B. D. Wong

BD Wong

Wong in June 2008
Born Bradley Darryl Wong
(1960-10-24) October 24, 1960
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1983–present
Partner(s) Richie Jackson (1988–2004)
Children 2

Bradley Darryl "B.D." Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. He won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in M. Butterfly, becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role.

He has since gained more notability for playing the roles Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Father Ray Mukada on Oz, Dr. John Lee on Awake, Dr. Henry Wu in the first Jurassic Park film as well as the fourth entry, Jurassic World, and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme in the film Seven Years in Tibet.

Wong has also done extensive voice-over work and stage acting. The most well known of his voice acting roles is that of Li Shang from the Disney animated film Mulan. He would later reprise this role twice, most notably for the video game Kingdom Hearts II.

Beginning in 2016, Wong appeared in the TV series Gotham as Hugo Strange. In the same year, he was nominated for a Critic's Choice Television Award and won a Gold Derby Award for his recurring role as Whiterose in Mr. Robot, reappearing in the role during the show's second season.

Early life

BD Wong was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Roberta Christine (née Leong), a telephone company supervisor, and William D. Wong, a postal worker. He has one older brother and one younger brother.[1][2] He is of Chinese descent, with family from Hong Kong.[3] Wong attended Lincoln High School, where he discovered his love of acting and starred as the lead in numerous school plays, before attending San Francisco State University.

Career

Wong gained wide attention as a result of his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly opposite John Lithgow. The play won multiple awards, including several for Wong, who at that time ceased using his full name in favor of his initials. He has since ceased the use of punctuation in his initials. He is notable as the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award,[4] Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role.[5] In addition to his long-running stint on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as FBI psychiatrist Dr. George Huang, he has had recurring roles in All American Girl and as a prison priest on Oz, with guest appearances on The X-Files and Sesame Street. On the big screen, he has appeared in The Freshman (1990), the 1991 remake of Father of the Bride and its 1995 sequel, Father of the Bride Part II, Jurassic Park (1993), Executive Decision (1996) and Slappy and the Stinkers (1997). He also provided the voice of Captain Shiang in Disney's Mulan (1998), its direct-to-video sequel, and the video game Kingdom Hearts II. He returned to Broadway as Linus in a revival of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, alongside Anthony Rapp, Roger Bart and Kristin Chenoweth, and the 2004 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.

In 2008, he starred in the one-man show Herringbone, in which he portrayed 12 roles, at the McCarter Theatre at Princeton University. He brought the show to the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego the following year. In 2012, Wong starred in Herringbone to benefit Dixon Place in New York for two performances. The production, recorded live for a 2014 CD release, was his first appearance in New York of the material, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original New York production.

In 2014, Wong starred in the U.S. premiere of James Fenton’s acclaimed adaptation of The Orphan of Zhao, a classic Chinese legend that has its roots in the fourth century BC, directed by Carey Perloff at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). The Orphan of Zhao is an epic story of self-sacrifice and revenge. In the aftermath of a political coup, a country doctor is forced to sacrifice his own son in order to save the last heir of a noble and massacred clan. The Orphan of Zhao was a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse.

Wong announced his departure from the cast of Law & Order: SVU in July 2011, to join another NBC police drama, Awake, in which he portrayed Dr. Johnathan Lee, a confrontational therapist of an LAPD detective (portrayed by Jason Isaacs) who lived in two realities.[6] Wong guest starred in a thirteenth season episode of Law & Order: SVU titled "Father Dearest" (which aired May 2, 2012).[7]

In 2015, he was named Artist-in-Residence at La Jolla Playhouse. Wong guest starred on a NCIS: New Orleans Episode 1.13 titled "The Walking Dead" (which aired February 3, 2015), where he portrayed Navy Lieutenant Commander Dr. Gabriel Lin.

Wong also guest-starred as the enigmatic White Rose in episodes 8 and 10 of USA Network's Mr. Robot, returning in that role for the show's second season.

Personal life

Wong began a long-term relationship with talent agent Richie Jackson in 1988.[8] In 2000, the couple had twin sons: Boaz Dov, who died 90 minutes after birth, and Jackson Foo Wong. They were born through a surrogate mother, using Wong's sperm and an egg donated by Jackson's sister. In 2003, Wong wrote a memoir about his experiences with surrogacy titled Following Foo: the Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man. Wong and Jackson ended their relationship in 2004.[8]

