Thayer Global Speaker Series: BD Wong has something to say

The Thayer community fell in love with actor, director, and activist BD Wong during his Oct. 10 visit to campus, and apparently the feeling was mutual. 

“Hello, Thayer,” Wong said simply enough to begin “An Evening with BD Wong,” the first installment of this school year’s Thayer Global Speaker Series, before thanking the school for its warm welcome. The prolific character actor then added: “I’ve enjoyed every single second of being on campus.” 

Wong had, in fact, spent much of the evening at Thayer. As part of his visit Wong — who speaks candidly about his experiences as an openly gay Asian American actor in Hollywood — met with several Thayer student organizations including the Asian Student Association, Isokan (Thayer’s Black student union), OMEGA (An Upper School alliance group supporting DEIB efforts), Spectrum (The Middle School’s gay/straight alliance group), and QUEST (the Upper School’s gay/straight alliance group). The Global Speaker Series event, in which Wong shared stories and insights about his career with Head of School Chris Fortunato P ‘26, ‘28, who served as moderator, took place that evening in the CFA’s Hale Theater. Midway through the discussion the pair were joined by Teresa Hsiao ‘03, a television and film writer and producer who currently serves as a member of the Thayer Academy Board of Trustees. Along with Awkwafina herself, Hsiao is the co-creator of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, the hit television comedy in which Wong stars. 

Wong shared much during the two-hour discussion. He recalled finding his path as an actor thanks to the encouragement of a beloved high school drama teacher — “She unlocked all the inhibitions about it,” he said — and thriving as a character actor in part because it offered a mask for his real identity. 

“I learned to become a chameleon,” he said. 

A born storyteller, Wong also recalled coming out as gay in 2003 and how that action allowed him to speak more from the heart when addressing large groups. Gone, he said, were the carefully prepared notes or the stoic pose behind the podium. 

“I no longer had anything to edit,” he told the audience with a broad smile. 

Informal and transparent, the San Francisco native discussed his three decades in theater, film, and television and shared stories of a varied and vibrant career. To this day, Wong is the only actor to win all five major New York theater awards for a single role, that of Song Liling in Broadway’s M. Butterfly. In addition to Awkafina is Nora from Queens, Wong has also had recurring roles in such television shows as Oz, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Mr. Robot. On the silver screen, some of Wong’s most immediately recognizable work includes four films of the Jurassic Park franchise, Mulan, and Netflix’s Bird Box.

During the Q&A portion of the Oct. 10 event, Wong offered audience members some hard-won lessons from his decades of fighting racism and stereotyping in his profession. When he was growing up, he told the crowd, he couldn’t help but notice how invisible Asian Americans were to a Hollywood he wanted to make a career in. He also couldn’t help but notice how easy it was to make a gay man the target of a joke. Those realizations made him shy away from his dreams at first, he acknowledged, but he now understands that, like any good movie, things are not always what they seem. 

“The things that you think are obstacles are your assets,” Wong said. 

The Thayer Global Speaker Series brings thought leaders, innovators, and difference-makers to the Thayer campus to engage the community in issues that matter to the world.