BD Wong says it felt ‘cheap’ when his ‘Law & Order: SVU’ character came out
The openly gay actor starred as Dr George Huang for 10 and a half seasons
By Steve Brown
BD Wong said it felt ‘cheap’ when his Law & Order: SVU character came out as gay.
The openly gay actor starred as Dr George Huang in the hit show for 10 and a half seasons and just before his character left, he came out as gay.
But Wong – who has also starred in the Jurassic Park franchise – has said that it felt ‘cheap’ and ‘kind of lazy’.
He told NPR’s The Cooler podcast: “I had no idea throughout the time that I was doing the show for ten and a half years, so it felt a little cheap to me.
“I was also kind of torn because, you know, it’s positive… But it did feel a little convenient or kind of lazy or, you know, kind of not particularly the best way that you want to come out as a character.
“It wasn’t like Ellen coming out. It wasn’t a great thing that was really impactful and funny or human or whatever; it was just kind of a minor point made.”
He also went on to say how when he was growing up, he couldn’t find much Asian representation in TV and movies and gay characters were often portrayed as negative.
But said these stories helped him change himself and continued: “It made me not want to be those things. I was kind of in denial about it.
“And this is a kind of denial that a lot of ethnic kids, specifically I think Asian American kids and some gay kids, have where they avoid the issue of the truth of them.
“And when you avoid that, it causes only problems for you and it takes you a long time to kind of untangle.
“The thing that you think is going to kill you is actually the thing that enlivens you and drives you and pushes you forward.
“It’s really actually an amazingly great feeling to be yourself. What a concept, right?
“And I think more people definitely know that now than they did before, although it’s still a struggle for lots of people.”
Watch his coming out scene below: