| BD Wong | |||||||
| Birth Name: | Bradley Darryl Wong | ||||||
| Birth Date: | 24 October 1960 | ||||||
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Other Names: | Bradd Wong | ||||||
| Partner: | Richie Jackson (1988–2004) | ||||||
| Years Active: | 1983–present | ||||||
| Children: | 2 | ||||||
| Occupation: | Actor, director | ||||||
| Module: |
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Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong 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. For his role as Whiterose in the television series Mr. Robot, he was nominated for both a Critic's Choice Television Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Wong is known for such roles as Howard Weinstein in the film Father of the Bride, Dr. George Huang on , Father Ray Mukada on Oz, Dr. John Lee on Awake, Dr. Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham, and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme in the film Seven Years in Tibet. Wong is the host of the HLN medical documentary series Something's Killing Me with BD Wong. He has also done extensive voiceover work and stage acting. Wong voiced Captain Li Shang in the Disney animated film Mulan as well as its 2004 direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, and the 2005 video game Kingdom Hearts II.
Bradley Darryl Wong[1] was born on October 24, 1960[2] and raised in San Francisco, California, to Roberta Christine Wong (née Leong), a telephone-company supervisor, and William D. Wong, a postal worker. He has one older brother and one younger brother.[3] He is of Chinese descent, with family from Hong Kong.[4]
Wong attended Lincoln High School, where he discovered his love of acting and starred as the lead in numerous school plays.[3]
He went on to attend San Francisco State University in the 1970s, where he was the only Asian American in the theater department, and there were no roles for him.[5]
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,[6] Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role.[7] In addition to his stint on as FBI psychiatrist Dr. George Huang, he has had recurring roles in All American Girl and played Father Ray Mukada on all six seasons of 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 Li Shang 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.
Wong narrated a public television documentary, "Maxine Hong Kingston: Talking Story" (1990) about the life and work of the ground-breaking Chinese American novelist.[8]
In 1990 Wong objected to Actor's Equity that the plan to use Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce in the role of The Engineer in the Broadway run of Miss Saigon, which Pryce had played since the beginning of the show's 10-year extended run in London, would take jobs away from actors of Asian descent. Although the union barred Pryce from acting the role in response to Wong's complaint, vociferous opposition from Charlton Heston and a threat by the musical's creator and producer, Cameron Mackintosh, to cancel the American production entirely, induced the union to reverse course. Pryce went on to win a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the role.In 2008, Wong starred in the one-man show Herringbone, in which he portrayed 12 roles, at 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 son 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.[9] Wong guest-starred in a thirteenth season episode of Law & Order: SVU titled "Father Dearest" (which aired May 2, 2012).[10]
In 2015, he was named Artist-in-Residence at La Jolla Playhouse. Wong guest-starred on Episode 1.13 titled "The Walking Dead" (which aired February 3, 2015), where he portrayed Navy Lieutenant Commander Dr. Gabriel Lin.
Wong also played the enigmatic Whiterose, head of the hacker collective Dark Army, who lives a double life as Zhang, the Chinese Minister of State Security, on USA Network's Mr. Robot. He was credited as a recurring role for the show's second season and promoted to main cast for the third season, which debuted October 11, 2017.
On August 13, 2017, Wong began hosting the new HLN series Something's Killing Me with BD Wong. The documentary explores strange and unexplainable, real medical ailments and attacks that may be gradual or descend rapidly. But in either case, if a cause and cure are not found immediately, these real-life patients will die.[11]
In 2022, Wong was featured in the book 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre, with a profile written by theatre scholar Esther Kim Lee.[12]
Wong donates his time and resources to a number of LGBT and arts-related charities, such as the Ali Forney Center, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Materials for the Arts,[13] and Rosie's Theater Kids, of which he is also a board member.[14]
Wong was in a long-term relationship with talent agent Richie Jackson from 1988 to 2004.[15] In 2000, the couple had twin sons, Boaz Dov and Jackson Foo Wong through a surrogate mother using Wong's sperm and an egg donated by Jackson's sister. Boaz Dov died 90 minutes after birth. In 2003, Wong wrote a memoir about his experiences with surrogacy titled Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man (ISBN 9780060529536). In 2004, Wong and Jackson ended their relationship. Wong co-parents his son with his ex-partner Jackson and Jackson's husband, Jordan Roth.[16] His son Jackson Foo is also gay, having come out at age 15.[17]
