Ali Wong facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ali Wong
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Wong in 2012
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Born |
Alexandra Dawn Wong
April 19, 1982 San Francisco, California, U.S.
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Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2005–present |
Spouse(s) |
Justin Hakuta
(m. 2014; div. 2022) |
Children | 2 |
Alexandra Dawn Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra (2016), Hard Knock Wife (2018), and Don Wong (2022). She has also starred in the romantic comedy film Always Be My Maybe (2019), on which she also served as a writer and producer, and in the Netflix dark comedy series Beef (2023). She was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and 2023.
Wong was also a cast member on the ABC show American Housewife and has previously appeared on Inside Amy Schumer, Black Box, and Are You There, Chelsea? She was a writer for the first three seasons of the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. She also voices the title character Roberta "Bertie" Songthrush on the animated series Tuca & Bertie and Ali on the animated series Big Mouth.
Early life
Alexandra Dawn Wong was born in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 19, 1982, the youngest of four children. Her Vietnamese mother, Tam "Tammy" Wong, relocated from Huế in 1960 to work as a social worker in the U.S. Her Chinese-American father, Adolphus Wong (1937–2011), was an anesthesiologist who worked for Kaiser Permanente for 30 years.
In 2000, Wong graduated from San Francisco University High School, where she was student body class president. She enrolled at UCLA, where she majored in Asian-American studies. During her junior year, she spent time in Hanoi. After college, she studied in Vietnam through a Fulbright program.
Career
After graduating from college, Wong first tried stand-up comedy at the age of 23. She soon moved to New York City to pursue comedy and began to perform up to nine times a night.
In 2011, Variety named her one of the "10 Comics to Watch". 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. After 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.
In 2014, Wong played Dr. Lina Lark in the ABC medical drama series Black Box, opposite Kelly Reilly and Vanessa Redgrave. 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. Randall Park, who is on the main cast, had suggested Wong for the writing role.
On Mother's Day 2016, Netflix released a stand-up special called Baby Cobra; the special was filmed in September 2015, when Wong was seven months pregnant with her first child at the Neptune Theater in Seattle. According to New York Magazine, "The special's arrival on Netflix is the sort of star-making moment that unites the tastes of the unlikeliest fans."
On September 11, 2016, Wong spoke at, and walked the runway during New York Fashion Week for Opening Ceremony's show. In October 2016, Wong began starring in the ABC sitcom American Housewife.
On May 13, 2018, Wong's second Netflix special, Hard Knock Wife, was released. It was filmed in late September 2017 at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto when she was seven months pregnant with her second child. In 2018, she voiced the character Citrus Twisty, a soda genie, in an episode of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
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. From 2019 to 2022, Wong voiced Bertie in the Netflix animated sitcom Tuca & Bertie.
On October 15, 2019, Wong published a book entitled Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life. She described it as a life guide for her daughters to read when they reach adulthood. The book won the 2019 Goodreads Choice Award for Humor.
In February 2022, Wong released her third Netflix stand-up special, Don Wong.
Wong co-starred with Steven Yeun in the 2023 Netflix drama-comedy series Beef, and was credited as an executive producer alongside Yeun.
Personal life
Wong met entrepreneur Justin Hakuta, the son of inventor Ken Hakuta, at the wedding of their mutual friends in 2010. (At the time, Hakuta was a Fulbright Scholar and a student at Harvard Business School.) They married in 2014. They have two daughters.
In April 2022, Wong and Hakuta announced they had filed for divorce shortly after her Don Wong stand-up special was released in February 2022, where she expressed regret and dissatisfaction with her marriage, which felt like going to prison. However, they have remained good friends and Hakuta continues as her tour manager.
Wong briefly dated actor Bill Hader in late 2022. Since at least April 2023, they have resumed dating, which was announced in line with the April releases of their shows Beef and Barry.
Filmography
As actress
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2011 | Breaking In | Ana Ng | 3 episodes |
2012 | Are You There, Chelsea? | Olivia | 12 episodes |
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" |
The Angry Birds Movie | Betty Bird (voice) | ||
2016–2021 | American Housewife | Doris | Series regular |
2017 | Fresh Off the Boat | Margot | Episode: "The Flush" |
The Lego Ninjago Movie | General Olivia (Voice) | ||
Father Figures | Ali | ||
2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Felony (voice) | |
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | Twisty (voice) | Episode: "Soda Genie" | |
Ask the Storybots | The Brain | Episode: "How Do Ears Hear?" | |
2019–2022 | Tuca & Bertie | Bertie (voice) | Main role, also Executive Producer |
2019 | Always Be My Maybe | Sasha Tran | Also writer and producer |
Big Mouth | Ali (voice) | 14 episodes | |
2020 | Birds of Prey | Ellen Yee | |
Onward | Gore (voice) | ||
Love, Victor | Ms. Thomas | Recurring role | |
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe | Super Super Big Doctor (voice) | ||
2022 | Human Resources | Becca (voice) | Main role, spinoff of Big Mouth |
Paper Girls | Adult Erin | Recurring role | |
2023 | Beef | Amy Lau | Main role, also Executive Producer |
As herself
Year | Title | Notes |
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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 | The Hero | Movie |
2017 | Bill Nye Saves The World | S2E4 - Netflix |
2018 | Ugly Delicious | S1E8 - Netflix |
2018 | Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife | Netflix comedy special |
May 28, 2019 | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | "Ali Wong Experienced Pure Joy Kissing Daniel Dae Kim" and "Ali Wong and Twitch Play 'Taste Buds'" |
Oct 23, 2019 | The Daily Show with Trevor Noah | "Lessons for Her Daughters in Dear Girls and Life as a Female Comic " |
Oct 24, 2019 | The Ellen Show | "Ali Wong Once Bombed in Front of Eddie Murphy" and "Ali Wong on Whether She Wants Her Daughters to Be Comedians" |
May 9, 2022 | Celebrity IOU | "Ali Wong's Renovation Surprise" |
2022 | Ali Wong: Don Wong | Netflix comedy special |
March 10, 2023 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Guest judge; Episode: "Two Queens, One Joke" |
March 10, 2023 | RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked | Celebrity guest; Episode: "Untucked: Two Queens, One Joke" |
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
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2018 | Legionnaires of Laughter Legacy Award | Best Stand Up Comedian Female | N/A | Nominated | |
2019 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Comedy Movie Star | Always Be My Maybe | Nominated | |
Gotham Independent Film Awards | Breakthrough Series – Short Form | Tuca & Bertie | Nominated | ||
2020 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Nominated | ||
2022 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special | Ali Wong: Don Wong | Nominated | |
2023 | Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials | Beef | Won | |
Online Film & Television Association | Best Limited or Anthology Series | Runner-up | |||
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Limited or Anthology Series | Won | ||||
Gotham Independent Film Awards | Breakthrough Series – Short Form | Won | |||
Outstanding Performance in a New Series | Won | ||||
2024 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film | Pending | ||
Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Pending | ||||
Astra TV Awards | Best Streaming Limited or Anthology Series | Pending | |||
Best Actress in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Pending | ||||
Critics' Choice Awards | Best Limited Series | Pending | |||
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television | Pending | ||||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series | Pending | |||
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Pending | ||||
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance | Tuca & Bertie | Pending | |||
Independent Spirit Awards | Best New Scripted Series | Beef | Pending | ||
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series | Pending |
See also
In Spanish: Ali Wong para niños