Russell Wong: Russell Girard Wong is an American actor of film and television. He was one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa in 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 Crazy Rich Asians.
Wong supported himself as a photographer and as a dancer before scoring his first screen roles in 1985, appearing in a Hong Kong musical called Ge wu sheng ping and in a screen adaptation of James Clavell's best-seller Tai-Pan. A number of television and film roles followed, including an appearance as Narong Bansari on an episode of the 80s crime show The Equalizer, but Wong began breaking into better roles in 1989, when he made a memorable guest appearance on the drama series 21 Jump Street and won a leading role in Wayne Wang's acclaimed independent romantic comedy Eat a Bowl of Tea as Ben Loy. He also played a rising Chinese American gangster named Yung Gan in Abel Ferrara's China Girl, a Romeo and Julietlove story film about the conflicts between Chinese gangsters and the Italian mob in New York. Supporting roles in China Cry, China White and New Jack City were to follow, and Wong found himself working with Wayne Wang again when he was cast as Lin Xiao in the film adaptation of Amy Tan's best-selling novel The Joy Luck Club. Wong finally got a breakthrough role in 1994, when he was cast in the leading role in the short lived TV series Vanishing Son, in which he played a Chinese political activist exiled in America. The show was popular enough to spawn three sequels, and was later spun off into a syndicated TV series. People magazine named him one of fifty "Beautiful People" in 1995. After Vanishing Son ran its course, Wong moved on to more big-screen work, including major roles in Prophecy II, The Tracker, and Romeo Must Die, as well as the made-for-TV epicThe Lost Empire, where he played the title character, The Monkey King. He also played Lieutenant Tong in the film Twisted starring Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia and directed by Philip Kaufman. In 2003, he was cast as the lead in a TV series created by Robert Mark Kamen and Carlton Cuse entitled Black Sash, where he played a former narcotics cop named Tom Chang who opens up a martial arts school in San Francisco left to him by his teacher, Master Li, to teach a number of young students "the art of 8 palm changes" or Baguazhang. The series also starred Missy Peregrym, Corey Sevier, Ray J, Sarah Carter, and Drew Fuller. Although 8 episodes were made, 6 ended up airing on The WB. Wong also voiced the main character, an undercover cop named Nick Kang, in the video game '. In the late 2000s, he starred as General Ming Guo opposite Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li in ' directed by Rob Cohen and as Patrick in the Thailand action film The Sanctuary alongside Michael B, Inthira Charoenpura and Patharawarin Timkul. He also appeared as Leon in Chris Chan Lee's independent film Undoing opposite Sung Kang and Kelly Hu, and Anna Chi's Dim Sum Funeral, opposite Bai Ling and Talia Shire. He also guest starred on a number of TV shows such as , Just Legal, Commander in Chief, Numb3rs. In the 2010s, Wong appeared in the TV series Nikita, Hawaii Five-0, and HBO Asia's Serangoon Road in 2013. Film wise, Wong was involved with a number of films shot in Asia or China, reuniting again with Wayne Wang for Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and as Peter in the Chinese language remake of the film What Women Want starring Andy Lau and Gong Li. 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. He plays the father character of the family, and is named Roy Chan.
Personal life
Wong has one daughter, Eja Robinson-Wong, with dancer Eartha Robinson. He was married to Hong Kong-based designer Flora Cheong-Leen. They divorced in 2012. Russell Wong is the brother of Michael Wong. Michael is a Hong Kong-based actor.
