Chong was born Marcus Wyatt in Seattle, Washington, and was adopted by the family of comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame; he is the half-brother to actress Rae Dawn Chong. Chong's biological father had been a local newscaster in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years.
He has also starred as Tank in the critically acclaimed film The Matrix. The character was written out of the film's sequels after a dispute between Chong and the film's directors, Larry and Andy Wachowski, led to his firing.