KEVIN SHEN

2000 Scholar

The Magic of Storytelling

Kevin Shen is an actor and writer currently based in London, England, originally from Orange County, California. He recently starred in the Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of LIFE OF PI on London’s West End. He made his stage debut as the lead in the UK Premiere of Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang’s Pulitzer Prize finalist play YELLOW FACE, which he also produced, opening the studio space of north London’s Park Theatre and subsequently transferring to the National Theatre. He was also part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s first all-East Asian cast in the World Premiere of Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s SNOW IN MIDSUMMER. Kevin also regularly works in film and television in both the UK and the US, and is a prolific audiobook narrator.

As a writer, Kevin strives to increase visibility for the AAPI community and other underrepresented demographics by creating complex, interesting, leading roles for Asian actors in stories that celebrate the diversity within the Asian immigrant and diaspora communities. His plays have been produced by Theatre503 and New Earth Theatre in London, and his feature screenplay ANGEL ISLAND was included on the prestigious CAPE List in 2021, a selection of ten screenplays that center AAPI stories curated by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Hollywood’s The Black List. His plays have been longlisted for the UK’s Bruntwood Prize for playwriting and shortlisted for Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award. He is a recent alumnus of writing programs with London’s Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, New Earth Theatre, Criterion Theatre, and BBC Writer’s Room.

Prior to becoming an actor, Kevin graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Computer Systems Engineering and an MA in Sociology and worked in information security consulting in New York City before receiving his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in a marketing role for Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas and a strategic role at a ticketing startup in London before switching to a career in acting.

Kevin likes to eat. A lot.