Garrett Wang may not be as big of a name in Hollywood today, but his pivotal role in advocating for more Asian Americans in Hollywood is finally showing fruit these days. His role as Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager was another in a prestigious line of Asian actors on the show, including George Takei and Michelle Yeoh. Although he had a major role in the series, he’s seemingly disappeared since.
Born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in California in December of 1968, Garrett Wang was interested in acting from the start. His family was very transient, leading to him attending multiple schools throughout his childhood before eventually settling down long enough in Tennessee for Garrett to graduate high school.
Taking a Gamble
Garrett would go to college and run through every major possible before finally settling on a degree in Asian Studies and theater, planning to move into acting despite his parents’ disapproval. He would negotiate with them though, and make the promise that he would stop acting after two years if he didn’t make it big. They agreed, and Garrett’s journey to Trek began.
His first roles would come in the form of commercials, giving him at least some exposure to the business and letting him join as a guest star in Margaret Cho’s sitcom All-American Girl in 1994. Garrett Wang got more exposure from there but instead ended up doing a couple of University of Southern California student films. Though it wouldn’t be much longer, with six months left in his agreement with his parents, he would finally land the role that would keep him going.
Going to Space
Star Trek: Voyager was just the latest entry to Trek, following Deep Space Nine’s debut in 1993. Garrett would play Ensign Harry Kim, one of Captain Janeway’s Voyager crew trying to make the return trip home. He would be one of many fresh-faced actors on the show, alongside others like Jeri Ryan and Jennifer Lien. He would play the character through the show’s end in 2001, making way for the Star Trek: Enterprise crew to take over that same year.
Garrett’s roles slowed down after Trek, which is sort of understandable since his next role was in Survival Island in 2002. The film co-starred Jaime Pressly exclusively for eye candy, as teens get chased around an island by a demon that was loosed from a pinata. It’s the second most terrible thing I’ve experienced live on television, and it’s a high bar with the first being in a second-grade classroom in 2001.
Aside from that, he would go on to have a role in the TNT miniseries Into the West in 2005, when television miniseries were a big event to catch. He would only be in one of the feature-length episodes of the six-part series but made it count with a fantastic performance. He would delve into videogame voice acting as well, continuing his character for a Voyager game released in the early 2000s.
Back Down To Earth
His roles from here would slow again, with mostly low-budget indie movies like Why Am I Doing This? and Trek fan film Of Gods and Monsters. Notably, he wouldn’t play Harry Kim in Gods and Monsters, but instead an original character. While they would be relatively well received, Garrett stepped back from Hollywood a bit to take part in the convention circuit, both as a guest and moderator for Trek panels among others.
Garrett would get the chance to revisit his pivotal Trek role for the hit Star Trek Online, a new venture from the indie features of his early 2010s career. He would contribute his voice for a new original storyline taking place throughout the MMO, which has now officially been active longer than Club Penguin was with us (RIP).
He would keep going with convention moderating as well as a podcast weekly on Twitch, which was mostly stories about his career and questions from viewers. He would continue until 2017 before stopping for a while, picking up later with a new podcast alongside fellow Voyager co-star Robert Duncan McNiel, discussing their roles as well as Trek in general.
Where is Garrett Wang Today?
These days he stays private, appearing at conventions and moderating panels, only sharing about his personal life about his significant other. On occasion, he’ll pop up in an indie film role, usually in some form of sci-fi or comedy like the 2020 film Unbelievable!!!! alongside Snoop Dogg. It didn’t do too well, being absolutely panned critically and going straight to DVD in 2020, if that says anything. You don’t do a movie with Snoop for the script though, you do it for the herbs.
That’s not to say he’s stepped away since then either, as Garrett has five projects currently in development for the coming years, with many probably still in the works and development cycles. The Star Trek Ensign still makes it very well known how much gratitude he has for the series, frequently making tribute videos. In 2020 he joinedTwitter, campaigning against the rampant hate and violence towards Asians that year. He still posts frequently, recently praising Ke Huy Quan for his Oscar win in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
In May of 2020, he launched a podcast called The Delta Flyers with his co-host Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager. The duo discuss and review episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and share their opinions and behind the scene stories.
He also is a frequent convention guest and moderator. In 2010 he was named the director of the Trek Track for Dragon Con, helping to organize and provide the Star Trek programming for various conventions, and was the first actor to take on such a role. This also made him an excellent choice to help put together the Star Trek Cruise.
There is not much information about Garrett Wang’s romantic relationships online. There are no news articles or blind items, and what we do know can be seen on the social media accounts of him and his partner, Megan Elise.
Garrett Wang appears to be in a committed relationship, but there are no details about when and how he met Megan Elise. It seems that the two works together for event and convention planning.
Megan Elise may also have her own business as an event photographer based on her social media posts.
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