Russell Wong

Russell Girard Wong (Template:Zh) is an American film and television actor. He began his career in Hong Kong, and made his English-language film debut in Tai-Pan (1986).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref> https://www.tvinsider.com/people/russell-wong/#:~:text=Asian%2DAmerican%20actor%20Russell%20Wong,Romeo%20and%20Juliet%2C%22%20%22China</ref> He went on to work with director Wayne Wang in Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), The Joy Luck Club (1993), and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011). He landed the lead role in the TV series Vanishing Son (1994), which is regarded as one of the first American dramatic television series to feature an Asian lead.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

His breakthrough performance came after he starred opposite Jet Li in the action film Romeo Must Die (2000).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He reunited with Li in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), portraying General Ming Guo. Outside film and television, Wong played the protagonist Nicholas Kang in the video game True Crime: Streets of LA (2003). He also lent his voice to the video game Stranglehold (2007).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>

Early life and education

Wong was born in Troy, New York, to a Chinese-American father William S. Wong and Dutch-American mother Connie Van Yserloo (d. 2024).<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wong's father emigrated to the United States from Shandong Province, China.<ref name=":0" /> His brother is actor Michael Wong. His maternal cousin was Mark A. Rademacher.

Wong attended Santa Monica City College and trained to be a dancer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He trained in martial arts, including taekwondo, shōrei-ryū karate, and Fu Jow Pai kung fu.<ref name="martial">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

After appearing in several music videos, Wong began his film career in Hong Kong, playing a romantic lead opposite Anita Mui in The Musical Singer (1985). His English-language debut was in the historical drama Tai-Pan (1986), based on the James Clavell's novel of the same name. He was one of several actors considered for the lead role in The Last Emperor (1987).

Wong is one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa with Chi Muoi Lo portraying Wago in the highly rated critically acclaimed Vanishing Son, first in a series of a made-for-television films followed by a 13-episode syndicated series. He has appeared in numerous films and series including Abel Ferrara's China Girl, New Jack City, The Joy Luck Club, Takedown, The Monkey King, Romeo Must Die, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.<ref name="martial" />

In 2014, Wong finished shooting a horror series entitled Grace which was shot in Singapore for HBO Asia, and also directed by Serangoon Road co-director Tony Tilse.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wong has also worked in the Chinese film industry, in films like What Women Want (2011), and Forever Young (2018).

Wong is credited with helping to change the way Asians are represented in American film and television.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>https://administration.ultra-shop.com/stories10/russell-wong-actor.html</ref>

Personal life

Russell has one daughter with dancer Eartha Robinson. His daughter, Eja Robinson-Wong, was born in 1988. In 2003, Wong married Hong Kong fashion designer Flora Cheong-Leen. The couple divorced in 2012.

Wong resides in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.<ref name=":0" />

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Musical Singer	Russell
1986	Tai-Pan	Gordon Chen
1987	Gwai ma hau yuen	Mr. Wong
1987	China Girl	Yung Gan
1989	Eat a Bowl of Tea	Ben Loy
1989	China White	Bobby Chow
1990	China Cry	Lam Cheng Shen
1991	New Jack City	Park
1992	Xia ri qing ren	Zeniger
1993	Geoffrey Beene 30	Man	Short film
1993	The Joy Luck Club	Lin Xiao
1994	Zhong jin shu	Ken Chan
1998	The Prophecy II	Danyeal
2000	Takedown	Tsutomu Shimomura
2000	Romeo Must Die	Kai
2004	Twisted	Lieutenant Tong
2005	Inside Out	Frank
2006	Undoing	Leon
2006	Honor	Ray
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Ming Guo
2008	House of Wong	The Man	Short film
2008	Dim Sum Funeral	Alexander
2009	The Sanctuary	Patrick
2010	Color Me Love	Zoe's Ex-husband
2011	What Women Want	Peter
	Snow Flower and the Secret Fan	Bank CEO
2013	The Hong Kong Affair	Edward Lim
2014	Light from the Dark Room	Li Cheung
2016	Lost in the Pacific	Gary Gao
	Contract to Kill	Matthew Sharp	Credited as "Russel Wong"
2017	The Jade Pendant	Mr. Wong
2018	Forever Young	General
2019	Escape Plan: The Extractors	Wu Zhang
	Miss Boundless	Yajin	Short film
2021	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Mr Yu
2025	Swallowtail & Dragonfly	Stuart Morton	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Harry's Hong Kong	Sergeant Lee	TV movie
1988	C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf		TV movie
	The Equalizer	Narong Bansari	Episode: "Riding the Elephant"
1989	21 Jump Street	Locke	Episode: "The Dragon and the Angel"
	Gideon Oliver	Li Song	Episode: "Tungs"
1994	Vanishing Son	Jian-Wa	TV movie
	Vanishing Son II		TV movie
	Vanishing Son III		TV movie
	Vanishing Son IV		TV movie
1995	Vanishing Son: The Series		13 episodes
1997	Hawaii Five-O	Nick Wong	Unaired Pilot
1998	Touched by an Angel	George	2 episodes
	Honolulu CRU		Failed pilot
2001	The Monkey King	Monkey King	TV miniseries
	The Tracker	Rick Tsung	TV movie
2003	Black Sash	Tom Chang	8 episodes
2004	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Lieutenant Arthur Chen	Episode: "No Humans Involved"
2005	Just Legal	District Attorney	Episode: "Pilot"
2005	Commander in Chief	Cabinet Member	Episode: "First Disaster"
2006	Numb3rs	Jeremy Wang	Episode: "Undercurrents"
2010	Nikita	Victor Han	Episode: "Rough Trade"
2012	Hawaii 5-0	Kong Liang	Episode: "Ohuna"
2013	Serangoon Road	Winston	Episode: "#1.10"
2014	Grace	Roy Chan	4 episodes
2015	NCIS: New Orleans	Cam Lin	Episode: "The Walking Dead"
2017	Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders	Inspector Jin	Episode: "Type A"
2018	Lucifer	Vincent Green	Episode: "High School Poppycock"
2018	Lethal Weapon	Stan	Episode: "Need to Know"
2019	Supergirl	General Tan	Episode: "Suspicious Minds"
2019	The Oath		4 episodes
2020	Westworld	Brompton	3 episodes
2024	The Brothers Sun	Byron Chien	Episode: "Country boy"
2024	NCIS	Feng Zhao	Episode: "The Plan"
2024	High Potential	Officer Jean	Episode: "The Sauna at the End of the Stairs"

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2003	True Crime: Streets of LA	Nick Kang	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2007	Stranglehold	Yung Gi

External links

• Template:Official website
• UCLA Asia Pacific Arts Interview
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