Handsome actor, 63, shattered stereotypes as a leading man in the 1990s... Can you guess who he is?

This silver fox defied stereotypes as a raven-haired leading man in hit Hollywood movies throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Fast forward 40 years, the still youthful actor, 63, cut a dashing figure sporting head-to-toe white in a rare sighting while out running errands in Los Angeles.

The star once aimed to be the Chinese-American Tom Cruise, but after encountering  limited opportunities in the United States, much of his enduring career was fueled by A-list international productions. 

'Thank God for Asia and starting out in Hong Kong first,' the now veteran star said in 2019. 'If my career was just here [in Hollywood] I’d have to do something else.' 

In between high-profile American film and TV parts, some of his most famous performances cast him opposite a who's who of Chinese cinema superstars, including Andy Lau, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing. 

 So, can you guess who this distinguished looking gentleman is?

 It's Russell Wong. 

The charismatic actor starred in American movie classics such as the family drama The Joy Luck Club (1993), as well as the hip-hop gangster hits New Jack City (1991) with Wesley Snipes and Chris Rock, and Romeo Must Die (2000), co-starring martial arts legend Jet Li and the late rapper DMX.

Wong was born the sixth of seven children in 1963 in Troy, New York. His father was a local Chinese restaurateur, and his mother was a Dutch-American artist. His parents divorced when Wong was very young, and at seven years old he relocated with his mom to California. 

He attended Santa Monica College, the alma mater of James Dean and Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he trained in dance, took acting classes and practiced martial arts. 

Wong made his feature film debut at 22 in Dennis Yu's Chinese-language film The Musical Singer. 

He made his introduction to American audiences in the James Clavell historical epic Tai-Pan (1986), followed by leading man roles in films by a pair of indie auteurs: Abel Ferrara's gritty love story China Girl (1987) and Wayne Wang's delightful rom-com Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989). 

In between scarce big screen showcases, his matinee idol looks helped him amass an impressive resume of guest star spots on TV series of the era: As the World Turns, The Equalizer, and 21 Jump Street, to name a few.

His more recent TV work includes roles on the CBS hit NCIS, ABC's High Potential and Netflix's The Brothers Sun, opposite fellow Asian cinema icon Michelle Yeoh. 

After a string of supporting roles playing stock Chinese characters – 'It was very stereotypical I guess: martial arts roles, the gangster roles' – Wong scored his big break as the villainously complex Lin-Xiao in The Joy Luck Club, the hit 1993 film adaptation of Amy Tan's epic historical novel.

Lest we forget, without The Joy Luck Club, there likely could never have been a Crazy Rich Asians, the 2018 summer box office smash that spawned an upcoming HBO Max series spinoff.

Alas, box office success and critical acclaim did not result in Oscar recognition, much to the disappointment of its talented ensemble cast, which included future Marvel Comics heroine and Disney princess Ming-Na Wen, 62, of Mulan and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D fame.

'The Joy Luck Club was the big breakthrough, but no, there was no category that film was nominated for in the Academy Awards and none of us even went to the Academy Awards at that time and that was 25 years ago,' Wong told the South China Morning Post in 2019.

Although his favorite role was as the philandering husband in The Joy Luck Club, Wong relished the 'delicious' opportunity to portray a heroic Asian American in the short-lived syndicated series Vanishing Son, which ran for two seasons in 1994 to 1995.

Wong's stereotype-busting performance as protagonist Jian-Wa earned him a special Achievement Award from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, a watchdog organization.

'Jian-Wa’s got a lot of energy and sex appeal,' Wong told the Los Angeles Times in 1995, matter-of-factly. 'He’s a passionate guy. It would be unrealistic not to show it.'

In Asia he maintained a large fan base, and in international hits like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011), The Jade Pendant (2017), Forever Young (2018) and Father's Day (2019), he was consistently cast opposite the continent's biggest stars.

Still, despite breaking barriers as a romantic leading man, Wong admitted that the childhood sting of racial slurs still lingered.

'There’s a lot of shame associated with it,' Wong said in 1995. 'You’re taught to be a secondary citizen. And then you start to think like a secondary citizen and you start to believe you are less than what you really are.'

'I lived like that until I realized the truth,' he continued. 'That's what motivates me to bring out my best. I want to say, "A Chinese-American can be just as good an actor as a Tom Cruise."'