and their 2019 web series Dating After College, among other projects.[3][10]

In 2019, Min began starring in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy as Ben Hargreeves. He was promoted to the main cast, from recurring character, in the second season.[11] As the character was only shown in flashbacks in the comic books, Min was not part of the early publicity for the series in order to keep his role a secret.[12] Min also used the expanded role in the television show to develop the character "from the ground up", and worked closely with Ethan Hwang, who played a young Ben, to ensure a "similar essence".[13][14]

In April 2019, it was announced that Min had been cast in a main role in the science fiction film After Yang, starring Colin Farrell.[15] The film was expected to be released in 2020 but was delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Min participated in the second season of The Devil's Plan, a Korean Netflix reality competition series, streamed in May 2025, and was the 6th player eliminated.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016RebirthIntern #2
2021After YangYang
2023ShortcomingsBen Tagawa
2024The Greatest HitsDavid Park
DetainedIsaac Barsi
Turn Me OnChristopher
2025Lost in Starlight[16]Jay (voice)English dub
Untitled Home Invasion RomanceStu Cho
Journey ThereMin-jun
2026Handle With Care[17]ColePost-production
Slide Strum MuteNam-gi
CallbackMaxShort Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014Discord and HarmonyMichaelEpisode: "You Think You Know Someone"
2014Faking ItBobbyEpisodes: "The Ecstasy and the Agony", "Busted"; as Justin Min
2015'College KidEpisode: "Crowd Sourced"
2016Pure GeniusEugeneEpisode: "Bunker Hill, We Have a Problem"[9]
2018Beerfest: Thirst for VictoryKyleTelevision film
2019–2024The Umbrella AcademyBen HargreevesRecurring role (season 1), main role (seasons 2–4);[18] 36 episodes
2019Dating After CollegeCameronMiniseries; main role; 7 episodes
2020New AmsterdamJason HuangEpisode: "Liftoff"
2023BeefEdwinRecurring role
2025The Devil's PlanContestantSecond season[19]

Podcast

YearTitleRoleNotes
2022Love and NoraebangJaesun ChoiRecurring role

Theater

YearTitleRoleNotes
2026DataAlex

References

  1. ^ Parks, Dorian (July 2020). "Interview: Robert Sheehan and Justin H. Min Talk Season 2 of 'The Umbrella Academy', Klaus Starting a Cult, Ben Getting a Bigger Role & More". Geeks Of Color. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  2. ^ Bonnet, Alexandra (2020). "Breakout Star Justin H. Min on the Representation, Work Family and Finding Your Inspiration". bellomag.com. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  3. ^ Murray, Iana (Aug 13, 2020). "How Justin H. Min Became the Breakout Star of The Umbrella Academy". GQ. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  4. ^ Fleshman, Cu (2020-12-10). "Character Conversations: Netflix Stars Ashley Park and Justin H. Min Connect Over Asian American Narratives and Family Ties". Character Media. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  5. ^ www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9FWJBPbZJs
  6. ^ 4Jason4Justin (2007-06-23), "Graduation Speech by Justin Min", archived July 26, 2020 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2019-06-30
  7. ^ Park, Byungkwan (April 7, 2010). "Any Student, Any Study: Korean Studies". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  8. ^ "Public Service Scholars". Cornell Blogs. Archived January 9, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  9. ^ Denbath, Neela (February 19, 2019). "The Umbrella Academy cast: Who is Justin H Min? Who plays Ben?". Daily Express. Archived from the original on March 17, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  10. ^ Productions, Wong Fu (2019-04-24), "Watch Dating After College Online | Vimeo On Demand", retrieved 2020-10-02
  11. ^ Otterson, Joe (April 2, 2019). "'Umbrella Academy' Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix". Variety. Archived April 4, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  12. ^ August, Alexandra (March 10, 2019). "Umbrella Academy's Ben Hargreeves On Family Dysfunction & the Netflix Hit". CBR.com. Archived April 4, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  13. ^ Jacobs, Meredith (March 8, 2019). "'Umbrella Academy's Dead Superhero Doesn't Want to Be Alive in Season 2". Inverse.com. Archived April 5, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  14. ^ Solis, Jorge (March 15, 2019). "Interview: Justin H. Min talks 'The Umbrella Academy!'". Villain Media. Archived April 4, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  15. ^ Sneider, Jeff (2019-04-16). "Exclusive: Golshifteh Farahani, Justin Min, Sarita Choudhury Join Colin Farrell in A24's 'After Yang'". Collider. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  16. ^ "'Lost in Starlight' Gets Official Trailer; Maitreyi Ramakrishnan & Justin H. Min Join English Cast". May 15, 2025.
  17. ^ ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Star Justin H. Min To Lead Cast In Feature ‘Handle With Care
  18. ^ "Justin H. Min on Instagram: "Season 2: Ben is back. And he's back with a promotion. He's officially a series regular. – I know I joke around here quite a bit, but I…"". Instagram. Archived January 23, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  19. ^ Guiral, Angela Nicole. "Netflix's 'The Devil's Plan' returns: get to know the cast and players of season 2". Tatler Asia