Driving, dining and digitizing, he dances past industry stresses

SOME might find it surprising to learn that actor Russell Wong -- who has been known to employ some mean martial arts moves on celluloid -- started out as a dancer. Those dance moves no doubt come in handy in weathering the strange fluidity that is Hollywood: Wong’s TV series “Black Sash” was recently canceled by the WB network, but the veteran actor of “The Joy Luck Club” and “Romeo Must Die” can next be seen in the upcoming film “The Blackout Murders” with Ashley Judd and Samuel L. Jackson, set for release sometime in the fall.

Room for a view

I like driving through the Santa Monica Mountains. I’ll go up PCH almost to the Ventura County line to Deer Creek Road. It’s this little windy road that goes up through the canyon. You can stop there and get a view of the ocean and the mountains. It’s really quiet. All through the mountains there are little windy roads that can get you back to Sycamore Canyon Road or Mulholland Highway, and eventually get you back over to the 101. Driving through there you’ll see little ranches and farms -- I saw some longhorn bulls yesterday. There are little turnouts and some trails. It’s awesome to see the mountains and the Pacific coast.

Dining out

I like Japanese food. I have loyalties for both Takeo in Brentwood and Hakata on Yale. I like the yellowtail, shrimp tempura roll, chicken teriyaki and miso soup. I like the atmosphere at both, as they are friendly. Hakata is really festive, and they screen football games some days.

‘O’ yes

I recently went to Las Vegas and stayed at the Bellagio and saw [the Cirque du Soleil water show] “O.” It was superb. We just flew in and rented a car and walked around. I don’t usually like going there, although we always have a good time. I just went for the show. The food was great. It’s like play land there.

Camera ready

I’m into photography a bit. I usually use a 35-millimeter camera, but I recently got a really good digital printer. I have a digital camera, and I’ve been printing pictures that I’ve had on my computer chips for years. I’m finally printing them out, and they look really good. I’m not that literate in computers, but I like this aspect of it.

I like capturing social situations and landscapes. I took a few classes in photography at Parsons. I figured at the time that one way to get on the other side of the camera was to understand the camera.

Wushu workout

Three or four days a week I’ll do a 10-minute run and then I’ll do six wind sprints and stretch. There’s a big field over in Encino, right on Burbank, where they have four baseball fields and I run over there. It only takes a half an hour. It’s quick, and it helps keep the weight off. I also like to take martial arts classes or go to the gym. My favorite is a wushu class in Monterey Park.

-- Lisa Boone