Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Dang.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a profession Equity actor, published author and the owner of The Dang Bakery.
My journey towards living a life I’m proud of came from a lifetime of obligation towards jobs that didn’t fulfill me artistically.
I slummed through a lot of survival jobs, and before I turned 30 years old, I realized I had never done anything for myself professionally, so I auditioned for The Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York, and was accepted into their summer Shakespeare Intensive. That training has brought me to becoming a co-instructor for Epoca: An Acting Class For People of Color, booking my first two feature films, and earning my Equity card and becoming a professional theatre actor.
I am also an independent romance author under the pseudonym Rainie Dang. Both of my titles are available online and are stocked at various local Barnes and Noble locations in Salt Lake City and Park City. I wrote “Sweet Thing” and “Miss Nguyen’s Bodyguard” with the desire to see curvy, Vietnamese women falling in love.
My current novel is a superhero romance set in Salt Lake City and is slotted to be published in the spring of 2026.
My first full-length play, “Pho 69: A Romance” will hit the stage in February 2026 with Plan-B Theatre. It is a Romeo and Juliet inspired story between two rivalling pho restaurants and their children falling in love and includes, of course, a happy ending, as all romances should.
The inspiration behind The Dang Bakery was purely selfish, at first. I was craving the Vietnamese cakes my family would buy from Westminster in California. My parents would drive my siblings and me to Westminster every summer, and when we returned home and I couldn’t eat those cakes anymore, I developed a recipe for the fluffy chiffon-style cakes and covered them in whipped cream and fresh fruit. Word got out abut my cakes not being too sweet and the bakery took off from there. I now partner with a few local coffee shops and bookstores to supply them with baked goods each week.
These incredible relationships with these businesses have inspired the community in my current novel and I have already included them in the story. I’m proud to be able to highlight them and their dedication to local, women, and immigrant-owned businesses.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Each aspect of my many artistic pursuits has been difficult in their own way.
In acting, it was always coming to terms with not having blonde hair and blue eyes. I had to understand that being ethnic came with it’s own challenges, and I had to train and improve in order to stay competitive in the industry.
As an author, I had to weigh the chances of a woman of color being traditionally published. The odds were slim, so I went down the indie publishing route in order to get my stories out into the world.
The bakery requires consistent marketing in order to stay relevant enough to my clients that they’ll continue to order from me. I have some incredible regulars, which I’m so proud of, and I get a few newbies come through a few times a month.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m most proud to be known for being completely open, honest, and intense in my acting. It seems obvious, but a lot of actors are experienced in commercials or superficial performances. I love diving deep and getting to the heart of the projects I’m involved in.
My first Equity play with Salt Lake Acting Company, I shaved my head bald because my character was going through chemotherapy. Her mother also just passed and her husband was cheating on her, so it was a script I could really thrive in.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
We risk emotions when we’re acting, and we risk our money when getting tied up in projects. Sometimes, the projects fall through and you don’t make as much money as you think. Sometimes, your safety is at risk when entering a set that’s new to you.
These are all risks I’ve been willing to take in my acting career.
As an author, we risk readers judging our stories, but that is also a risk I’m willing to take.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dangthatwendy/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/rainiedangauthor/
