Ming-Na Wen is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Fa Mulan in the animated musical action films Mulan and Mulan II, and as Melinda May in the ABC action drama seriesAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She reprised the role of Mulan in the video game Kingdom Hearts II, the animated children's series Sofia the First, and the animated comedy filmRalph Breaks the Internet. Wen is also known for her role as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen in the medical drama series ER. She starred as Rachel Lu in the medical drama series Inconceivable, one of the fewAmerican television series with an Asian American series lead. She also had starring roles as Detective Ellen Yin in the animated series The Batman, as Camile Wray in the science fiction series Stargate Universe, and as Fennec Shand in the space western drama series The Mandalorian. Wen is notable for starring in such films as The Joy Luck Club, Street Fighter, , Prom Night, and Push.
Early life
Wen was born on November 20, 1963 in Coloane, one of the two main islands of Macau. Her parents moved to Macau in the mid-1960s, from mainland China. Wen’s parents divorced when she was an infant and she moved with her mother, Lin Chan Wen, to Hong Kong. Her mother remarried, to Soo Lim Yee, and the family moved to New York City when Wen was four years old. After five years, Wen's mother and stepfather relocated again, to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area, where they opened The Chinatown Inn restaurant, which is still operating. Raised in the suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, she attended Mount Lebanon High School and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1986.
Career
Wen's first television role was in the children's television seriesMister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1985. From 1988 to 1991, she played Lien Hughes, the daughter of Tom Hughes, on the soap opera As the World Turns. After starring in the acclaimed 1993 film The Joy Luck Club, she landed the role of Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the NBC drama series ER. She first starred in a recurring role during the 1994-1995 season before returning in 1999 as a series regular, remaining on the show until midway through Season 11 in 2004. Wen also played Chun-Li in Street Fighter and co-starred on the sitcom The Single Guy from 1995 to 1997. She provided the voice for the title character in the 1998 animated film Mulan, its direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, and the video game Kingdom Hearts II, subsequently winning an Annie Award. She also voiced Aki Ross in the computer animated film', and Detective Ellen Yin in the animated series The Batman. She was also the voice actress for Jade, a minor character in the HBO animated series Spawn. In 2004, she took part in a Hollywood Home Game on the World Poker Tour, and won. In fall 2005, she starred on the NBC drama series Inconceivable as the lead character, Rachel Lu. However, the series was canceled after only two episodes. Her next TV role was an FBI agent in the Fox kidnap drama series Vanished, which premiered in the fall of 2006 then was canceled roughly three months later. She also played a small role as a college professor in the comedy series George Lopez. On October 8 through October 29, 2007, Wen appeared in a four-episode arc of CBS's Two and a Half Men, playing Charlie Sheen's love interest, a judge closer to his own age. In November 2008, she guest-starred on two ABC series: Private Practice and Boston Legal. From December 5–6, 2008, Wen starred in a benefit production of the musical Grease with "Stuttering" John Melendez at the Class Act Theatre. She was cast as a regular in the Stargate Universe television series as political attaché Camile Wray from October 2009 to May 2011. Wen made an appearance in Disney Through the Decades, a short documentary about the history of The Walt Disney Company through to the present, as the hostess of the 1990s section. Wen appeared on the Syfy series Eureka as the inquisitive U.S. Senator Michaela Wen, beginning in season four in 2011 and serving as a major villain in the fifth and final season in 2012. Wen plays Agent Melinda May in the ABC action drama series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which premiered on September 24, 2013. In August 2014, Wen reprised her role as Mulan for the first time since Kingdom Hearts II in the Disney Channel series Sofia the First. Her daughter Michaela Zee has a recurring role on the show as Princess Jun. On December 7, 2017, Marvel Entertainment launched a new animation film franchise '. Wen voiced Hala the Accuser, the main antagonist of the film, working with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. co-star Chloe Bennet. That same year, she once again provided the voice of Mulan in Ralph Breaks the Internet. She was named a Disney Legend at the 2019 D23 Expo for her outstanding contributions to the Disney company. She was also announced to be a cast-member of the Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian, making her the only actor who has appeared in all three of Disney's most lucrative properties.
Personal life
In 1990, Wen married American film writer Kirk Aanes. They divorced in 1993. On June 16, 1995, Wen married her second husband, Eric Michael Zee. Together they have two children, a daughter, Michaela Kitlin, born on November 21, 2000, and a son, Cooper Dominic Zee, born on October 12, 2005. Michaela has followed her mother's footsteps in voice-acting, and voices Princess Jun in the Disney Channel animated series Sofia the First. Wen is trilingual and fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin.
