Russell Wong

Russell Wong (:born March 1, 1963) is an American actor. Born in New York, Wong attended Santa Monica City College while training to become a dancer. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to Hong Kong in 1983, where he learned Cantonese and martial arts, leading to his first film role in The Musical Singer, directed by Dennis Yu. His first English-language film was Tai-Pan (1986).

Early life Wong was born in Troy, New York, to a Chinese-American father William S. Wong and Dutch-American mother Connie Van Yserloo (d. 2024). Wong's father emigrated to the United States from Shandong Province, China.

Career He went on to work with director Wayne Wang in Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989) and The Joy Luck Club (1993). He also had supporting roles in China Cry: A True Story (1990) and New Jack City (1991). 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. His breakthrough performance came after he starred opposite Jet Li in the action film Romeo Must Die (2000). He reunited with Li in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), portraying General Ming Guo. Wong is credited with helping to change the way Asians are represented in American film and television.

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.

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).

Personal life His two brothers Michael Wong and Declan Wong are also actors. During his time as a dancer, Wong was in a relationship with a fellow dancer Eartha Robinson from the mid-1980s. Their daughter, Eja Robinson-Wong, was born in 1988. Wong and Robinson's relationship was ended by 1993. In 2003, Wong married Hong Kong fashion designer Flora Cheong-Leen. The couple divorced in 2012.

Wong is trained in several martial arts, including Taekwondo, Shoji Ryu Karate, and Fu Jow Pai Kung fu.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1985 The Musical Singer Russell 1986 Tai-Pan Gordon Chen 1987 Gwai ma hau yuen Mr. Wong China Girl Yung Gan 1989 Eat a Bowl of Tea Ben Loy 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 The Joy Luck Club Lin Xiao 1994 Zhong jin shu Ken Chan 1998 The Prophecy II Danyeal Direct-to-video 2000 Takedown Tsutomi Shimomura Romeo Must Die Kai 2004 Twisted Lieutenant Tong 2005 Inside Out Frank 2006 Undoing Leon Honor Ray 2008 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Ming Guo House of Wong The Man Short film Dim Sum Funeral Alexander 2009 The Sanctuary Patrick Thai film 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 Winter in Tokyo Toru Ishida, Keiko's father Indonesian-Japanese film 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 2026 Swallowtail & Dragonfly Stuart Morton

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 Jian-Wa TV movie Vanishing Son III Jian-Wa TV movie Vanishing Son IV Jian-Wa TV movie 1995 Vanishing Son Jian-Wa 13 episodes 1997 Hawaii Five-O Nick Wong Unaired Pilot 1998 Touched by an Angel George 2 episodes Honolulu CRU Episode: "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" Commander in Chief Cabinet Member Episode: "First Disaster" 2006 Numb3rs Jeremy Wang Episode: "Undercurrents" 2010 Nikita Victor Han Episode: "Rough Trade" 2012 Hawaii Five-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" Lethal Weapon Stan Episode: "Need to Know" 2019 Supergirl General Tan Episode: "Suspicious Minds" The Oath 4 episodes 2020 Westworld Brompton 3 episodes 2024 The Brothers Sun Byron Chien Episode: "Country boy" NCIS Feng Zhao Episode: "The Plan" High Potential Officer Jean Episode: "The Sauna at the End of the Stairs"

Video games Year Title Role Notes/ 2003 True Crime: Streets of LA Nick Kang Voice Role 2007 Stranglehold Yung Gi