Chiou attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was involved in the Asian American theatre company on campus, LCC, which had been co-founded by Randall Park just several years prior.

[5] On television, he also played A.J., the Gang leader on IZombie,[6] and on TV shows such as House M.D., The Cape (as Kwan), Victorious, Parenthood (as Mike Garrison), CSI:NY, Grey's Anatomy, Southland, Dollhouse (as Travis Nikoden), NCIS (as Officer Kevin Lim), Hannah Montana, Chuck, Just Jordan, and 'Til Death.

[7] Chiou has starred in feature films such as multi-character film Crossing Over also starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Justin Chon, Leonardo Nam and more, Seventh Moon opposite Amy Smart as her love interest, Quentin Lee's The People I've Slept With as Fred, the husband of Lynn Chen's character, Juliet, and as "The Wang" in Abraham Lim's The Achievers, written by Michael Golamco.

He has also been in a number of independent short films such as James Huang's Represent and The Adventures of Johnny Karate and Golden Delicious, Viet Nguyen's Ninja Say What, and Nadine Truong's Initiation.

[11] Chiou has also appeared in Snow Falling on Cedars at Theaterworks in Silicon Valley as Kabuo Miyamoto,[12] Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart at East West Players,[13] You Can't Take It with You at the Geffen Playhouse[14] as well as the Berkeley Repertory Theater production of Heidi Stillman's The North China Lover, a stage adaptation of Marguerite Duras's novel, The Lover.