A-yia Thoj

A-yia's father served as a lieutenant in the Hmong forces alongside the American CIA during the Vietnam War. After the American forces pulled out of Vietnam, the Pathet Lao started invading Hmong villages to rape the women and kill all the men. As political refugees of the war, A-yia's family had to flee Laos after the Americans pulled out and left the Hmong to fend for themselves against the Communist Pathet Lao. A-yia's family crossed the border into Thailand and was forced to live in refugee camps segregated from the general Thai population. It was in a refugee camp in Ban Vinai, Thailand that A-yia was born. When A-yia was a little more than a year old, his family was sponsored to come to the U.S. by his mom's brother. A-yia has 4 brothers and 1 sister.

A-yia's first acting role was in a third grade history play where he played Abraham Lincoln. It wasn't until 7th grade, where he stole scenes as Mr. McNasty in a melodrama called Way, Way, Way Down East, that A-yia acquired the "acting bug". The next year, he was cast as Sganarelle in the Moliere play, The Doctor Inspite of Himself.

In high school, A-yia began work with Pom Siab Hmoob Theater (now called Center for Hmong Arts and Talent) where he played various roles in Hmong Tapestries: Voices From the Cloth. Hmong Tapestries: Voices from the Cloth was considered one of the 10 best plays in the Twin Cities that year. A-yia eventually toured with the company nationally for this role, advocating the plight of the Hmong to many audiences. A-yia also connected with Pom Siab Hmoob Theater to play Pob Zeb in We Are Hmong, a play about culture clashes between parents who grew up with old country values and their children who grow up with American values.

As a prestigious Kirby Puckett Scholar and a President's Outstanding Minority Scholar, A-yia attended the University of Minnesota with a full scholarship to study Neuroscience for a future career as a doctor. However, A-yia never stopped acting during his college years and eventually decided that he would stick with acting. In his final year of college, he switched his major from Neuroscience to Theater. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater with emphasis on acting and directing from the University of Minnesota.

After graduation, A-yia wrote and directed his own play for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. It was called The Invisible People, a play about two lesbians who committed suicide because the community around them would not accept their sexual orientation. The play opened to standing room only audiences. After the Invisible People, Pangea World Theater commissioned A-yia to write Under The Bridge with Saychay Thor, a play about domestic abuse in a small tight knit minority community. A-yia is working on a screen adaptation of this script.

In 2001, A-yia started volunteering on public access TV sets in Saint Paul, MN. There he started to learn the technical aspects of production. During his time there, A-yia performed the role of cameraman, sound, floor manager, switcher, editor, titling and producer for many of the shows produced at that studio. He also started a production company, Peripheral Blur Productions. While in Minnesota, this company has worked with Darren Sharper's Sharperpalooza, the Jack Brewer Foundation, Jolie Magazine's 1 year Anniversary, Mint Condition, Jelly Bean Johnson and the United Way.

Some of the people A-yia has worked with include: Rick Shiomi from Theater Mu, Dipankar Mukherjee from Pangea World Theater and formerly the Guthrie Theater, Lou Bellamy from the Penumbra Theater, Kent Stephens, Dr. Stephen Kanee, Howard Dalin, and Pamela Shae.

A-yia has traveled world wide, lived in Japan for 6 months and speaks three languages fluently. A-yia resides in Los Angeles, CA pursuing a career as an actor and a director while working as a professional photographer.