Ming-Na Wen

Ming-Na Wen (Chinese: 溫明娜; born November 20, 1963) is an American actress and model. She has won multiple awards throughout her career, including an Annie Award and a Saturn Award, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was honored as a Disney Legend in 2019 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

After gaining attention playing Lien Hughes on the daytime soap As The World Turns from 1988 to 1991, Wen’s breakthrough role was as June Woo in The Joy Luck Club (1993). Other early successes include the role of Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen in the medical drama series ER (1995–2004) and her voice role as Fa Mulan in the Walt Disney Animated Classic Mulan, as well as its sequel Mulan II, several video games and guest appearances in TV shows such as Sofia the First. Additionally, Wen made a cameo appearance in the live-action remake of Mulan (2020).

Wen is well-known for playing agent Melinda May in the Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020) and has also appeared in the Star Wars franchise as the bounty hunter Fennec Shand, appearing in The Mandalorian (2019–2020), Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021, 2024), and The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022). Other notable roles include that of Chun-Li in Street Fighter (1994), Detective Ellen Yin in The Batman (2004–2005), Judge Linda Harris in Two and a Half Men (2007, 2010) and Camile Wray in Stargate Universe (2009–2011).

Wen was born on November 20, 1963, on Coloane, one of the two main islands of Macau. Her mother Lin Chan Wen moved to Macau in the 1950s from Suzhou, China, to escape communism. Her father is of Malaysian Chinese descent. She has an older brother Jonathan and a younger brother Leong.

Wen's parents divorced when she was an infant, and she moved with her brother and mother to Hong Kong, where she attended a Catholic school. Her mother worked three jobs to provide for the family. Her mother remarried to Chinese American Soo Lim Yee, and when Wen was four years old, the family moved to New York City. Her younger brother Leong was born there.

After five years, Wen's mother and stepfather relocated their family to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, where they bought and operated the Chinatown Inn restaurant (established in 1943), which is still in business. They resided in the suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Wen attended Mount Lebanon High School. She majored in theatre at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1986.

Wen's first television role was as a royal trumpeter in the children's television series Mister 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, becoming the first ever Asian to be on a contract role in a daytime soap.

After starring in the film The Joy Luck Club (1993), Wen landed the role of Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the NBC drama series ER. It was a recurring role during the 1994–1995 season, and she returned in 1999 as a series regular, remaining on the show until midway through Season 11 in 2004. Wen played Chun-Li in Street Fighter (1994) and co-starred on the sitcom The Single Guy from 1995 to 1997.