Jason Wong, British-born Chinese actor, on Matthew McConaughey, his Silent Witness role and his year of living and teaching in Hong Kong
- Jason Wong, ‘born and raised on a west London estate’, talks to the Post about being the first major Asian actor in long-running BBC crime drama Silent Witness
- Wong, who taught drama and English in Hong Kong for a year, also reflects on keeping his cool while working with major stars Matthew McConaughey and Chris Pine
So there you are, comfortably on your way to global A-list status, stock rising with successive roles. Then you infiltrate the cast of a BBC television series so established it has become a national treasure – and suddenly you find this acting lark isn’t so glamorous after all.
“Who wants to swim, in the middle of winter, in the English Channel?” asks Jason Wong incredulously, guffawing at the thought of an especially challenging scene in Silent Witness.
“David Caves can do that!” says Wong, thumping his chest. “He’s the big man on the show! I’m like, ‘You get in there, David Caves!’”
At the crew’s behest, Wong did finally venture a short distance from Eastbourne Beach, “but it was freezing! And we had to wear these ridiculous wetsuits,” he recalls. “He got the cooler one, I got the tan, skin-tight, skin-coloured one. I looked like a spring roll!” Wong can’t quite believe his good fortune, it seems – but is joyfully making the most of it.
The longest-running crime drama in BBC history, Silent Witness follows a team of forensic pathologists as they assist police investigations into some horrific offences. The forthcoming season is its 24th – but the first to feature an Asian actor as a major character.
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The short answer: no. “They made me jump through hoops!” says Wong. “I auditioned four or five times, so it wasn’t just offered to me. All my friends, from diverse backgrounds, were going for this same role and I went through the same casting process.”
“I don’t know how much influence Emilia had, but I’m sure a natural rapport was there with her and that’s really important for Silent Witness,” he adds.
“Joining a show that’s been around a long time, you want to work with someone you get along with. But it was also about making sure I was right for the character.”
Far from being hidebound by the conventions of a television institution, new boy Wong engaged immediately in character development. “They were all very encouraging in helping me do something different, bring a new level of energy,” he says.
“One of the show’s strengths is that they give the actors the platform to keep evolving. The writers also gave us the space, which you don’t get on many shows – it was refreshing.”
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“After drama school, in 2007, when most people got agents, I needed a break from it all,” he explains. “I wanted to explore the world, so I went to Hong Kong and taught for a year – drama and English, in Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long; I stayed in Sheung Wan, Wan Chai.
“Hong Kong was home and allowed me to grow up, taught me how to be a young adult – so, lots of fun lessons there! I go back maybe once a year, spend at least a week, stay with friends. I miss it so much; you just walk out and all the smells, the crazy taxi drivers – the fun taxi drivers, I should say! You can’t replicate it,” he says.
A decade on from his year of living spontaneously, Wong returned in different circumstances. “Shooting Strangers, it was so good going back, being in the city, working with Anthony Wong and John Simm, all of it,” he says. “And that’s where I met Emilia.”
Mention of namesake Anthony draws out the wide-eyed side of Wong, who remains in awe of co-stars from, particularly, films The Gentlemen and the still-pending Dungeons & Dragons.
“My cool game was on for The Gentlemen; we had a mutual friend but I didn’t bug him [McConaughey]. Dungeons & Dragons I had a great time shooting, working with Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez – she’s got tons of energy! I mean, these guys are just movie stars, aren’t they?”
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Back down out of the clouds, Wong is now in the thick of Silent Witness season 25 – and more tricky technicalities and impenetrable medical terminology.
“There’s a lot of homework,” he says. “And I’ve also got to hold a scalpel when I’m doing autopsies like I’ve been doing them for ages. I finally understand why Westerners can’t use chopsticks!
“I have to look efficient with the scalpel, while saying my lines, while working on the technical aspects, while acting … it’s a massive juggle.” And not always one for the squeamish.
“In the autopsies, there’s an actor lying there with a prosthetic over their body – something called a pizza, which is painted plastic and rubber, but it’s so realistic,” explains Wong.
“There’s one in a couple of episodes where the body is super-gory and I’m like, ‘Urrrggghh!’ Even though you know it’s not real blood and gore, you can’t help it. So, when we’re shooting, I never eat breakfast.”
Silent Witness: BBC First, on demand from myTV Super and Now TV, from October 15.
