Garrett Wang
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Garrett Wang | |||||||||||||
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 Wang in 2013 at FedCon in Germany | |||||||||||||
| Born | Garrett Richard Wang December 15, 1968 Riverside, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Other names | Wang Yi Jahn[1] (王以瞻)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 1994–present | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 王以瞻 | ||||||||||||
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Garrett Richard Wang (/ˈwɑːŋ/; Chinese: 王以瞻; born December 15, 1968) is an American actor best known for his role of Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager.
Early life
[edit]Wang was born in Riverside, California to Taiwanese[3] immigrant parents. He has one sister.[4] Growing up, Wang moved often. He attended kindergarten in Indiana before moving to Bermuda,[4] then to Memphis, Tennessee,[5] and then back to California.[4]
In the summer of 1990, he attended a Taiwanese-state sponsored cultural exchange program.[4] One of the reasons he decided to become an actor was to be a role model for other Asian-Americans seeking work in the entertainment industry, a predominantly non-Asian environment.[4] Wang graduated from Harding Academy High School in Memphis.[6]
Wang's parents did not support his acting ambitions. His father emigrated from Taiwan to attend graduate school in the States and did not view acting as a stable career choice.[4] His mother was accepted to the Taiwan School of Drama in her youth, but did not attend it due to her father's objections.[4] When his parents met actress Bonnie Franklin at an airport in Hawaii, she told them that Wang would never make it in the business.[4] His mother eventually even suggested that he join the military to learn some discipline.[4]
Wang attended UCLA. He switched majors multiple times, going from biology to political science to history to economics and finally Asian studies, with all his upper-division electives in theater.[7]
Career
[edit]When Wang decided to become a full-time actor, he made a deal with his parents that, if he was not successful within two years, he would quit, on the condition that they helped finance his expenses.[4] After finding no work for months, he managed to book a few roles in commercials.[4] This exposure got him a guest-star role in 1994 on the episode "Submission:Impossible" of Margaret Cho's All-American Girl as Raymond Han, a financially stable single doctor.[4][8]
Wang starred in Eric Koyanagi's MFA thesis film at USC film school, Angry Cafe (1995).[9][10] He subsequently came back to star in Koyanagi's feature directorial debut, hundred percent (1998), which also was Wang's feature debut.[11][9] Both films were written and directed by, and starred Asian Americans.[9]
A year and a half after his wager with his parents, Wang landed his best-known role, that of Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager, which ran from 1995 to 2001.[4]
In 2005, Wang played Chow Ping in the TV miniseries Into The West, which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
He played Garan in the 2007 fan production Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, saying, "it’s always more challenging for an actor to play the bad guy."[12]
Theatre
[edit]In 1993, while a student at UCLA, Wang portrayed John Lee, a gay British Chinese teenager who kills his Irish lover, in Chay Yew's play, Porcelain, at the now defunct Burbage Theater in Sawtelle, Los Angeles.[13][9][5]
Star Trek
[edit]From early childhood on, actor Garrett Wang was a science-fiction fan, in particular of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica.[14]
He watched all the Star Trek films that came out in the theaters, but didn't follow Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) prior to working on Voyager. The first season-one TNG episode he saw was "Code of Honor", which he said all Trek writers considered "the worst episode ever produced".[15] On three occasions, within a year and a half, he tried to watch TNG again, and it was always a repeat of "Code of Honor".
On a convention panel in 2015, Wang said of this: "I realized God was telling me ‘Don’t become a fan of TNG!’ Because I would have been too nervous to audition for Voyager. So really, God helped me get on Voyager."[16]
At Star Trek Las Vegas in 2014, Wang was announced to be reprising his role as Harry Kim in "Delta Rising", the second expansion of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Star Trek Online.[17]
Conventions
[edit]Wang has been a celebrity moderator interviewing other celebrities at various conventions around the world since 2008.[18]
In 2010, he was named the director of the Trek Track for Dragon Con, becoming the first actor to work behind the scenes at a convention.[19]
Wang has participated in the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, in 2012 interviewing Stan Lee and being present at a booth among other exhibitors, and as a surprise speaker at TNG Exposed.[20]
Personal life
[edit]Through November 2017, Wang hosted a weekly podcast on Twitch. He discussed his post-Star Trek work as a convention moderator, and other anecdotes of his life.[21]
He currently co-hosts The Delta Flyers Podcast[22] with Robert Duncan McNeill, who portrayed Tom Paris in Voyager.
