This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] BD Wong: Hi, I'm BD Wong, and you're listening to And the Tony Goes To...

[0:05] BD Wong: It's a look back at Broadway's most magical night, and all of the winners reminisce with delight, with their talents and brilliance they always impress, and the Tony goes to my special guest.

[0:21] BD Wong: Have you ever dreamed of winning a Tony Award? Did you ever practice your Tony acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror? Did you grow up watching the Tony Awards every year? Do you have a collection of Tony Award shows on VHS tape that you refuse to throw out? Well, then this is the podcast for you.

[0:40] BD Wong: Every week, I interview your favorite Tony Award winners, and together we go down memory lane as my guests share intimate and never before shared details about their Tony experience. By the end of every episode, you're going to feel like you just won a Tony. Welcome to And the Tony Goes To...

[0:59] Ilana Levine: I'm your host, Ilana Levine. Welcome today's Tony winner, BD Wong.

[1:07] Ilana Levine: And the winner is BD Wong.

[1:12] BD Wong: I would like to thank the brother and sister song and dance team, which have recently moved into my body and are now living there. For coming to the Eugene O'Neill Theater and getting along, and I celebrate this beautiful, beautiful thing with everyone who witnesses me tonight. I thank New York City for embracing my joy of performing.

[1:42] BD Wong: I'm sorry. Wow. I thank the acceptance of risk that you have. It symbolizes for me the acceptance of the risk of everyone involved with a beautiful thing that is called M. Butterfly. I thank the support of all of my wonderful, wonderful friends, the best in the world. There are too many to name. McDaniel, I got the asterisk. I also thank the most important teacher and friend and a beautiful man into whose eyes I look every night at the Eugene O'Neill Theater and see two kinds of love. The love of a poor, deluded white devil for his butterfly and the love for a seasoned, professional, brilliant actor for his young protégé. I also thank, from the bottom of my heart, William and Roberta Wong at 1886 40th Avenue, San Francisco.

[2:46] Ilana Levine: Hi, BD Wong.

[2:50] BD Wong: Hello, Ilana Levine.

[2:54] Ilana Levine: So, as you may be aware, you just won a Tony.

[2:58] BD Wong: I did.

[2:59] Ilana Levine: It feels like seconds ago.

[3:01] BD Wong: Just seconds ago.

[3:03] Ilana Levine: One of my favorite all-time things, as someone who has listened to many, many Tony speeches religiously, ending with the address of your parents' home...

[3:14] BD Wong: Yes.

[3:15] Ilana Levine: ...maybe one of the sweetest, most personal moments ever. It tells such a story.

[3:22] BD Wong: Yeah, I don't know what I was actually thinking. Of course, this was way before social media and even stalkers and things, you know. It was like not even a... I don't know. I was very naive about it. I don't know what I was actually thinking. I was just... But I will say that my memory is that my brain was overwhelmed with just all of these different kinds of thoughts and worries of covering everything or taking a moment or I don't know what. And so that came out of my mouth. And, you know, people had funny things to say about it. And it was what it was. But it did speak to my tether to my parents. You know, I felt very indebted to them. And I felt very proud of the... all of the... everything that we went through in my relationship with them to get me to the point where I was actually a professional actor. And so that felt somehow the ultimate way in some way. I don't know how... what it was. I don't know what it was exactly. I'm not sure why I thought to do it that way. I can't remember.

[4:35] Ilana Levine: Was that a preconceived notion? Or did that happen spontaneously in the moment?

[4:42] BD Wong: I don't... I cannot tell you. I doubt... Nothing was preconceived. And I think that it was probably just thinking, "Oh, yes. This is where they're from. And this is who they are." And then the address came out of my mouth. I think that's what happened.

[4:59] Ilana Levine: I love that. And I wonder, did people show up at their door wanting to congratulate them?

[5:06] BD Wong: No. I think my mom got some letters.

[5:09] Ilana Levine: Yeah.

[5:10] BD Wong: Yeah. That's about it. And that's... thankfully, right? Because, you know, anything can happen in a situation like that. And especially nowadays you think, "Oh, my gosh. What would you... you know." But it was great. And so that... yeah. I don't... I wish I could tell you exactly what I was thinking. But maybe the fact that I don't know what I was thinking is useful.

[5:31] Ilana Levine: Is telling.

[5:32] BD Wong: Yes. Exactly. You... you won this Tony in 1988 for a Broadway show which was your first, M. Butterfly. And... you know, there are so many incredible things surrounding the story of you and the show. One thing that was very sort of newsworthy at the time but maybe less known to some of your newer fans is that before that show had they seen you in something and opened up the program it would not have said B.D. Wong. It would have said your birth certificate name.

[6:11] BD Wong: My government name.

