B. D. Wong

“Playing the priest on 'Oz' was a fantastic experience. I was very lucky.”

“If I played characters who were like me, I'd be super bored.”

“The success of the storytellers - we're only as good as what we can withhold from the audience. Aspects of surprise and letting things play out for the audience - it's so much a part of their enjoyment. It's one of the great things about working in the movies and being a great storyteller.”

“If I were to limit myself to the opportunities that were presented playing only Chinese-American parts, I would be virtually without a career.”

“I remain on 'SVU' because it is an incredible opportunity.”

“In television, a sitcom is probably the closest thing to what it's like working in the theater.”

“Usually, when you are an ethnic person or a trans person, in your average, everyday, unsophisticated television show, you are there for that reason. And they clearly justify and overexplain why. You very rarely see a transgender actor playing the part of a grocery-store clerk without having to say, 'Oh, look at that trans person.'”

“I have a hard time watching films and not thinking how I would play any part, whether it's a man or a woman.”

“Maybe there are logical reasons for a gay person not to have a great relationship with their parents - not because there's a parent who made him gay, but just because it may be difficult to understand everything.”

“I realize it's a cliche almost, that coming out of the closet is a very healthy and empowering thing to do, but for me, it really has been a truly wonderful thing.”

“I'm basically nocturnal.”

“I've always had tremendous support from my parents. I think there's a myth that gay people have lousy relationships with their parents.”

“Having done 'M. Butterfly,' I'm conscious of the choices women make with their clothes and makeup on screen.”

“There's something pure about our bloodline: There are no accidental kids of gay parents. Every single gay parent desperately, passionately wanted to be a parent. That's neat, and I hope we can keep it that way.”

“I had studied the violin to a certain amount of success. At some point, I realized that I didn't really like the violin. I was only doing it because I could, and I was good at it, and everyone was encouraging me. But I didn't have a great love for it.”

“I'm already more famous than I want to be. And yet at the same time, fame feeds your potential as a creative person. You're in a vacuum if you don't have a certain amount of fame.”

“I'm a strong nonbeliever in the Christmas letter where you don't really read it because it's just full of kind of meaningless information. It doesn't really resonate to the person reading it, but it means so much to the person that wrote it.”

“As an actor, I have casting issues. I'm a minority. I don't have trouble making a living, but as far as being on the food chain of the pecking order of actors, I'm not at the top of it. With the jobs that I do, there are always control issues with directors and producers.”

“I know about lots of things that have nothing to do with being Asian, that you would never guess from looking at me. I know all about musical theater. I could go on 'Jeopardy!' and knock off the whole Broadway show tunes category. Also the whole Bible stories category.”

“Writing is an incredibly creatively empowering experience for me. It is the place where nobody tries to control what I'm doing.”