Ali Wong

American stand-up comedian and actressTemplate:SHORTDESC:American stand-up comedian and actress[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

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**Alexandra Wong** (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She is noted for her Netflix stand-up specials *Baby Cobra* and *Hard Knock Wife*, both of which received critical acclaim. She is also known for her leading film role in the 2019 film *Always Be My Maybe*, which she produced and wrote with her co-star Randall Park. She is currently a main cast member on the ABC television show *American Housewife*. Previously, she appeared on *Are You There, Chelsea?*, *Inside Amy Schumer*, and *Black Box*. She also wrote for the first three seasons of the sitcom *Fresh Off the Boat*. Wong voiced title character Roberta "Bertie" Songthrush, a polite songbird and aspiring baker on the critically acclaimed animated series *Tuca & Bertie* and new student "Ali" on the hit series *Big Mouth*.

## Early life

Wong was born in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, the youngest of four children. Her father, Adolphus Wong, was an American-born anasthesiologist who worked for Kaiser Permanente for 30 years. His ancestors were from China. Her mother, Tam "Tammy" Wong, immigrated in 1960 to the United States from Huế, South Vietnam and was a social worker.

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 and discovered her love of performing as a member of the university's LCC Theatre Company, the country's largest and oldest Asian-American theater company. She spent a summer working at The Lair of the Golden Bear, a UC Berkeley alumni summer family camp and, during her junior year, spent time in Hanoi, Vietnam.

She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Asian American studies in 2005. After college, she studied in Vietnam as a Fulbright scholar.

## Career

After graduating from college, 23-year-old Wong tried stand-up comedy at Brainwash Cafe. 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*.

### 2014–present: *Fresh off the Boat* and Netflix

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 main cast of 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 7 months pregnant with her second child.

In September 2016, Wong was invited to walk the runway during New York Fashion Week for the clothing label Opening Ceremony.

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. Wong voiced the titular character Bertie in the Netflix animated show *Tuca & Bertie*.

On October 15, 2019, Wong came out with a book entitled *Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life*. She dubs it as a life guide for her two daughters to read when they're adults.

## Personal life

Wong lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Justin Hakuta, the son of inventor and TV personality Ken Hakuta. Justin Hakuta is half Filipino and half Japanese. They met at a wedding of mutual friends in 2010. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and was the vice president of product at healthcare startup GoodRx. They married in 2014Template:Cn and have two daughters, Mari and Nikki.

Wong was mentored by comedian Chris Rock.