[6:14] Ilana Levine: Your government name. Yeah. I wonder... well, were you... did you grow up being called B.D. by anybody?

[6:21] BD Wong: So, actually, no. I was never called B.D. when I was a kid. My dad had been called B.D. when he was a kid. And my brothers, my two brothers and I and my dad all have the same initials. And when Stuart Ostro, who you know, asked me—he was a producer of M. Butterfly—asked me if I would take the gender out of my name, I said, "Oh, okay, great." And he wanted to just put B. Wong in the program, which I thought seemed really dumb. I said, "Well, that doesn't feel like a name and it just feels kind of lame. It just feels like you're covering something up or something like that." So I recalled that my dad's nickname was B.D. and I just used it. And I really had fully intended to just go back to my government name, which is Brad.

Bradley is my name. And I was in equity and registered in equity and SAG as Brad. And so I was perfectly fine going back to that. But then after the play opened, it just kind of... it just became my name. And so I just stuck with it. That's the short version of the story. There's a lot of permutations of me going to the DMV and all of that stuff.

[7:26] Ilana Levine: Well, that's always fun. Can you tell us the story of going to the DMV?

[7:31] BD Wong: Well, I'll just tell you really quickly that in the, I don't know, within the last 20 years I took the periods out of my name that were in the M. Butterfly program. It said B.D. and that was my name for a while. And then I decided that it was really, for a lot of reasons, I didn't want to have two names anymore. So I wanted to commit to one name. So I encouraged people to call me B.D. and I stuck with it. And then I decided, "Well, that means I have to really change all my credit cards and my driver's license." So I went to the DMV and the DMV would not allow me to have my name with periods in it. And it was... it came out—literally it came out B comma D period was my name. And I said, "That cannot be my name.

I cannot say that on my driver's license. That's just horrible." Right. It just sounds terrible. With a comma in the middle of my name. So I just said, "Oh, it's great. It looks great without periods actually. I like it without periods." So I just kept it. But it was the DMV being really weird about it, like being impossible about it, like not allowing me to even put periods in the search field when you were typing. You know, that kind of thing.

[8:45] Ilana Levine: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[8:47] BD Wong: So thus the name was born as we know it today.

[8:50] Ilana Levine: Yes. Thank you. So I want to talk about how this life-changing role came to you. And if you could talk a little bit about how the show M. Butterfly for you as a really young actor with not many New York credits yet ended up finding yourself front and center and winning every award possible for this show.

[9:16] BD Wong: Yes. Okay. Well, I was living in Los Angeles. I had come to New York fresh out of like dropping out of college. I was very unhappy in my program at college. And I was not learning anything. And I felt very, very stagnant. And I said, "I'm just going to go to New York." And I saved some money. And I eventually just got on a plane and went to New York. And I started working. I got my cards and stuff like that. But then eventually I got my first job, which was a tour of a show. And it ended up in L.A. And I was in L.A. And then I decided, "Oh, well, here we are in L.A. I'm going to stay here after the show closed." The show ran for about six months. And I stayed there and I started working. I was working and I was doing these small parts in TV shows and in little movies and stuff.

And then I got this call from the agent about this play that I had no concept of. And he said, "Do you want to fly yourself to New York to read for a Broadway play?" And I said, "Not really." Because I was making a living and I don't know what this thing is. And that would be me spending $300 or whatever it was to fly to New York for something that doesn't make any sense. You know, because the odds are whatever. So I said, "Well, I suppose I shouldn't say such a thing unless I read the play." And so on Friday I asked him to get me the play. And then on Monday the play came in a FedEx envelope. And I read it like 20 pages of the play. And as the I was ripping pages out of the script, you know, reading from page to page, it was just like an amazing validating experience to read the words of an author who spoke a language that I really understood.

And I had coincidentally I was studying with Donald Houghton, my acting teacher, in a Hollywood basement studio, like, you know, like a $10 class kind of class. But he was a great teacher. And one other thing he went—he was studied with all the actor studio people. And he was saying, "You know, this is what you are. You're a messenger. And the messenger is the person who breathes life into the author's words and commits to the ideas that the author is trying to convey." And I thought that sounded wonderful. And I said, "Well, I'm willing to do that. But I don't really know what that means." And so coincidentally I read this play and I thought, "Oh, I see what this means now. To commit your soul to be the messenger of this person's words and their thoughts and their ideas."

And that's what helped me to get the part. Donald and I worked on the part. Donald worked on the part with me for months until the audition. It was maybe a couple of months until the audition. And I borrowed money from my mom and dad, like $99, to get on some cheapy airline to go to New York to have this opportunity. And I told them we were never going to see the money back and that I wasn't really going to get it. But there were kind of, you know, well-known people working on it. The director was a famous British director and all of that. And I said, "I want to have the experience. I think the experience would be a good one to have." So I went to New York and I auditioned for the play. And then, you know, through the whole process of the auditions and the callbacks and reading with other actors and they gave me the part.

