Michael Fitzgerald WongWong Man-tak is a Chinese-American actor based in Hong Kong. He is fluent in English, but not in Chinese, which is reflected in many of the characters he has portrayed. His most notable film is the 1998 filmBeast Cops which won a Hong Kong Film Award with Wong in the lead role. As of 2004, he has appeared in over fifty films in twenty-one years, often in very minor roles.
Early career
Michael Wong was born and raised in Troy, New York, the son of restaurateur, William Wong, and an American artist of Dutch and French descent, Connie Van Yserloo. After finishing high school, he left to go to Hong Kong to try his luck in acting. His brothers, Russell Wong and Declan Wong, would also become actors in the Hong Kong film industry. There were a number of significant factors against Wong's eventual success in the Hong Kong film industry including an inability to speak Cantonese Chinese, no formal training in acting and no background in martial arts. He also lacked an entry into the tightly knit in the Hong Kong film industry. His debut was in 1985's City Hero, then in 1986 he was cast in his first major role,Legacy of Rage alongside Brandon Lee in his only Hong Kong movie. His next significant film was Royal Warriors a.k.a. In the Line of Duty, which established his dominant image for the first part of his career as a naive but tough outsider. Final Option, released in 1994, would make Wong a major star in the Chinese film industry. Playing the role of a police officer, he established a tougher image and the character reappeared in the prequel First Option in 1996, for which he would be nominated for both an Hong Kong Film Award and a Golden Horse Award. He would reprise the role of Stone Wong in the 2002 movie New Option.
Later career
Wong starred in a 1996 Canadian TV production Once A Thief directed by John Woo. He made his English language movie debut in James Hong's The Vineyard in 1989. His starring role in Beast Cops, which won a 1998 Best Film prize at the Hong Kong film awards, further consolidated his position. He also starred alongside Jackie Chan in Thunderbolt and Brandon Lee's sister Shannon Lee in Enter the Eagles. He also played the role of a detective in the 1998 film, Knock Off, acting alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rob Schneider. In 2000, Wong made his debut as a director in Miles Apart, which he also produced and starred in. He has continued to work in the Hong Kong film industry, though more often as a supporting player rather than a leading man, in productions such as Cold War, Skiptrace and Triple Threat. In 2006, Wong re-entered the music scene by performing "big band" music accompanied by a 10 piece band with the likes of "Come Fly with Me".
Personal life
Wong married Hong Kong supermodel Janet Ma in 1992 and they had two older daughters, Kayla Wong and Irisa Shannon Wong, and one son, Kadin Miles Wong.
