Benedict Wong (born 3 July 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...
in
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
's ''
Marco Polo'' (2014–2016), Bruce Ng in ''
The Martian'' (2015), and
Wong in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...
since ''
Doctor Strange'' (2016).
Early life
Wong was born on 3 July 1971 in
Eccles, Greater Manchester
Eccles () is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England,
west of Salford and west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The town is famous for the Eccles cak ...
, the son of Hong Kong immigrant parents who had travelled through Ireland before settling in England. He was brought up in Eccles,
and attended
Salford City College (then called De La Salle Sixth Form College) in the surrounding area of
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
. He then took a two-year performing arts course at
Salford City College.
Career
Wong's first role was in a 1993
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national r