I never thought I would get the part. But I did say that it felt to me like a life-changing part. And I always said, "Well, this person is going to really—I mean, if this person who gets this part does what they're supposed to do, then it will be really wonderful for them," is what I thought. And then I kind of regretted saying that as soon as I got the part.

[13:12] Ilana Levine: Why, the pressure of that?

[13:15] BD Wong: Yeah, I thought, "Oh, don't, Jinx. You know, you shouldn't say that." It was okay to say it when the part wasn't mine. It was okay to say that. But then the part became yours. And then you thought, "Well, I don't need that. It's a good part. It's a good part. It serves the play."

[13:29] Ilana Levine: Exactly.

[13:30] BD Wong: Exactly. John Lithgow, that's the part.

[13:33] Ilana Levine: Well, I want to talk about John Lithgow.

[13:35] BD Wong: Oh, God.

[13:36] Ilana Levine: Was he cast from the beginning? Or was he someone who came on later?

[13:41] BD Wong: No, this is really a good story. Because I have never really told this story before. I got cast first. And then I was called by John Dexter and Stuart Ostro a few months later. There was a delay in their production. They decided to kind of go later than they were going to go. And so there was a long delay. And they said, "Okay, we're ready to cast the leading guy now. And we want you to come to New York and read with them." And so I did so. And the three men were John Lithgow, Edward Herman, and Brian Dennehy. And it's a really long story which I probably shouldn't get into because John Dexter was really not nice to me. And it's a rather traumatic story. But the point is that I read with all three of them. And I said,

[15:28] Ilana Levine: Welcome to "And the Award Goes To..." I'm your host, Ilana Levine. Today, we have the incredible BD Wong, who won a Tony Award for his performance in "M. Butterfly."

[15:58] Ilana Levine: BD, I want to start from the beginning. You took a leap of faith when you asked your parents for money to fly to New York for that audition. You said you were certain you wouldn’t get the job, but you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet the creative team.

[16:28] BD Wong: Yeah, I remember that moment vividly. I was so nervous, but I just had to go. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

[16:58] Ilana Levine: And it turned out to be just that! You were the first actor cast in the play, and you even had a hand in the casting process for your co-star.

[17:28] BD Wong: Yes, it was such a unique experience. I had no Broadway credits at the time, and to be involved in that process was surreal.

[17:58] Ilana Levine: What was it like working with John Lithgow?

[18:18] BD Wong: John is an extraordinary talent. Our on-stage relationship developed into something really special.

[18:28] Ilana Levine: I can only imagine the chemistry you both had.

[18:48] BD Wong: It was electric. We had to trust each other completely, and that trust translated into our performances.

[19:18] BD Wong: There were definitely challenges along the way, but those moments of connection made it all worthwhile.

[19:28] BD Wong: I remember feeling so much pressure, but also exhilaration.

[19:38] BD Wong: Every night was a new adventure, and I loved every minute of it.

[19:58] BD Wong: The audience's reactions were incredible. It felt like we were all in this together.

[20:08] BD Wong: I think that’s what makes live theater so special.

[20:18] BD Wong: You never know how a performance will land until you’re in the moment.

[20:28] BD Wong: And with "M. Butterfly," the stakes were high, and the story was so powerful.

[20:38] BD Wong: It was a privilege to tell that story.

[20:58] BD Wong: Looking back, I realize how formative that experience was for me as an actor.

[21:18] BD Wong: It shaped my career in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the time.

[21:28] BD Wong: Winning the Tony Award was just the icing on the cake.

[21:38] BD Wong: It validated all the hard work and sacrifices I had made.

[21:48] BD Wong: I still remember my acceptance speech and the overwhelming emotions I felt.

[22:08] BD Wong: It was a moment I had dreamed of since I was a kid.

[22:18] BD Wong: Standing there, holding that award, it felt surreal.

[22:38] BD Wong: I was so grateful for the recognition and support from my peers.

[22:48] BD Wong: It was a night I will never forget.

[23:08] BD Wong: And to share that moment with my family made it even more special.

[23:18] BD Wong: They had always believed in me, even when I doubted myself.

[23:28] BD Wong: Their support was crucial throughout my journey.

[23:38] BD Wong: I think that’s what drives a lot of us in this industry—the love and support from those we care about.

[23:48] BD Wong: It fuels our passion and keeps us going.

[23:58] BD Wong: I’m so thankful for the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met along the way.

[24:08] BD Wong: Each role has taught me something new about myself and my craft.

[24:18] BD Wong: And I hope to continue growing as an artist.