On October 7, 2018, Wong married Richert John Frederickson Schnorr, his partner of eight years, in Brooklyn, New York.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | Boy on Street | Credited 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 | Dr. Henry Wu | |
| And the Band Played On | Kiko Govantes | ||
| 1994 | The Ref | Dr. William Wong, Marriage Counselor | Aka Hostile Hostages (uncredited)[19] [20] |
| Men of War | Po | ||
| 1995 | Kalamazoo | Justin | |
| Father of the Bride Part II | Howard Weinstein | ||
| 1996 | Executive Decision | Sergeant Louie Jung | |
| Joe's Apartment | Cockroach | Voice | |
| 1997 | Seven Years in Tibet | Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme | |
| 1998 | Slappy and the Stinkers | Morgan Brinway | |
| Mulan | Captain Li Shang | Voice | |
| Warren Drummond | Straight-to-video | ||
| 2002 | The Salton Sea | Bubba | |
| 2004 | Mulan II | Shang | Direct-to-video Voice |
| 2005 | Stay | Dr. Edmund Ren | |
| 2006 | Ira & Abby | Party Guest | |
| 2012 | White Frog | Oliver Young | |
| 2015 | Focus | Liyuan Tse | |
| Jurassic World | Dr. Henry Wu[21] | ||
| 2017 | The Space Between Us | Tom Chen | |
| 2018 | Dr. Henry Wu | ||
| Bird Box | Greg | ||
| 2022 | Jurassic World Dominion | Dr. Henry Wu | |
| Blue's Big City Adventure | Director | ||
| 2023 | Heart of Stone | King of Clubs | |
| The Monkey King | Buddha | Voice |
| 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 | Sesame Street | Dr. Sing | 3 episodes |
| And the Band Played On | Kico Govantes | HBO TV film | |
| 1994–1995 | All-American Girl | Dr. Stuart Kim | 18 episodes |
| 1994 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Johnny Angel | Episode: "Magical Make-Over" |
| 1995 | Dazzle | Teng | TV film |
| 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 | Voice 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 | Dr. George Huang | 143 episodes, recurring cast Seasons 2–3, Series regular, Seasons 4–12, Guest star Seasons 13-15, & 17 | |
| 2004 | Century City | U.S. Attorney Matthew Chin | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2007 | Marco Polo | Pedro | TV film |
| 2012 | Awake | Dr. John Lee | Series regular, 11 episodes |
| 2014 | The Normal Heart | Buzzy | HBO film |
| 2015 | Navy Lieutenant Commander Dr. Gabriel Lin | Episode: "The Walking Dead" | |
| 2015–2018 | Madam Secretary | Brent Rosen | Episodes: "The Kill List", "Refuge" |
| 2015 | Nurse Jackie | Doctor Wu | Episode: "Are You with Me, Doctor Wu?" |
| 2015–2019 | Mr. Robot | Whiterose/Minister Zhi Zhang | 22 episodes Recurring cast Seasons 1–2; series regular Seasons 3-4 Nominated—Critics' Choice Award for Best Guest Actor/Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series |
| 2016–2019 | Gotham | Professor Hugo Strange[22] | 16 episodes |
| 2016 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Scientist | Episode: "Scientific Studies" |
| 2017–2019 | Something's Killing Me with BD Wong | Host/Presenter | 18 episodes |
| 2017 | DuckTales | Toad Liu Hai | Voice Episode: "The House of the Lucky Gander!" |
| 2018 | Baldwin Pennypacker | 3 episodes | |
| 2019–2020 | The Flash | Godspeed | Voice 2 episodes |
| 2020–present | Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens | Wally | Recurring role 21 episodes |
| 2023 | Hon Wing | Voice 10 episodes[23] | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II | Captain Li Shang | English version | |
| 2007 | ||||
| 2015 | Lego Jurassic World | Henry Wu | ||
| 2018 | Jurassic World Evolution | |||
| 2021 | Jurassic World Evolution 2 | |||
| 2023 | Disney Speedstorm | Captain Li Shang |
| 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 | |
| 1993 | Face Value | Randall Lee | ||
| 1999 | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | Linus | ||
| 2004–05 | Pacific Overtures | Reciter | ||
| 2012 | Herringbone | Various characters | One-man show[24] | |
| 2019 | The Great Leap | Wen Chang |
| Year | Name | Role | Theme Park | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Henry Wu | Universal Studios Hollywood | |||
| 2021 | VelociCoaster | Universal's Islands of Adventure | |||
| TBA | DuckTales World Showcase Adventure[25] | Toad Liu Hai | EPCOT | Upcoming; exact release date not set. |
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Shadow of a Broken Man | George C. Chesbro | Random House Audio | |
| 1991 | The Fear in Yesterday's Rings | George C. Chesbro | Random House Audio | |
| 1997 | Ticktock | Dean Koontz | Random House Audio | |
| 2002 | Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress | Dai Sijie | Random House Audio | |
| 2019 | The Red Scrolls of Magic | Cassandra Clare, Wesley Chu | Simon & Schuster Audio | |
| 2020 | The Lost Book of the White | Cassandra Clare, Wesley Chu | Simon & Schuster Audio | |
| 2022 | To Paradise | Hanya Yanagihara | Random House Audio |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actor in a Play | M. Butterfly | |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Debut Performance | |||
| Theatre World Award | ||||
| Clarence Derwent Award | Most Promising Male Performer | |||
| 2003 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Shanghai Moon | |
| GLAAD Media Award | Davidson/Valentini Award | |||
| 2013 | Best Shorts Competition | Voice-Over Talent | The No Name Painting Association | |
| 2016 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series | Mr. Robot | |
| 2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | ||