[1] Shaw moved from Taipei, Taiwan, to Upland, California, at age 4, where he grew up with his older brother, Eugene, who is also an aspiring actor, and their grandparents.
Shaw played lead roles in the off-Broadway production of Savage Love at New York City's Century Theatre and A Boy's Life at Shurin Studio, both of which received critical acclaim.
He went on to make a series of appearances on TV shows such as Haunted (as Tommy), CSI: NY (as Billy James), Charmed (as Attendant), The Closer (as Donnie), Monk (as a Rap Producer), The Mind of the Married Man (as Machiko), All My Children (as Henry Chin), General Hospital (as a Band Member), The Young and the Restless (as Alan), and Baywatch Hawaii.
Shaw has also appeared in feature films such as Get Him to the Greek (as a Pinnacle Executive), L!fe Happens (as Ivan #2), The Truth About Angels (as JC), and Rush Hour 2 (as a Triad Gangster).
He also played the role of Tao in the short film Mission Chinese, directed by David Parker and Cole Schreiber (also known as Sunday Paper),[2] and starring Ron Yuan and Elaine Tan.