Metrospective

April 13, 2006 Vol 28 No.27

All-American boy

Actor B.D. Wong discusses stereotypes, self-discovery
By Joe Nguyen • nguyejos@mscd.edu

Photo by Joe Nguyen nguyejos@mscd.edu

Actor B.D. Wong speaks at the Tivoli Turnhalle on April 6. His presentation was titled “All the World’s a Stage: The Model Minority Myth.” Wong plays Dr. George Huang on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

   Actor B.D. Wong shared his experience as a gay Asian-American actor Thursday in the Tivoli Turnhalle at Auraria.
   Wong is known for his roles on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Oz.” This is one of many stops on his tour of college campuses. He arrived dressed in all black and spoke about the model minority myth and how it affected his career.
   “ The model minority myth is the misconception that, specifically, Asian-American people are perfect,” he said. “Of all the ethnic minorities, we have the fewest problems and racism does not affect us. Furthermore ... we all have good jobs, we all have good incomes and we are generally science and math driven individuals. All of us.”
   Growing up, Wong was attracted to the field of acting, but his parents had different ideas.
“ (It) boiled down to med school, law school (or) acting,” he said. “Those were my choices. Med school and law school were their choices, acting was my choice.”
As a freshman in high school, he acted in his first play. He credits his drama teacher for instilling in him the passion for acting.
   During a tryout at a community theater, he had his sights set on being a lead in one of the two plays being cast. He ended up getting a part as a stereotypical bucktooth Chinese character.
   “ For me, it was a huge rude awakening,” he said. “I had thought of myself as this All-American kid ... when (the director) made that connection and he said ‘I see this as you,’ it totally freaked me out.”
   The director asked him if he felt like he was a black actor who was cast in a mammy role. When Wong said yes, he was recast as a winged monkey in “The Wizard of Oz.”
   Early in his career, he found difficulties in finding diverse roles, often being pigeon-holed in stereotypical portrayals.
   “ Those parts (included) the troubled Chinatown teenage gang member, the generic, surly, mean Asian waiter at a restaurant, and my personal favorite, the wacky foreign exchange student,” he said.
He said the myth is the reason Asian-Americans have few roles on television and film.
   “ We’re not expressing ourselves as characters on television and films and popular culture,” he said. “Our ability to express ourselves in those characters would allow people to see that we’re all alike. Even that fundamental thing has not yet existed in my career or my life as a consumer.”
   Even on the set of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” he said the roles are stereotypical, as he plays a doctor and Joel de la Fuentes, the other Asian American actor on the show, plays the computer guy.
   One of the big issues among Asian American actors is whether or not to speak with an accent at an audition. Even when they do what they feel is their best work, he said there is one question that is asked.
   “ Invariably, nine times out of 10, still to this day, you will be asked, ‘That is great, can you do it with an accent?’” he said.
   When he signed on to star as the lead on the Broadway play “M. Butterfly,” he said it changed many of the bad feelings he had about being Asian American. During the run of the play he met his eventual life partner, Richie Jackson.
   The two of them wanted to have children, so they got a surrogate mother, Jackson’s sister’s eggs and Wong’s “forensic evidence,” as he called it.
   The twin boys, Boaz Dov and Jackson Foo, were born three months premature. Boaz Dov died shortly after his birth while his brother struggled to stay alive.
   During this period, Wong began sending e-mails to his friends asking for their prayers. Soon, the modest e-mail list grew to nearly 1,000 addresses. A publisher approached him and asked if he wanted to write a book about the e-mails. Wong agreed and created “Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man.”
   The book also meant that he was coming out after years of covering it up with his “Asian American blanket.” He said it was liberating to finally show the world who he really was.
   College is the time when students are discovering themselves, Wong said. He called for more dialogue and discussion on university campuses, because it is the key to activism and self-awareness. This inspiration and self-discovery is something he didn’t get when he was in college.
   “ Don’t wait until you’re 45 to figure out who you are,” he said.

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