Filmography
[edit]
Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Flesh Suitcase | ||
| 1995 | Angry Cafe | No Name | Short film |
| 1998 | Hundred Percent | Troy Tashima | |
| 1998 | Ivory Tower | Mark | |
| 1999 | The Auteur Theory | Mike Wong/God | |
| 2002 | Demon Island | Paul | |
| 2005 | Deja Vu | Short video film | |
| 2006 | The Money Spread | Taylor Vin | Short film |
| 2009 | Why Am I Doing This? | Vic Vu | |
| 2009 | The Ride | Henry | Short film |
| 2014 | Alongside Night | Major Chin | Based on the book of the same name |
| 2020 | Unbelievable!!!!! | Dr. Charles Hunter | |
| 2020 | Monster Force Zero |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | All-American Girl | Raymond Han | Episode: "Submission Impossible" |
| 1995–2001 | Star Trek: Voyager | Harry Kim | TV series; main role 172 episodes |
| 2002 | Into the West | Chow-Ping Yen | TV miniseries Episode: "Hell on Wheels" |
| 2007 | Star Trek: Of Gods and Men | Commander Garan | Miniseries 3 episodes |
| 2015 | American Dad! | Chinese Man | Episode: "American Fung" |
| 2024 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Harry Kim | Upcoming episode |
Video games
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force | Harry Kim | Voice role |
| 2014 | Star Trek Online | ||
| 2023 | Truth | Host |
References
[edit]- ^ Chat Transcript, 1998-05-07, archived from the original on 2010-06-26, retrieved 2010-02-24
- ^ "特写：美国华人龙年迎春巡礼". 中新社. 2002-02-02.
- ^ Why ‘Star Trek’ Actor Garrett Wang (More or Less) Left Hollywood for a Decade-and-a-Half
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ling, Amy (1999). Yellow Light: The Flowering of Asian American Arts. Temple University Press. pp. 302–303. ISBN 978-1-56639-817-6.
- ^ a b "Chay Yew Mines Dark Side of Asian Life in 'Porcelain'". Los Angeles Times. 1993-01-10. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
- ^ Murff, Richard, ed. (2011). "Movies, Television & Stage". Memphians. Memphis, TN: The Nautilus Publishing Company. p. 70. ISBN 978-193694603-7.
- ^ Murff, Richard, ed. (2011). Memphians (Limited ed.). Memphis, TN: The Nautilus Publishing Company. p. 70. ISBN 978-193694603-7.
- ^ All-American Girl, retrieved 2019-12-21
- ^ a b c d Ling, Amy (1999). Yellow Light: The Flowering of Asian American Arts. Temple University Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-56639-817-6.
- ^ Angry Cafe, retrieved 2019-12-21
- ^ Hundred Percent, retrieved 2019-12-21
- ^ "Let There Be Lights: "Of Gods and Men" Shoots". startrek.com. July 12, 2006. Archived from the original on December 30, 2006. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
- ^ "THEATER : New Home, New Spirit for Zeitgeist Theatre". Los Angeles Times. 1995-03-16. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
- ^ Garrett Wang Reflects on Voyager Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine, trekweb.com, February 22, 2004.
- ^ Atkinson, Torie. "Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: "Code of Honor"". theviewscreen.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Whitley, Jared (9 August 2015). "STLV 2015: After 20 years, entire Voyager crew makes it home to Las Vegas". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ Williams, Katie (2 September 2014). "Star Trek: Voyager Actors Join Cast For Star Trek Online: Delta Rising Expansion". ign.com. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "July Spotlight: Garrett Wang". chrisroemanagement.com. Chris Roe Management. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Trek Track on PBWorks
- ^ "Garrett Wang from Star Trek Voyager to attend Windsor ComiCon 2017". windsorcomiccon.com. Windsor ComiCon. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Wang, G 'GW' retrieved from https://www.twitch.tv/garrettwang, retrieved on September 13, 2017
- ^ "The Delta Flyers". The Delta Flyers. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
The Delta Flyers is a weekly podcast hosted by Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill from Star Trek Voyager.
External links
[edit]
- Garrett Wang at IMDb
- Interview about his career and views on Star Trek (GeeksOn): Interview proper starts at 27min50sec
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1968 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male actors of Chinese descent
- American male actors of Taiwanese descent
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American male voice actors
- American actors of Taiwanese descent
- Living people
- Male actors from Riverside, California
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni