Making his local stage debut in this month’s Gruesome Playground Injuries – Pangdemonium!’s third production (this one also by a Pulitzer finalist, Rajiv Joseph) – the California-born Wong is one of two actors in the show, which follows his character Doug’s love affair with Kayleen (played by Seong Hui Xuan) from age eight to 37. Here, Gwen Pew learns a bit more about the handsome actor.
5 Nov 2013:
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When Wong decided that he wanted to explore opportunities in Asia, he had initially moved to Hong Kong, but ‘soon realised that Hong Kong didn’t have many English-speaking opportunities,’ he says. ‘After an audition in Singapore, I found all the opportunites I needed.’
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He’s also appeared on US TV shows such as Hannah Montana, but his favourite art form is still theatre: ‘I love the singular moment of experience that theatre creates. Movies and television shows can be watched at any time. But a stage performance only happens once. The next performance will never be the same as the last. That’s pretty magical. That’s what I love.’
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He’s looking to act more, but his current day job is being a VJ on MTV Asia, which he started in March after moving here: ‘As of now, my focus is onGruesome and hosting The MTV Show,’ he says.
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Despite his experience, he’s a bit nervous about his local stage debut: ‘I’m always at least a little nervous about everything I do, but I think nerves are important. They can either make or break you. The trick is to use them to serve your performance and not diminish it. But since this is the first time anyone in Singapore has seen me act and not host, I’ll admit there are a few extra nerves.’
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In Gruesome, his character is a bit accident-prone [hence the title]: ‘Doug has been a really fun character to explore so far. He has a kind soul and cares a great deal for Kayleen, but he isn’t exactly the smartest tool in the shed. He’s not stupid, though, he just lacks a little common sense. He spends much of the play accidentally hurting himself severely.’
GWEN PEW 