Jump to content

Ali Wong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sock (talk | contribs) at 20:53, 28 June 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ali Wong
Ali Wong smiling
Wong in 2012
Born
Alexandra Wong

(1982-04-19) April 19, 1982 (age 42)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, writer
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Justin Hakuta
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2
RelativesKen Hakuta (father-in-law)
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Alexandra Wong (born April 19, 1982)[1][2] is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer.[3][4] She is noted for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Wife, as well as her television appearances in American Housewife, Are You There, Chelsea?, Inside Amy Schumer, and Black Box. She also wrote for the first three seasons of the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. In 2019, she had her first leading film role in Always Be My Maybe, which she also produced and wrote with her co-star Randall Park.

Early life

Wong was born in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Her father, Adolphus Wong[5], was an American-born citizen and physician that worked for Kaiser Permanente for 30 years, whose forebears were from China. Her mother, Tam "Tammy" Wong, emigrated in 1960 to the United States from Huế, Central Vietnam.[6][7] She is the youngest of four children.[1][8]

In 2000, Wong graduated from San Francisco University High School,[9] where she was student body class president.[10] In 2004, she graduated with a BA from UCLA, where she majored in Asian American Studies. During her time in college, she spent a summer working at The Lair of the Golden Bear, a UC Berkeley alumni summer family camp. At UCLA, Wong discovered her love of performing as a member of the university's LCC Theatre Company,[11] the largest and longest running Asian-American theater company in the United States.[12] During her junior year, she spent time in Hanoi, Vietnam.[1].

Career

Following graduation from college, when she was 23 years old, Wong tried stand-up for the first time at Brainwash Cafe, then moved to New York City soon after to further pursue comedy. In New York, she would perform up to nine times a night.[13]

In 2011, Variety named her one of the "10 Comics to Watch".[3] Soon after, she appeared on The Tonight Show, John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show and Dave Attell's Comedy Underground Show. She was also cast as series regular in the NBC comedy series Are You There, Chelsea? and appeared on Chelsea Lately.[14] Following that, she was in VH1's Best Week Ever and MTV's Hey Girl in 2013. Additionally, she starred in Oliver Stone's Savages, opposite Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek, and as Kate in the film Dealin' with Idiots.[2]

In 2014, Wong played Dr. Lina Lark in the ABC medical drama series Black Box, opposite Kelly Reilly and Vanessa Redgrave.[15][16] Since then, she has guest starred in several episodes of Inside Amy Schumer. Wong has been a writer on Fresh Off the Boat since 2014.[17]

On Mother's Day 2016,[18] Netflix released a stand-up special called Baby Cobra which was filmed in September 2015 when Wong was 7 months pregnant with her first child[19] at the Neptune Theater in Seattle.[8][13][20] According to the New York Magazine, "The special's arrival on Netflix is the sort of star-making moment that unites the tastes of the unlikeliest fans."[21] On September 11, 2016, Wong spoke and walked the runway during New York Fashion Week for Opening Ceremony's show.[22] In October 2016, Wong began starring in the main cast of the ABC sitcom American Housewife. On May 13, 2018, Wong's second Netflix special, called Hard Knock Wife, was released. It was filmed in late September 2017 at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto when she was 7 months pregnant with her second child.[23][24]

Wong starred with Randall Park in the 2019 Netflix film Always Be My Maybe, a film directed by Nahnatchka Khan, and written by Wong, Park,and Michael Golamco. Wong voiced the titular character Bertie in the Netflix animated show "Tuca & Bertie".

Personal life

Wong lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Justin Hakuta, the son of Ken Hakuta, aka "Dr. Fad", an inventor and TV personality.[25] Hakuta is half Filipino and half Japanese.[7] They met at a wedding of mutual friends in 2010. Following his father's steps, Justin completed an MBA from Harvard Business School and is now an established entrepreneur[26] in the health-related business. They married in 2014 and had a daughter in November 2015.[19] Wong gave birth to their second daughter in December 2017.

