Rise to Fame
He spent a decade getting overlooked before Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things (2002), which earned him a BIFA nomination and enough credibility to stay in the game. By 2016, he'd negotiated his own Marvel contract without an agent, and the character of Wong, originally a glorified librarian, ended up as the MCU's Sorcerer Supreme. Not bad for someone who once worked the till at his family's takeaway in Salford.
In the Spotlight
Wong shows up in roughly half the MCU's output these days, but the more revealing move was 3 Body Problem on Netflix (2024), where he plays Detective Clarence Shi. The show got renewed for two more seasons in May 2024, and Ridley Scott added him to The Dog Stars opposite Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. He still handles his own deals without an agent, and he's said he cut out the middlemen after spending years watching them decide who was worth a shot.
Side Notes
His parents emigrated from Hong Kong, passed through Ireland, and eventually landed in Eccles. He got into acting because a friend handed him a monologue from Steven Berkoff's East, he auditioned, and got cast. Ian McKellen reportedly picked him out early as one to watch. His social handle is @wongrel, which gets funnier the longer you think about how much of his career the industry spent not noticing him.