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BD Wong

BD Wong has built a career that moves easily between stage, film, television and voice work, often giving even tightly drawn supporting characters a distinct intelligence and composure. Born Bradley Darryl Wong in San Francisco on October 24, 1960, he discovered acting at Lincoln High School and later attended San Francisco State University, where he was the only Asian American in the theater department. His major breakthrough came with his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly opposite John Lithgow. Wong received the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award and Theatre World Award for the same role—a combination of honors no other actor has achieved for a single performance. The production also marked his shift from using his full name to his initials; he later dropped the punctuation from BD. Movie audiences know Wong from a varied run of films including The Freshman, Father of the Bride, Jurassic Park, Executive Decision and Father of the Bride Part II. His voice work brought another side of his screen presence to Captain Li Shang in Disney’s Mulan, a role he continued in the direct-to-video sequel and the video game Kingdom Hearts II. Television has given Wong space to develop characters over longer stretches. He played Father Ray Mukada throughout all six seasons of Oz and became a familiar presence as FBI psychiatrist Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. On Mr. Robot, he took on the dual identity of Whiterose, leader of the Dark Army, and Zhang, China’s Minister of State Security. Wong has continued returning to demanding theater work, including Broadway revivals of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Pacific Overtures. In the one-man show Herringbone, he portrayed 12 roles, demonstrating the theatrical range behind his controlled and sharply focused screen performances.