James Franklin Wong (born March 28, 1987) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He is best known for his 2011 music video, "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" and for his role as Ted in the

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

'' Video Game High School''. In 2017, he and YouTuber Meghan Camarena co-hosted the video game themed variety show ''Polaris Primetime'', which was created as part of Disney's "DXP" programming block on

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

. Wong has appeared in feature films such as '' John Dies at the End,'' '' The Circle'', and the live-action version of ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

''.

Early life

Wong grew up in Normandy Park, Washington. He graduated from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

in 2009, where he majored in theater and drama. After graduating, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to become an actor.

Career

Wong garnered national news coverage in March 2011, when he uploaded his music video, "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. He created the video as a response to a

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

student's

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

rant against Asian students using mobile phones in the UCLA library, one which

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

qualified as "offensive." NPR suggested that Wong's video response was one that "effectively turn dthe tables on the original rant," offering an alternative method of defense against

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

. Wong later said in an

interview that while he was initially frustrated by the video rant, he realized that humor offered a better response, as he hoped to "put a positive spin on all of it." Furthermore, he stated, an

eye for an eye "An eye for an eye" (, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The earliest known use of the principle appears in the Code of Hammurabi, which predates the wr ...

approach would only encourage "this behavior to continue." " Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" went viral and was covered nationally by the American media. That same year, he co-launched and co-hosted the YouTube cooking show ''Feast of Fiction with Ashley Adams.'' Wong later portrayed Ted in the web series '' Video Game High School''. He was also invited by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

and

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

to create the web series ''District Voices''. In 2014, Wong was ranked #73 on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels. Wong played Ling in Disney's 2020 live action remake of the 1998 ''Mulan'' animated movie.

Gaming

Wong is an avid player of '' Magic: The Gathering'', specifically the Commander format. He hosts a podcast with co-hosts Josh Lee Kwai and Rachel Weeks called ''The Command Zone'', where they discuss their experiences playing the Commander format. Wong is referred to by his co-hosts as "Jimmy the Red" due to fact that he often plays red decks when playing commander. He has also been called upon by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

to preview new sets at exhibitions and on their YouTube channel. In 2021, he appeared in the podcast Dungeons & Daddies, where he played a demonic human-paladin character named Jodie Foster. Wong portrays the character Jay in the 2022 video game

BONELAB ''Bonelab'' is a 2022 video game developed and published by American studio Stress Level Zero. It is a sequel to the 2019 game ''Boneworks''. The player controls an outcast that escapes death and explores experimental worlds in a research lab in ...

Personal life

His father is Chinese, from Canton, and his mother is of Chinese and

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

ancestry. He is the younger brother of filmmaker

Freddie Wong Freddie Wong (born September 13, 1985) is an American internet celebrity, filmmaker, VFX artist, podcaster, and competitive gamer. Wong has participated in at least three YouTube channels; with ''RocketJump'', his production company's main chan ...

. Wong announced his engagement to his girlfriend, Rosanna Wang, in December of 2020. A few months later, the two married on February 28, 2021. The couple welcomed their first son, Mason, in February 2022.

Partial filmography

Awards

*2015: Won: International Academy of Web Television Awards – Best Ensemble Performance/Comedy, '' Video Game High School'' (shared with other cast members) *2014: Won:

Streamy Awards The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wr ...

– Best Action or Sci-Fi Series, '' Video Game High School'' (shared with cast and crew members) *2014: Won:

– Best Ensemble Cast, '' Video Game High School'' (shared with other cast members) *2017: Won:

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

- Most videogame characters identified in one minute

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Jimmy Living people American male film actors American musicians of Chinese descent American male actors of Chinese descent American people of Mongolian descent Place of birth missing (living people) Singers from Seattle Middlebury College alumni Male actors from Seattle American gaming YouTubers Let's Players 21st-century American male actors 1987 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers YouTubers from Seattle