An was born in China and grew up learning English at an international school there. Following his parents, he moved to Auckland when he was 7. He has three younger sisters, one of whom was born in Auckland when he was 13. He speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin but can only recognize some Han characters and cannot write Chinese. He had an ex-girlfriend from Taiwan who polished up his Mandarin, which has helped him land jobs.[2]
Yoson was educated at Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga Auckland, he studied music and was part of many school productions.
Career
He began acting on screen in 2012 in small projects before getting his first big break with Ghost Bride.[3] He eventually decided to move to Australia to pursue more opportunities. "I feel like Australia has more opportunities for non-white actors to break into the film industry than we do in New Zealand...I also believe Australia has a lot more actors in general than we do in New Zealand.... [SBS is] known for having accurate multicultural representation of Australia on screen." Yoson was cast in Dead Lucky which he considers a big opportunity for him as it is a major leading role with Rachel Griffiths.[4] He made the leap to American cinema with the Walt Disney Pictures live-action film adaptation of Mulan,[5] which reunited him with Dead Lucky co-star Xana Tang.[6]