Wong also donates his time and resources to a number of LGBT and arts-related charities, such as the Ali Forney Center, Materials for the Arts,[9] and Rosie's Theater Kids.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 The Karate Kid Part II Boy on Street as Bradd Wong
1989 Family Business Jimmy Chiu, Adam's MIT Prof
1990 The Freshman Edward
1991 Mystery Date James Lew
Father of the Bride Howard Weinstein
1992 The Lounge People Billy
1993 Jurassic Park Henry Wu
1993 And the Band Played On Kico Govantes
1994 The Ref Dr. Wong, Marriage Counselor aka Hostile Hostages
Men of War Po
1995 Kalamazoo Justin
Father of the Bride Part II Howard Weinstein
1996 Executive Decision Sergeant Louie
Joe's Apartment Cockroach Voice
1997 Seven Years in Tibet Ngawang Jigme
1998 Slappy and the Stinkers Morgan Brinway
Mulan Shang Voice
The Substitute 2: School's Out Warren Drummond Direct to video
2002 The Salton Sea Bubba
2004 Mulan II Shang Straight-to-video
Voice
2005 Stay Dr. Ren
2006 Ira & Abby Party Guest
2012 White Frog Oliver Young
2015 Focus Liyuan Tse
Jurassic World Henry Wu[10]
2016 The Space Between Us Release date: Dec 2016

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 No Big Deal Miss Karnisian's Class TV film
as Bradd Wong
1986 Simon & Simon Counterboy - Photo Shop Clerk Episode: "Mobile Home of the Brave"
1987 Double Switch Waiter TV film
1988 Crash Course Kichi TV film
as Bradd Wong
aka Driving Academy
1990 Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston Kim Tan TV film
aka The Charles Stuart Story
1991 Alive from Off Center Actor Episode: "Dances in Exile"
1993 And the Band Played On Kico Govantes HBO TV film
1994–95 All-American Girl Dr. Stuart Kim 18 episodes
1994 ABC Afterschool Specials Johnny Angel Episode: "Magical Make-Over"
1995 Dazzle Teng TV film
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child The Wolf
Aladdin/The Genie		 Episodes: "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Aladdin"
Bless This House Johnny Chen Episode: "Neither a Borrower Nor a Landlord Be"
1996 The X-Files Det. Glen Chao Episode: "Hell Money"
1997–2003 Oz Father Ray Mukada 47 episodes
1998 Reflections on Ice: Michelle Kwan Skates to the Music of Disney's 'Mulan' Captain Li Shang TV film
1999 Chicago Hope Dr. Kai Chang Episode: "Upstairs, Downstairs"
2000 Welcome to New York Dennis Episode: "Jim Gets a Wig"
2002 Kim Possible Agent Will Du Voice
Episode: "Number One"
2001–2015 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Dr. George Huang 230 episodes, recurring cast seasons 2-3,
Main cast seasons 4-12,
Guest star seasons 13, 14, 15 & 17
2004 Century City U.S. Attorney Matthew Chin Episode: "Pilot"
2007 Marco Polo Pedro TV film
2012 Awake Dr. John Lee Series regular
2014 The Normal Heart Buzzy HBO film
2015 Madam Secretary Brent Rosen Episode: "The Kill List"
2015– Mr. Robot Whiterose/

Minister Zhang

 Nominated—Critics' Choice Award for Best Guest Actor/Actress in a Drama Series
2015– Gotham Professor Hugo Strange[11]
2016 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Scientist Season 3, Episode 11. Scientific Studies segment

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Kingdom Hearts II Captain Li Shang English version
2007 Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ Captain Li Shang English version
2015 Lego Jurassic World Henry Wu

Theater

Year Title Role Notes
1988–1990 M. Butterfly Song Liling Broadway debut
Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Male
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Debut Performance
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Theatre World Award
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
1999 You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Linus
2004–2005 Pacific Overtures Reciter
2012 Herringbone Various Characters One-man show[12]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "B. D. Wong Biography". filmreference. 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  2. ↑ "BD Wong returns to his hometown for Orphan of Zhao". sfgate. 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ The Grand Rapids Press. "'Law and Order' actor BD Wong to speak at Fountain Street Church". MLive.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ "53rd Drama Desk Awards". Drama Desk. 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Theatre World Awards Recipients". Theatre World. 2008. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  6. ↑ Mitovich, Matt (July 17, 2011). "Fall TV Scoop: B.D. Wong Reveals His SVU Fate". TVLine. Mail.com Media. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  7. ↑ "(#1321) "FATHER DEAREST"". The Futon Critic. April 20, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Christopher Stone (November 16, 2005). "B.D. Wong: Out Author, Actor and Parent". AfterElton. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  9. ↑ Adam Hetrick (October 29, 2009). "Wong Joins Adams, Burgess, Pazakis and More for A Very MARY Holiday". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  10. ↑ Chris Tilly (March 18, 2014). "Dr. Henry Wu Returns in Jurassic World". IGN.
  11. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (October 30, 2015). "Jurassic World's BD Wong Joins Gotham As Hugo Strange". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ Andrew Gans (May 21, 2012). "Herringbone, With Tony Winner BD Wong, Plays NYC May 21–22; Performances Will Be Recorded". PlayBill.
  13. ↑ "Stockard Channing, BD Wong Honored at 14th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Presented by Absolut Vodka in San Francisco, 2 June 2003". Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved 2007-07-02.

External links

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