We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Wong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, what do you attribute your success to?
There’s a slogan I try to follow: “Say yes”. In a creative career, opportunities are frequently non-linear in nature and unexpected. It’s important to stay open to those opportunities and not dismiss them out of hand because they don’t adhere to a preconceived notion about a career path. I have few regrets but most of those are the times I said “no” to an unexpected opportunity. But so many of the times I said “yes” led to unexpected and amazing new people and new career directions that I didn’t anticipate at the time of the decision.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art has morphed over the years, mostly due to unexpected opportunities in previously unexplored branches of art. As a child I was initially a piano player and singer. That musicianship gave me the skills to get cast in musical theatre. I continued musical theatre through schooling and throughout my medical career as the schedule would allow. The week I retired from medicine I attended an open musical theatre audition for a talent agency with the intention of getting an agent for getting submitted for higher level projects not accessible by self submission (even including New York). It was a standard “sing two contrasting 16 bar cuts” audition. They liked me and called me back for the dance call. Then I was asked to come in to discuss signing as a client. During our discussion, they said “We want to sign you for theatre, but we don’t have any clients of your type in our agency at all, so would you sign with us for film, TV and commercials too?” (even though I had no actor reel, or any onscreen credits or experience at all) But I said “yes”, and now much of my creative endeavors are in the world of film/TV, although my first love remains musical theatre. From there, producers seeing my actor reel led to me narrating an audiobook and getting a podcast voiceover role. One thing leads to another.

I would say having a full 30 year career as a physician sets me apart from most actors. Since being an actor requires one to get inside a character, my experience getting an inside look at thousands of patients lives and struggles has helped me better understand a wide array of characters and situations. The biggest challenge was juggling the time pressures of a full time medical career and still making time for the creative pursuits. But if you love something enough, you can always find a way and the time to be involved somehow, and I’ve always been lucky enough to find ways to be creatively engaged and fulfilled.

Like I said in a previous question “Say Yes!”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A lot of time would be spent just visiting with each other and with mutual friends. Of course, LA is full of places to see: Hollywood (Hollywood & Highland, Dolby Theatre for Oscar’s ambiance, Mann’s Chinese for the foot/handprints, Hollywood Blvd for Walk of Fame and street performer ambiance), Beverly Hills (driving along Sunset Blvd, Rodeo drive), Santa Monica Pier for the beach vibe, driving PCH, maybe one of the hikes (Runyon, Lake Hollywood, San Vicente Mountain) for hikers. Honestly I’m not really a foodie or a drinker so unless they wanted to go to some name place on their wish list, I’d just go to some of my favorite go to places, or maybe just cook at home since we have a great house and yard.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I thank my parents, Bob and Ellen Wong, who always supported and encouraged me to pursue my various interests. My initial creative passion was music and my earliest childhood memory is being put to bed at 3 years old and hearing my mother play piano because that was the only time of the day she had to herself to do so. She was a Voice major/ Piano minor in the one year of university she attended before getting married and becoming a housewife but she always sang and I credit my love of music primarily to her. Although as an adult I also found old reel to reel tapes where my father, who I never thought of as particularly interested in music, was recorded singing songs a capella to me so I guess I get it from both sides. I took piano lessons from the age of 5-18 (my mother was my first teacher), sang in school choirs and discover musical theatre at age 13 when the local high school needed children for a show and cast them from our 7th grade choir. From there I did shows throughout junior high school, high school, 2 shows as a Pre Med Chemistry major student at UC Davis and even 2 shows at UCLA while also in medical school but that’s a whole separate story. But it all started with my parents, who exposed me to music, encouraged my interests, paid for lessons, drove me to rehearsals and supported me in countless other ways.

Website: www.Paul-Wong.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulwongactor

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-wong-ba20107

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulWongActor/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvUsv5jTYeTzueeDEvOlYDw

Other: https://www.threads.net/@paulwongactor https://www.musicaltheatreguild.com/member/paul-wong https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Paul-Wong

Image Credits
“Personal Photo” is by Ederson Vasquez

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.