The British-born character actor Benedict Wong has been putting in a great number of memorable performances on television and in movies for nearly 25 years, and he’s worked with some tremendous directors along the way, such as Stephen Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS), Danny Boyle (SUNSHINE), Michael Winterbottom (TRISTRAM SHADY, CODE 46), Duncan Jones (MOON), Tony Scott (SPY GAME), and Ridley Scott (PROMETHEUS, THE MARTIAN). He may be best known for playing Kublai Khan in the Netflix series “Marco Polo,” but he’s about to get a whole lot more mainstream when he arrives as Wong in Scott Derrickson’s DOCTOR STRANGE
At a set visit to Marvel’s DOCTOR STRANGE (set for release on November 4) back in February, a group of online writers, including me, got a chance to sit down with Wong (in his Wong costume) to discuss his character’s checkered representation in the comic books and how he’s been retooled for the film. Please enjoy our talk with Benedict Wong…
Question: We heard from Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] that this take on Wong is going to be very different from what we’ve seen in the comic books. With that in mind, how much of your character development has come from hearing about backstory, and how he’s been used there versus just from this script?
Benedict Wong: Well, I think things like “manservant” and “sidekick,” we’re just going to leave back in the past now. I’m very much into looking forward to our modern take of this origin story, now. So, let’s turn a whole new page.
Question: Well, then who is this version of Wong? Since the one that we know is no longer in play, who is this character now? Where do we first meet him? What is his story?
BW: Wong is in our world now a master at Kamar-Taj, training the fellow disciples and sorcerers, and [he’s a] protector of the Sanctum relics and these ancient ritual books, and it’s where we’ll see Wong and Doctor Strange come together and become, really, allies to fight against these extra-dimensional forces.
Question: What’s his first impression of Strange, and how does that relationship build?
BW: At first he just becomes one of the…a lucky disciple. I mean, obviously, [Strange] comes into this world very much as a rookie, and we discover and find out how Strange develops these amazing techniques that he has in the mystical arts, and that is something that Wong picks up on.
Question: We heard, too, that the script has a lot of crazy mystical terminology. Have you run into that at all yet, like having to do the big incantations and such?
BW: Oh, any form of spell castings or…?
Question: Yeah
BW: No, not so much, really. I’m very much the keeper of the books, so far. Yesterday we shot a whole training session where everybody was doing all their kata, so it was a lot of fun.
Question: Your role in the film was only officially announced recently, I believe a week or two ago. When did you first find out about this project, and what were your first impressions of reading your script and learning about the role?
BW: When did I find out? I found out a month before I was doing [the Netflix series] “Marco Polo” out in Mayalasia, and, yeah, I just finished there in December and jumped straight on and hit the ground running, really. And it was great because I’ve known Benedict [Cumberbatch] before for a number of years and Chiwetel [Ejiofor], we’ve worked together and he’s a good pal of mine. My first impressions of it? I was really happy with it. This is gonna be a very early introduction of Wong, and I think what will happen is what we’ll see in the next film what actually happens with both of them.
Question: Did you dive into the comic books?
BW: Yeah. Well, because they couldn’t give me the script.
Question: Oh really?
BW: Well, at the time, you’re just reading various different pages, but I immediately looked and had a quick look at “The Oath.” So I was reading through that, and was just immersing myself in that, and was hoping I wasn’t on tea-making duties. [Laughs] You know, we can lose that.
Question: Can you tell us a little bit about Wong’s personality? Is he serious? Is he funny?
BW: I don’t know. Is he serious? Is he funny? He’s very serious about what he’s doing because it’s a huge door that these extra-dimensional forces are now battering through, and there is a fight that no one is really seeing. So I think there’s a real importance about, in terms of his training, [making sure] everybody is prepped, really. So there is a seriousness about him.
Question: Is he maneuvering back and forth between the normal world and this Sanctum, or is he just in the Sanctum?
BW: So far, yes, just so far we’re in the Sanctum.
Question: What can you tell us about the sorcerers themselves? For instance, are they all human, or are they an advanced species like the Asgardians in THOR?
BW: The Asgardians in THOR? I don’t, I don’t know. I’ve gotta be honest with you. [Laughs] Are they human? Yeah, they seem quite human to me.
Question: As an actor, where do you find the grounding in the fantastic? When you are talking about these other dimensions and you’re talking about these spells completely out of the real world things, how do you find a way to connect to that?
BW: It’s a real joy to play in this imaginary world, for me. If anything, you connect what is… as an actor you always find what is personal to you, and I submit that to what is the importance of that and convey in that.
Question: So, it’s more about finding the importance of the fight, the importance of the moment, and working from there?
BW: Yeah.
Question: If Wong isn’t a sidekick or a manservant, what does Wong become to Stephen in the story? What kind of relationship is it?
BW: It feels like Wong, at the time, is of a higher ranking, and then obviously Strange discovers that he has these powers. It’s really hard to circumnavigate for me. Things are going to happen in the film where, as I said before, I feel is a sense of how these two… they’re quite an odd couple, really. They’re quite an oddball couple, and it’s how they become allies together. I think that’s what we’re converging, and then we’ll just see how it evolves and how they explore it in the next one.
Question: Can you talk about working with Scott Derrickson? He’s made the transition from smaller indie movies to the big world here? What kind of director is he? Is he bringing that indie sensibility of working with the actors to this? What is it like working with him in general?
BW: It’s great. I find it, it’s quite fast-paced, and Scott’s very open for fluidness and ideas. Yeah, I’ve enjoyed working with him so far.
Question: Is there another character that Wong interacts with a lot that you’ve found interesting, that relationship with Wong and one of these other masters?
BW: Uh, well, we sort of have this thing, like Baron Mordo, who’s a fellow sorcerer, and most of my scenes are with Mordo and Strange.