Before he found fame in film and television, Ken Jeong found his wife.
The actor was working as a doctor when he met Tran Ho, also a doctor. The couple married in September 2004, and then welcomed twin daughters Alexa and Zooey in 2007.
When the couple’s twins were just a year old, Tran was diagnosed with breast cancer. Around the same time, Ken was offered a role in Hangover as Leslie Chow, which will propel his career forward.
Despite being treated for cancer and having young daughters, Tran encouraged her husband to take the opportunity.
“I was going to turn it down, but Tran encouraged me not to. She didn’t let her diagnosis change our lives or separate us from our dreams,” Ken wrote in a personal essay for HuffPost in 2011.
He continued: “Since we’ve known each other, she has been my biggest supporter in my pursuit of a career in comedy. She knew this was my chance and she selflessly put herself second again.”
So who is Ken Jeong’s wife? Here’s everything you need to know about Tran Jeong and her relationship with the actor.
She met Ken at a singles mixer
Ken Jeong and Tran Jeong.
Ken Jeong Instagram
Ken and Tran met while they were both working as doctors at the same hospital in Los Angeles. She worked in family medicine, and he in internal medicine.
“I remember that we occasionally passed each other in the hospital when we made our rounds. She was very beautiful, very expensive. She seemed very expensive,” he recalled during one episode Death, sex and money podcast.
“I remember that we had a doctor’s evening, as young doctors. Doctors in their late 20s, early 30s,” he added. “We all gathered for happy hour at the bar.”
He said: “We both realized — oh my God, this is amazing. She made me laugh. She was really the first person I met who made me laugh so much. She’s so funny. We really bonded over our love of comedy. In medicine, you don’t meet many people, much less date them, who love it, but we had that in common.”
She and Ken married in 2004
Ken Jeong/Instagram
The couple got married on September 6, 2004.
“Twenty years later, forever. You still complete me, Ho,” Ken wrote on Instagram in honor of the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary in September 2024.
She is “sure” of herself
Ken Jeong and Tran Jeong at the 71st Emmy Awards.
Frazer Harrison/Getty
Not only did the couple bond over their love of comedy, but Tran feels comfortable taking her husband’s jokes. Even his 2019 Netflix comedy special. You complete me, Hois a play on her maiden name.
“I checked every one of her jokes. It just goes to show what a thick skin she had. She is like a comedian’s dream for a wife or girlfriend. Because she is so sure of herself. Her last name is Ho, and I make the worst, hackiest jokes,” he said Death, sex and money podcast.
“Even when we got married, she said, “I knew in my heart that I married a comedian. Not the doctor,” he added.
She encouraged Ken to become a full-time actor
Ken Jeong and Tran Jeong at the 76th Golden Globe Awards.
George Pimentel/WireImage
Ken credits Tran with encouraging him to pursue acting full-time. After a few minor roles in the early 2000s, his life became “beautifully surreal” after his big break in 2007. Inflated.
“I was happy just to be a doctor from Inflatedmuch less what happened after,” he told critics during ABC’s summer press tour. “Hangover changed my life from black and white to Technicolor.”
The actor explained: “I was filming Inflated during the vacation week. My wife was like a good college coach telling a star it was time to turn pro. She knew I had a secret ambition to want to act full-time. I just didn’t know if I could do it full time. My wife’s trust in me has encouraged me to do this full time. I owe my entire career to her.”
Although Ken no longer practices medicine, he has played a doctor in several roles, including Inflated and Dr. Kenand even used his skills in real life when needed.
She is the mother of twins
Ken Jeong, Tran Jeong, Zooey Jeong and Alexa Jeong arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of “Despicable Me 2” in 2013.
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Ken and Tran became parents in 2007 with the arrival of twin daughters Alexa and Zooey.
Although the girls mostly stay out of the limelight, they have made several appearances with their parents at premieres and events over the years. And despite being twins, Ken has been open about celebrating their differences and what makes each of his girls unique.
“There’s something special and different about being a father to twin daughters,” he said Community star told PEOPLE in 2017.
“I have not one but two ‘daddy’s girls,’ and you have a doubled dynamic in many ways,” he continued. “It really is twice as sweet. There is something to be said for that.”
He also shared some advice for fellow parents: “The best thing I can recommend is to listen to your child. I really mean it.”
“Alexa likes gymnastics, but neither do I nor my wife [are athletic] — she may have taken a few tumbling classes, but Alexa really had an ability and a passion for gymnastics and we encouraged that,” he said.
“We are listening [our children] and I’m very proud of that,” he added. “Zooey, on the other hand, likes comedies. She was a guest at Dr. Kenand it was fun to share experiences.”
She is a breast cancer survivor
Ken Jeong and Tran Jeong.
ABC/Getty
Tran is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with the disease after finding a lump in her breast while breastfeeding her daughters when they were babies.
“It was hard to understand why this was happening to her at a time when she should be enjoying her first years of motherhood with her young children,” Ken wrote in a personal essay for HuffPost. “I now believe there was a reason she was diagnosed when she was – she had a mother’s strength to draw from and a stronger will to fight.”
Tran still works as a doctor and has been in remission for more than a decade. After witnessing the journey his wife took through chemotherapy and treatments, it inspired Ken to become an advocate for cancer detection and research.
The Community the actor once said PEOPLE Now“That is the most important thing for me, family and personally. And I actually went to different hospitals just to talk about breast cancer awareness and the importance of screening. And I was just having conversations all over the country.”
She gave permission for Ken to appear naked Hangover
Ken Jeong and wife Tran Ho attend The Hangover II premiere in 2011.
Michael Kovac/WireImage
Before Ken stripped down for his role as Leslie Chow in the Hangover and later The Hangover Part IIhe got approval from someone important – Tran.
“I got her permission. I’m not stupid,” the actor told PEOPLE at Hangover IIpremiere in Los Angeles. “I passed her before I passed [director] Todd Phillips.”
“I’m very blessed to have a supportive wife,” he added. “In fact, she said it’s going to be a feel-good movie because every man is going to go home feeling good about himself.”
She and Ken have walked several red carpets together
Neilson Barnard/Getty
Over the years, Tran and Ken have become pros at posing on the red carpet.
In January 2024, the couple appeared at the 75th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Tran wowed in a Marchesa dress with floral motifs, and Ken looked dapper in a Gucci tuxedo.
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Source: HIS Education