BD Wong

BD Wong was born Bradley Darryl Wong in San Francisco, California, where he grew up. Although his family is from Hong Kong, he is of Chinese ancestry, and he has one brother and one sister.

Although Wong had already had several roles in films and television, he first gained widespread acclaim through his Broadway debut as Song Liling in M. Butterfly, for which he won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Theatre World Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and Clarence Derwent Award. Wong remains the only actor in history to win all five awards for the same role, which is a testament to his abilities as a Broadway actor.

Despite Wong’s obvious strength as a Broadway actor, he is also extremely versatile in other roles, and he has had recurring and regular roles in television shows such as All American Girl, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Oz, and Gotham. On the silver screen, Wong played Dr. Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise and was the voice actor for General Li Shang in Mulan and Mulan II.

BD Wong has played a crucial role in the acknowledgment and interest in Asian American actors for a variety of reasons. M. Butterfly, which propelled Wong to fame, was the first Asian American play that was shown on Broadway, and it set the stage for later Asian American plays on Broadway, such as Miss Saigon and Allegiance. Furthermore, Wong and other Asian American entertainers have challenged traditional stereotypes of the quiet Asian American and have said that Asian Americans are beginning to“really [get] into people’s faces about it.” Wong thus plays an important role in the generation of Asian American actors who are not only fighting for representation in media, but also for greater visibility of Asian Americans across various aspects of society. This has brought about greater momentum to the movement to bring greater recognition of Asian Americans in popular culture, and BD Wong was recognized for his efforts by Goldsea Asian American Daily as one of the 130 most inspiring Asian Americans of all time.

Moreover, beyond BD Wong’s importance to the Asian American movement in mainstream popular culture, he is also an outspoken LGBTQ+ activist, and he has been openly gay since the late 1980s.