Michael Fitzgerald Wong a.k.a. Wong Man-tak (Chinese: 王敏德; Wáng Mǐndé; born 16 April 1965 in Troy, New York) is a Chinese-American actor, director, and model who had plenty of prominent roles, especially in early 90s Hong Kong cinema.
The son of immigrants, Michael's father is Chinese-American while his mother is Dutch-American. His mixed heritage gives him - as well as his two brothers, Russell and Declan Wong - an advantage for their dashing, charming looks, especially high in demand in Hong Kong cinema at the time. The Wong brothers are all actors in the film industry, Wong making it big before his siblings with his roles in Royal Warriors and Legacy of Rage. More often than not, Wong is either the villain in his films, or a naive but well-intentioned outsider. Ever since his career took off in 1983, Michael Wong has starred in over 110 movies and TV shows.
Wong made his directorial debut in 2000's Miles Apart.
His wife, Janet Ma, is a supermodel just like himself, as is both his daughters.
Do not confuse him with the Malaysian singer, Michael Wong.
Michael Wong's notable films:
- Royal Warriors
- Legacy of Rage
- Enter the Eagles
- In the Line of Duty 4: Witness
- City Hunter - Death by Cameo
- Thunderbolt
- The Blood Rules
- Return to a Better Tomorrow
- Knockoff
- Seven Swords
- House of Fury
- Seven Assassins
- Firestorm (2013)
- Transformers: Age of Extinction - The Cameo
- Zombie Fight Club
- Skiptrace
Tropes Related to Michael Wong:
-
Big in Japan: Huge in Hong Kong, practically unknown in America outside cult film circles. - But Not Too Foreign: Of Chinese-Dutch descent.
- Chronically Killed Actor
- Faux Fluency: By his own admission he doesn't speak very good Cantonese, but his roles usually have him speaking the language almost exclusively. This often gets worked into his characters explicitly or implicitly, either by giving him a backstory as a foreigner or recent expat, or cementing his status as The Outsider.
- Real-Life Relative: Inverted. He's sometimes thought to be related to Anthony Wong, but that's not the case. It doesn't help that they look similar.