Filmography

As Actress

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Breaking In Ana Ng 3 episodes
2012 Are You There, Chelsea? Olivia 12 episodes
2012 Savages Claire
2013 Dealin' with Idiots Katieie
2014 Black Box Dr. Lina Lark 13 episodes
2014–2015 Inside Amy Schumer Various characters 3 episodes
2015 BoJack Horseman Maddy (voice) Episode: "Escape from L.A."
2016 Animals. Dana (voice) Episode: "Rats"
2016 The Angry Birds Movie Betty Bird (voice)
2016–present American Housewife Doris Series regular
2017 Fresh Off the Boat Margot Episode: "The Flush"
2017 The Lego Ninjago Movie General Olivia (Voice)
2017 Father Figures Ali
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Felony (voice)
2018 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Twisty (voice) Episode: "Soda Genie"
2018 Ask the Storybots The Brain Episode: "How Do Ears Hear?"
2019 Tuca & Bertie Bertie (voice)
2019 Always Be My Maybe Sasha Also writer
2020 Birds of Prey Cassandra Cains Mother Post-production

As Herself

Year Title Notes
2012 Chelsea Lately 9 episodes
2013 Hey Girl 5 episodes
2013 Best Week Ever 16 episodes
2016 Ali Wong: Baby Cobra Netflix comedy special
2017 Bill Nye Saves The World S2E4 - Netflix
2018 Ugly Delicious S1E8 - Netflix
2018 Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife Netflix comedy special

References

  1. ^ a b c Wong, Ali (Winter 2004). "Discoveries Terrible and Magnificent" (PDF). Asian American Studies 116. UCLA. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Black Box: Ali Wong. Lina Lark on ABC's "Black Box"". ABC Television (Press release). May 18, 2013. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Shady, Justin (July 26, 2011). "Ali Wong: Spitfire standup embraces dark". Variety. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  4. ^ Molyneaux, Libby (October 3, 2013). "Ali Wong: L.A.'s Raunchiest Vietnamese-Chinese-American Standup Comic". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  5. ^ "Adolphus Wong Obituary". SF Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Adolphus A Wong mentioned in the record of Adolphus A Wong and Tam T Nguyen". FamilySearch. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Wong, Ali. "Baby Cobra". Netflix.
  8. ^ a b Maron, Marc (May 5, 2016). "Episode 704 - Ali Wong". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  9. ^ "San Francisco University High School Podcasts: IV. Ali Wong (1:02.45) Adorably Inappropriate". San Francisco University High School. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  10. ^ Tseng, Ada (June 8, 2015). "Get to Know Stand-Up Comedienne & 'Fresh Off the Boat' Writer Ali Wong". Audrey. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  11. ^ "LCC Theatre Company at UCLA". lcctheatre.com.
  12. ^ "Ali Wong: Q&A". LCC Theatre Company at UCLA. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Nguyen, Sahra Vang (November 25, 2015). "Off Color: Ali Wong on Nepotism, Network TV, and Becoming a New Mom". NBC News. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  14. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 25, 2008). "Ali Wong Joins New NBC Comedy 'Are You There Vodka' As Regular". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 4, 2013). "ABC Series 'The Black Box' Adds Trio". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  16. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (January 17, 2014). "ABC Announces Premiere Dates for 'Black Box' & 'Dancing With the Stars' + 'Mind Games' Replaces 'Killer Women'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  17. ^ Collins, Scott (8 April 2015). "'Fresh Off the Boat' writer Eddie Huang slams ABC comedy hit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  18. ^ Fox, Jesse David (May 9, 2016). "Appreciating Ali Wong's Powerful Pregnancy Joke in Baby Cobra". Vulture. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  19. ^ a b Kovan, Brianna (May 6, 2016). "Ali Wong Did a One-Hour Comedy Special While Seven Months Pregnant, DGAF". ELLE. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  20. ^ White, Abbey (April 29, 2016). "Ali Wong's Got Bite in This First Look at Her Netflix Comedy Special, Baby Cobra". Paste. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  21. ^ Choi, Mary (May 30, 2016). "Talking Pregnancy and Prostate Stimulation With Ali Wong". New York Magazine.
  22. ^ "Opening Ceremony's Funny, Political Show Redeemed Fashion Week". The Cut. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  23. ^ "Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  24. ^ Karas, Jay (2018-05-13), Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife, Ali Wong, retrieved 2018-05-13
  25. ^ Wong, Gerrye (9 December 2014). "On the Scene December 9 Holidaze: Happy Occasions". 丁丁網路電視 Dingding.tv. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  26. ^ "Justin Hakuta Professional Career". Earn The Necklace. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ali Wong.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ali_Wong&oldid=903926950"