[24:28] BD Wong: There’s always more to learn and explore.

[24:38] BD Wong: I’m excited for what the future holds.

[24:48] BD Wong: Thank you for having me on the show, Ilana.

[24:58] Ilana Levine: Thank you, BD. It’s been a pleasure hearing your story.

[25:08] Ilana Levine: Your journey is truly inspiring, and I can’t wait to see what you do next.

[25:18] BD Wong: Thank you! I appreciate that.

[25:28] Ilana Levine: And to our listeners, thank you for joining us today on "And the Award Goes To..."

[25:38] Ilana Levine: Until next time!

[29:56] Ilana Levine: Welcome back to "And the Award Goes To..." I'm your host, Ilana Levine, and today we have the incredible BD Wong with us.

[30:26] Ilana Levine: BD, it’s such a pleasure to have you here.

[30:56] BD Wong: Thank you, Ilana. It’s great to be here.

[31:26] Ilana Levine: So, let’s dive right in. You took a leap of faith when you asked your parents for money to fly to New York for the audition for "M. Butterfly." What was going through your mind at that time?

[31:56] BD Wong: I remember telling my parents that I was certain I wouldn’t get the job, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet the creative team.

[32:06] BD Wong: It was a big deal for me, even though I had no Broadway credits at that point.

[32:16] BD Wong: I was actually the first actor cast in the play, which was a huge honor.

[32:36] BD Wong: I was even involved in the casting process for my co-star, which is something that doesn’t happen often.

[32:46] BD Wong: Looking back, it was such a unique experience, and I learned so much during that time.

[32:56] BD Wong: The relationship I developed with John Lithgow on stage was truly glorious.

[33:16] BD Wong: We had a chemistry that really brought the story to life.

[33:26] BD Wong: There were definitely challenges during the production, but those moments of connection made it all worthwhile.

[33:46] BD Wong: I remember feeling a mix of excitement and fear every night before going on stage.

[33:56] BD Wong: But once the lights came up, it was like magic.

[34:06] BD Wong: The audience's energy was palpable, and it fueled our performances.

[34:16] BD Wong: I think that’s what makes live theater so special.

[34:26] BD Wong: You never know what’s going to happen, and that unpredictability is thrilling.

[34:36] BD Wong: It keeps you on your toes and makes every performance unique.

[34:46] BD Wong: I cherish those memories and the lessons I learned from that production.

[34:56] BD Wong: It shaped me as an actor and as a person.

[35:16] BD Wong: I’m grateful for the journey that "M. Butterfly" took me on.

[35:36] BD Wong: It opened doors for me that I never imagined possible.

[35:46] BD Wong: And it all started with that leap of faith to come to New York.

[35:56] BD Wong: I think it’s important to take risks in life, especially when it comes to pursuing your dreams.

[36:06] BD Wong: You never know where it might lead you.

[36:16] BD Wong: I’m living proof of that.

[36:26] BD Wong: So, what about you, Ilana? What was your experience like when you first started in the industry?

[36:36] Ilana Levine: Oh, it was a whirlwind, to say the least!

[36:46] BD Wong: I can only imagine!

[36:56] BD Wong: It’s such a tough industry, but so rewarding at the same time.

[37:06] BD Wong: I think we all have those stories that define our careers.

[37:16] BD Wong: And it’s those moments that we hold onto as we continue to grow.

[37:26] BD Wong: I love hearing about other people's journeys.

[37:36] BD Wong: It reminds me that we’re all in this together.

[37:46] BD Wong: The support and camaraderie in the theater community is truly special.

[37:56] BD Wong: It’s what keeps us going, even in tough times.

[38:06] BD Wong: I feel so lucky to be part of it.

[38:16] BD Wong: And I hope to inspire others to follow their dreams, just like I did.

[38:26] BD Wong: It’s never too late to start.

[38:36] BD Wong: You just have to take that first step.

[38:46] BD Wong: And who knows where it might lead you?

[38:56] BD Wong: The possibilities are endless.

[39:06] Ilana Levine: Absolutely!

[39:16] Ilana Levine: Thank you for sharing your journey with us, BD.

[39:26] BD Wong: Thank you for having me, Ilana.

[39:36] BD Wong: It’s been a pleasure to reflect on these experiences.

[39:46] BD Wong: I hope it resonates with others out there.

[39:56] BD Wong: And inspires them to chase their dreams.

[40:06] Ilana Levine: I have no doubt it will!

[40:16] Ilana Levine: Thank you again for joining us today.

[40:26] BD Wong: Thank you for having me!

[40:36] Ilana Levine: And to our listeners, we’ll see you next time on "And the Award Goes To..."

[40:46] BD Wong: Bye everyone!

[40:56] Ilana Levine: Bye!