Meet Benedict Wong: how the 3 Body Problem actor launched himself out of his family’s takeaway restaurant and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and Ian McKellen was an early fan

Oct 29 , 2024

The British actor, who faced agent indifference and was often typecast in predictable Asian roles early in his career, is now master of the sorcery required to make it as a star in Hollywood

British actor Benedict Wong has gone from starring in Asian-centric roles to taking on characters that transcend cultures and race. While the actor has been honing his craft for decades, he’s perhaps best known for his role as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Sorcerer Supreme – an essential character in the Doctor Strange saga.

Benedict Wong at a New York screening of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in July 2022. Photo: @wongrel/Instagram

More recently, Wong starred in the Netflix sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem in a role central to the plot. In the series, adapted from a Chinese novel by Liu Cixin, Wong plays Clarence “Da” Shi, a detective investigating a series of deaths of scientists.

No problem for Benedict Wong (second from left) at the 3 Body Problem premiere in Los Angeles, in June. Photo: @sagaftrafound/Instagram

Undoubtedly, the actor has a range that allows him to cross comfortably between characters. Born to Hong Kong parents, Wong grew up in Eccles, a suburb of Manchester, England.

Modest beginnings

Suits you, sir: Benedict Wong in April 2022. Photo: @wongrel/instagram

Before he pursued acting, Wong worked at his family’s takeaway restaurant in Salford, Greater Manchester, where he recounts being the target of racism. Perhaps from experiencing this at a young age and standing out as Asian, the idea of seeking opportunities and carving out a path for himself emerged.

At 17, Wong took a two-year performing arts course in Manchester. He also worked in various odd jobs at bars and clubs, and thrived in the city’s diverse cultural scene. “Manchester was a real bedrock for me and I miss it like crazy,” he told Vulture in April. “Its dopamine hits you.”

It was through working in that bar-club environment in Manchester that Wong landed his first acting gig. He asked a friend who was an actor how he got into the profession. The friend handed him a copy of a monologue from the play East, by Steven Berkoff. Wong read it, went to an audition and was cast.

Around the same time, in the 1990s, he got a job working at a fringe theatre as a janitor and ticket collector, which coincidentally meant exposure to an added theatrical diet of dance and mime.