## Further reading

* (2016) – Interview with Wong on *Fresh Air with Terry Gross*
* (2019) – Excerpts from her book *Dear Girls*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wong, Ali (Winter 2004). "Discoveries Terrible and Magnificent". http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc/classweb/winter04/aas116/essay1awong.pdf. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite press release
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shady, Justin (July 26, 2011). "Ali Wong: Spitfire standup embraces dark". https://variety.com/2011/film/news/ali-wong-spitfire-standup-embraces-dark-1118040427. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
4. ↑ Molyneaux, Libby (October 3, 2013). "Ali Wong: L.A.'s Raunchiest Vietnamese-Chinese-American Standup Comic". http://www.laweekly.com/publicspectacle/2011/07/12/ali-wong-las-raunchiest-vietnamese-chinese-american-standup-comic. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Maron, Marc (May 5, 2016). "Episode 704 - Ali Wong". http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/52wyay702hls7pd1o8gs9q04tkjo4a. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
6. ↑ "Adolphus Wong Obituary", *SF Chronicle*.
7. ↑ Wong, Ali. "Baby Cobra". https://www.netflix.com/title/80101493.
8. ↑ Saner, Emine (2019-10-17). "'God, I was disgusting!' – Ali Wong on why women's bodies are the last taboo" (in en-GB), *The Guardian*.
9. ↑ "San Francisco University High School Podcasts: IV. Ali Wong (1:02.45) Adorably Inappropriate". http://inside.sfuhs.org/blog/index.php?blogid=9&archive=2006-03. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
10. ↑ Tseng, Ada (June 8, 2015). "Get to Know Stand-Up Comedienne & 'Fresh Off the Boat' Writer Ali Wong". http://audreymagazine.com/get-to-know-stand-up-comedienne-fresh-off-the-boat-writer-ali-wong. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
11. ↑ "LCC Theatre Company at UCLA". http://lcctheatre.com/.
12. ↑ "Ali Wong: Q&A". http://www.lcctheatre.com/cast\_profile.php?ID=88. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Levy, Ariel (September 26, 2016). "Ali Wong's Radical Raunch", *The New Yorker*.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Nepales, Ruben V. (June 13, 2019). "Randall Park and Ali Wong talk about their rom-com’s Asian–and Filipino–pedigree", *Philippine Daily Inquirer*, Inquirer.net.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Miller, Julie (April 25, 2019). "How Ali Wong Became Comedy’s Queen Mom" (in en). https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/04/ali-wong-queen-mom-always-be-my-maybe.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Nguyen, Sahra Vang (November 25, 2015). "Off Color: Ali Wong on Nepotism, Network TV, and Becoming a New Mom". https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/color-ali-wong-writing-fresh-boat-perfecting-her-craft-preparing-n391301. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
17. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 25, 2008). "Ali Wong Joins New NBC Comedy 'Are You There Vodka' As Regular". https://www.deadline.com/2011/08/ali-wong-joins-new-nbc-comedy-are-you-there-vodka-as-regular. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
18. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (October 4, 2013). "ABC Series 'The Black Box' Adds Trio". https://www.deadline.com/2013/10/abc-series-the-black-box-adds-trio. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
19. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (January 17, 2014). "ABC Announces Premiere Dates for 'Black Box' & 'Dancing With the Stars' + 'Mind Games' Replaces 'Killer Women'". http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/01/17/abc-announces-premiere-dates-for-black-box-mind-games-dancing-with-the-stars-more/230212/. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
20. ↑ Collins, Scott (8 April 2015). "'Fresh Off the Boat' writer Eddie Huang slams ABC comedy hit". https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-fresh-off-the-boat-writer-eddie-huang-slams-abc-comedy-hit-20150407-story.html. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
21. ↑ Fox, Jesse David (May 9, 2016). "Appreciating Ali Wong's Powerful Pregnancy Joke in Baby Cobra". https://www.vulture.com/2016/05/ali-wongs-powerful-pregnancy-joke-in-baby-cobra.html. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
22. ↑ Kovan, Brianna (May 6, 2016). "Ali Wong Did a One-Hour Comedy Special While Seven Months Pregnant, DGAF". http://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/q-and-a/a36207/ali-wong-netflix-special-baby-cobra. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
23. ↑ White, Abbey (April 29, 2016). "Ali Wong's Got Bite in This First Look at Her Netflix Comedy Special, Baby Cobra". https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/04/ali-wongs-got-bite-in-this-first-look-at-her-netfl.html. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
24. ↑ Choi, Mary (May 30, 2016). "Talking Pregnancy and Prostate Stimulation With Ali Wong", *New York Magazine*.
25. ↑ "Opening Ceremony's Funny, Political Show Redeemed Fashion Week". https://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/opening-ceremonys-funny-political-show-redeemed-nyfw.html. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
26. ↑ "Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife | Netflix Official Site". https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80186940.
27. ↑ Template:Citation
28. ↑ https://www.apnews.com/cf3464eb21804669a36f3ee34be508db
29. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITM6ZHPQlmU
30. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Girls-Intimate-Untold-Secrets/dp/052550883X
31. ↑ Wong, Gerrye (9 December 2014). "On the Scene December 9 Holidaze: Happy Occasions". http://www.dingding.tv/bencandy.php?fid=154&id=7549. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
32. ↑ "Justin Hakuta Professional Career" (in en-US), *Earn The Necklace* (2017-08-04).

## External links

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