Childhood & Early Life
Hayden Szeto was born Hayden Chun Hay Szeto, on September 11, 1985, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Nigel Szeto, a painter. Hayden’s paternal grandfather, Kei Szeto, was a sculptor of repute. Hayden’s family has had a long history in arts with his ancestors being poets, painters, and sculptors.
Hayden grew up in Richmond, a locality full of rich Asians. Having well-known artists in the family certainly played an important role in creating interest in him for creative arts. Tom Cruise starrer film ‘Top Gun’ served as inspiration to Hayden and he decided during his teens to become an actor.
He had a somewhat lonely childhood. Being the only son in the family and his parents being busy with their respective works, Hayden often looked after himself and his younger sister. His parents left for Hong Kong when he was 15 years old and both the siblings began living with their aunt.
Following his high school education, Hayden enrolled at ‘Kwantlen Polytechnic University’ in British Columbia to study sociology, but his real interest was something else – acting. He then decided to move to the United States to seek professional training in acting. He enrolled at the ‘New York Film Academy’ and completed a certificate in film acting from the academy in 2011.
His parents asked him to move to Hong Kong as it provided better chances in the field of acting, but Hayden decided to work in the USA and moved to Los Angeles. He auditioned for films and television projects and got roles in a few commercial advertisements to begin with.
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Career
In 2011, he made his acting debut in the television film ‘Man of Light,’ playing ‘Jaiden Long,’ but the film did not gain any popularity.
Thereafter Hayden appeared in a guest role in an episode ‘Crimes of Passion’ of the popular American television program ‘America’s Most Wanted.’ He played a gang member in the series.
As work was hard to come by, Hayden began questioning his decision to work in the American film industry. He had almost given up, when he began getting some good roles.
In 2012, he appeared in a supporting role of ‘Young Sam Starr’ in the comedy drama film ‘Secret Asian Man: Rise of the Zodiac!’ The film received good ratings and reviews. He followed it up by another key role (of a restaurant patron) in the short film ‘Free Love.’
Around this time, Hayden hardly had any work and seriously contemplated giving up on acting and moving to Hong Kong. He, however, decided to stay and the patience paid off very well in 2016.
In 2016, he appeared in the coming of age romantic comedy drama film ‘The Edge of Seventeen,’ in which he played the role a young Korean guy (Erwin Kim), who is the secret admirer of the lead girl, played by Hailee Steinfeld.
‘The Edge of Seventeen’ became a huge success, both critically and commercially. It was premiered at the 2016 ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ and received critical appreciation, rare for a film of this genre. The film also became a commercial success, making more than $18 million against a budget of $9 million. Hayden’s acting also received huge appreciation and he gained massive popularity among the youngsters. He also won the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the 2016 ‘Denver International Film Festival.’
In 2017, Hayden appeared in a small role (Ken Luang) in two episodes of the second season of the series ‘The Good Place.’
In 2018, he portrayed ‘Brad Chang’ in the supernatural horror film titled ‘Truth or Dare.’ Although the film received mixed to negative reviews, it was a massive box office success and earned 30 times more than its budget of$3.5 million.
In the same year, Hayden appeared in a supporting role in the comedy drama series ‘Lodge 49.’ He appeared in six episodes of the series.
Subsequently, he appeared in several important roles in films such as ‘The Unbidden’ and ‘Fortune Cookie.’ He also appeared in guest roles in series’ such as ‘Too School for Cool’ and ‘Days of Our Lives.’
In 2019, he appeared in two films, ‘Come As You Are’ and ‘Summer Night’. In the latter, he played ‘Caleb Grass.’ Both the films were moderate critical and commercial successes.
In addition to his film and television roles, Hayden has also appeared in commercial advertisements for brands such as ‘Adidas,’ ‘Walmart,’ ‘Nike,’ ‘Honda,’ ‘Coca Cola,’ and ‘Microsoft.’
