Ali Wong
Wong in 2012
Born	Alexandra Dawn Wong (1982-04-19) April 19, 1982 (age 41) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupations	Comedian actress writer producer director
Years active	2005–present
Spouse	Justin Hakuta ​ ​ (m. 2014; sep. 2022)​
Children	2
Website	aliwong.com

Alexandra Dawn Wong (born April 19, 1982)^[1] is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra (2016), Hard Knock Wife (2018), and Don Wong (2022).^[2][3] She has also starred in the romantic comedy film Always Be My Maybe (2019), on which she also served as a writer and producer. In 2023, she starred in the Netflix dark comedy series Beef, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, becoming the only Asian woman to win a lead acting Emmy. She was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and 2023.^[4][5]

Wong was a cast member on the ABC show American Housewife and appeared on Inside Amy Schumer, Black Box, and Are You There, Chelsea? She was a writer for the first three seasons of the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. She also voiced the title character Roberta "Bertie" Songthrush on the animated series Tuca & Bertie and Ali on the animated series Big Mouth.

Early life

Alexandra Dawn Wong^[6] was born in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 19, 1982,^[7][8] the youngest of four children.^[7][9] Her Vietnamese mother, Tam "Tammy" Wong, relocated from Huế in 1960 to work as a social worker in the U.S.^[7][10][11] Her Chinese-American father, Adolphus Wong (1937–2011), was an anesthesiologist who worked for Kaiser Permanente for 30 years.^[12]

In 2000, Wong graduated from San Francisco University High School,^[13][14] where she was student body class president.^[15] She enrolled at UCLA, where she majored in Asian-American studies. During her junior year, she spent time in Hanoi.^[7][16][17] After college, she studied in Vietnam through a Fulbright program.^[18][19]

Career

After graduating from college, Wong first tried stand-up comedy at the age of 23. She soon moved to New York City to pursue comedy and began to perform up to nine times a night.^[20]

In 2011, Variety named her one of the "10 Comics to Watch".^[2] 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.^[21] 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 and as Kate in the film Dealin' with Idiots.^[8]

In 2014, Wong played Dr. Lina Lark in the ABC medical drama series Black Box, opposite Kelly Reilly and Vanessa Redgrave.^[22][23] She guest-starred in three episodes of Inside Amy Schumer. Wong worked a writer on Fresh Off the Boat.^[24] Randall Park, who was a main cast member, had suggested Wong for the writing role.^[16]

On Mother's Day 2016,^[25] 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^[26] at the Neptune Theater in Seattle.^[9][20][27] 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".^[28]

On September 11, 2016, Wong spoke at, and walked the runway during New York Fashion Week for Opening Ceremony's show.^[29] From 2016 to 2021, Wong starred in 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 seven months pregnant with her second child.^[30][31] In 2018, she voiced the character Citrus Twisty, a soda genie, in an episode of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.^[32]

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. From 2019 to 2022, Wong voiced Bertie in the Netflix animated sitcom Tuca & Bertie.

On October 15, 2019, Wong published a book entitled Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life.^[33][34] She described it as a life guide for her daughters to read when they reach adulthood.^[35] The book won the 2019 Goodreads Choice Award for Humor.^[36]

In February 2022, Wong released her third Netflix stand-up special, Don Wong.^[37]

Wong co-starred with Steven Yeun in the 2023 Netflix drama-comedy series Beef,^[38] and was credited as an executive producer alongside Yeun. For her performance in Beef, Wong received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film, for which she is the first actress of Asian descent to win in this category,^[39][40] and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, for which she is the first actress of Asian descent to ever win a lead acting Emmy award.^[41]

Personal life

Wong met entrepreneur Justin Hakuta, the son of inventor Ken Hakuta, at the wedding of their mutual friends in 2010.^[42] At the time, Hakuta was a Fulbright Scholar and a student at Harvard Business School.^[43] They married in 2014.^[44] They have two daughters.^[45] In April 2022, Wong and Hakuta announced they had separated.^[46][47][48] Wong has stated that they remain "best friends".^[49][43][50] In December 2023, Wong filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences".^[46]

Wong briefly dated actor Bill Hader in late 2022. In April 2023, they were reported to have resumed their relationship. They were shown together at the 75th Emmy Awards on January 15, 2024.^[51][52]

Filmography

As actress

As herself