Garrett Wang | |||||||||||||
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 Wang in 2013 atFedCon in Germany | |||||||||||||
| Born | Garrett Richard Wang (1968-12-15)December 15, 1968 (age 56) 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 ofEnsign Harry Kim inStar Trek: Voyager.
Wang was born inRiverside, California, toTaiwanese American immigrant parents.[3] He has one sister.[4] Growing up, Wang moved often. He attended kindergarten inIndiana before moving toBermuda,[4] then toMemphis, Tennessee,[5] and then back toCalifornia.[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 fromHarding 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 actressBonnie 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 college at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. He switched majors multiple times, going frombiology topolitical science tohistory toeconomics and finallyAsian studies, with all his upper-division electives intheater.[7]
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" ofMargaret Cho'sAll-American Girl as Raymond Han, a financially stable single doctor.[4][8]
Wang starred in Eric Koyanagi's MFA thesis film atUSC 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 inStar Trek: Voyager, which ran from 1995 to 2001.[4]
In 2005, Wang played Chow Ping in the TV miniseriesInto The West, which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
He played Garan in the 2007 fan productionStar Trek: Of Gods and Men, saying, "it’s always more challenging for an actor to play the bad guy."[12]
In 1993, while a student at UCLA, Wang portrayed John Lee, a gay British Chinese teenager who kills his Irish lover, inChay Yew's play,Porcelain, at the now defunct Burbage Theater inSawtelle, Los Angeles.[13][9][5]
From early childhood on, actor Garrett Wang was a science-fiction fan, in particular ofStar Wars andBattlestar Galactica.[14]
He watched all theStar Trekfilms that came out in the theaters, but didn't followStar Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) prior to working onVoyager. 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 themassively multiplayer online role-playing game,Star Trek Online.[17]
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 forDragon Con, becoming the first actor to work behind the scenes at a convention.[19]
Wang has participated in theCalgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, in 2012 interviewingStan Lee and being present at a booth among other exhibitors, and as a surprise speaker at TNG Exposed.[20]
Through November 2017, Wang hosted a weekly podcast onTwitch. 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] withRobert Duncan McNeill, who portrayedTom Paris inVoyager.
| 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 onthe book of the same name |
| 2020 | Unbelievable!!!!! | Dr. Charles Hunter | |
| 2020 | Monster Force Zero |
| 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 | TVminiseries 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 | Alternate Harry Kims | Episode: "Fissure Quest"[23] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force | Harry Kim | Voice role |
| 2014 | Star Trek Online | ||
| 2023 | Truth | Host |
The Delta Flyers is a weekly podcast hosted by Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill from Star Trek Voyager.
| International | |
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| National | |
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