Chinese name 王盛德 (Traditional)
Birth name Russell Girard Wong
Born March 1, 1963
Birthplace Troy, New York
Years active 1985 - present
Spouse(s) Flora Cheong
Russell Wong was born March 1, 1963 in Troy, New York to a Chinese restaurateur from Shandung province and an aspiring actress of Dutch, French, Canadian and Indian ancestry. Russell attended Santa Monica City College while training to become a dancer. His acting career began in 1983 when a Hong Kong talent scout invited him and younger brother Michael to Hong Kong for a screentest. Despite the fact that only a handful of his three-dozen film and TV appearances have been in sizeable roles, Wong's looks and chrarisma have won enthusiastic fans among Asians and non-Asians.
The actor's half-Chinese background and leading-man qualities inevitably invite comparison to the far more successful Keanu Reeves. They are close contemporaries. Reeves looks no less Asian than Wong and possesses no more visible acting talent. But as of late 2003 Reeves has starred in four dozen big-budget features, including some of the most successful of all time (The Matrix Trilogy, Speed). The only quantifiable difference? A non-Asian surname, on the one hand, and on the other, perhaps the most Asian of surnames.
Filmography
* Unshakable (2009)
* Dim Sum Funeral (2008)
* The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
* Undoing (2007)
* Honor (2006)
* Black Sash (2003)
* True Crime: Streets of LA (2003) (video game)
* Romeo Must Die (2000)
* Takedown (2000)
* Vanishing Son (1994)
* The Joy Luck Club (1993)
* New Jack City (1991)
* China Cry: A True Story