Ellen Wong

Ellen Wong is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Knives Chau in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the animated Netflix series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Jill "Mouse" Chen in The CW's series The Carrie Diaries, Jenny Chey in the Netflix series GLOW, and Hope in the film In the Life of Music.

Early life Wong was born in Scarborough, Ontario in 1985 to Teochew-speaking Chinese Cambodian parents who fled to Canada during the Cambodian genocide. She began acting in community theatre while attending L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute and worked in a variety of television production jobs from the age of 14.

Career Wong continued acting while at university, and in 2005, she landed a role in the television series This Is Wonderland followed by Runaway in 2006. Wong's martial arts background helped her land the role of Knives Chau in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in January 2009. She auditioned for the part three times. On her second audition director Edgar Wright was surprised to find out that she studied taekwondo and was intrigued by this "sweetfaced young lady being a secret badass". Wong expressed that the role of Knives Chau caught her eye because "it's not every day that as an Asian female, you get to be able to read a role that's empowering, that has a great arc, and that's so integral to the story as a whole".

Wong also appeared in the television show Unnatural History. In 2011, she had a recurring role as Nurse Suzy Chao in the Global/ABC series Combat Hospital. In January 2012, she was nominated for an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female for her work portraying an illegal immigrant smuggled across the ocean in a shipping container in the short film Silent Cargo. In February 2012, Wong was cast in the Sex and the City prequel series The Carrie Diaries, playing Jill "Mouse" Chen, Carrie's best friend from high school who is described as "pragmatic, bright, and super loyal". In 2012 she also starred in Silent Night, a loose remake of the 1984 horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night.

In June 2016, Wong was cast in the second season of the Syfy series Dark Matter, and in October, she was cast in the Netflix comedy series GLOW, which was inspired by the 1980s female professional wrestling league of the same name. In the series, Wong plays Jenny, an immigrant from Cambodia who is obsessed with pop culture. Wong was initially dismayed to find out the character's wrestling persona was named "Fortune Cookie" but stated, "What is really awesome about GLOW is that we play these two characters. In the ring, you are these stereotypes. But then you see who these characters are in real life outside of the ring and how they feel... Jenny is trying to be this all-American girl in the '80s, and she's basically trying to fight all these stereotypes and at the same time here she is playing this stereotype." The creators of the series wrote the character's background as Cambodian after several meetings with Wong. and in Katy Perry's music video for "Swish Swish" as her character from GLOW. That August, Wong joined the Audience television network series, Condor, in a recurring role.

In 2018, Wong starred in In the Life of Music with Arn Chorn-Pond, portraying a character who travels to Cambodia to visit her Aunt in place of her mother, who was unable to go due to lingering trauma from the post-civil war takeover by the Khmer Rouge.

In December 2019, Wong joined the cast of the Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza comedy Best Sellers.

In 2020, she appeared in the Christmas television film The Christmas Setup.

Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Knives Chau 2011 Silent Cargo Daiyu Short film 2012 Silent Night Brenda 2016 The Void Kim 2017 The Circle Renata 2018 In the Life of Music Hope 2021 Best Sellers Rachel Spence 2026 Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice Trudy

+ Television Year Title Role Notes 2005 This Is Wonderland Amy Li Season 2, episode 5 2006 Runaway Macy Episode: "End Game" 2010 Unnatural History Hoshi Episode: "Heart of a Warrior" 2011 Combat Hospital Major Suzy Chao 12 episodes 2013–2014 Jill "Mouse" Chen Main cast; 26 episodes 2015 Castle Zhu Yin Episode: "Hong Kong Hustle" 2016–2017 Dark Matter Misaki Han-Shireikan Season 2 & 3 2016 Son of Zorn Nancy Episode: "Return to Orange County" 2017–2019 GLOW Jenny Chey Recurring role 2018 Condor Sarah Tan Recurring role 2020 The Christmas Setup Madelyn McKay TV movie 2023 Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Knives Chau Voice role 2024 Beacon 23 Iris "B67" Season 2, 5 episodes (bilingual English/Teochew character)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2011 Scream Awards Best Supporting Actress Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 2012 ACTRA Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Silent Cargo