Ming-Na Wen (Pinyin: Míng-Nà Wēn) (born November 20, 1963) is an
Annie AwardThe Annie Awards are presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
winning
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She has been credited with and without her
family nameA family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
, but most credits since the late 1990s have been without it.
She is known for voicing Fa Mulan in the
MulanMulan is a 1998 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998...
films and
Kingdom Heartsis an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
video game series, and as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
drama series
ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
. She has also appeared in four episodes of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom,
Two and a Half MenTwo and a Half Men is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American television comedy series, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. The sitcom stars Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. The show is about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie; his uptight brother,...
, as Linda, a judge, professor and love interest of
Charlie HarperCharles Francis "Charlie" Harper is a fictional character from the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. Played by actor Charlie Sheen, the character has garnered three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series.Charlie...
.
Ming-Na Wen (Pinyin: Míng-Nà Wēn) (born November 20, 1963) is an
Annie AwardThe Annie Awards are presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
winning
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She has been credited with and without her
family nameA family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
, but most credits since the late 1990s have been without it.
She is known for voicing Fa Mulan in the
MulanMulan is a 1998 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998...
films and
Kingdom Heartsis an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
video game series, and as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
drama series
ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
. She has also appeared in four episodes of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom,
Two and a Half MenTwo and a Half Men is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American television comedy series, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. The sitcom stars Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. The show is about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie; his uptight brother,...
, as Linda, a judge, professor and love interest of
Charlie HarperCharles Francis "Charlie" Harper is a fictional character from the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. Played by actor Charlie Sheen, the character has garnered three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series.Charlie...
. In October 2009, the actress returned to television as main character Camille Wray in
Stargate UniverseStargate Universe is a Canadian and American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper which premiered with the first two parts of a three-part episode, "Air" on Syfy on October 2, 2009...
.
Personal life
Ming-Na was born on Coloane Island,
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
, to
CantoneseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
parents and moved to the U.S. as a child. Her mother, Lin Chan Wen, is a nurse. Ming-Na attended high school in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Mt. LebanonMt. Lebanon is a home rule township and census-designated place in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 33,017 at the 2000 census.An affluent suburb of nearby Pittsburgh, Mt...
, and graduated with a
Bachelor of Fine ArtsIn the United States, the Bachelor of Fine Arts, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. It is also named in some countries the Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in
DramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
from
Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since its inception, Carnegie Mellon has grown into a world-renowned institution, with numerous programs that are frequently ranked among the best in the world...
, the same university that
ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
producer
John WellsJohn Marcum Wells is a theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank,...
attended.
She married American film writer Kirk Aanes in 1990, but they
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
d in 1993. She married for the second time on June 16, 1995, to Eric Michael Zee, and has since had two children, daughter Michaela and son Cooper Dominic Zee, born on October 12, 2005. , she and her family live in
Calabasas, CaliforniaCalabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California in the western United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 23,123. The city was formally incorporated in 1991....
.
Career
Ming-Na's most prominent role may be as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
drama series,
ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
. She first guest starred during the first season. Five years later, she was invited back as a series regular in Season 6 and remained on the show until midway through Season 11. Ming-Na starred in the movie version of
Amy TanAmy Tan is an American writer of Chinese descent whose works explore mother-daughter relationships...
's novel
The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
and played
Chun-Li, in , is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, she has since appeared as a player character in each subsequent game...
in
Street FighterStreet Fighter is a 1994 American martial arts action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom. The film features an international and multicultural cast that included Jean-Claude Van Damme , Raúl Juliá Street Fighter is a 1994...
. She also appeared in a supporting role on the comedy series
The Single GuyThe Single Guy is an American television sitcom that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 1995 to April 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot, and followed several of his close friends The series also starred Joey Slotnick as Eliot's best...
which starred
Jonathan SilvermanJonathan E. Silverman is an American actor.-Personal life:Silverman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Devora and Hillel Emanuel Silverman, a rabbi. He is the grandson of famous Conservative Rabbi Morris Silverman...
.
Ming-Na also provided the voice for the
title characterFa Mulan and later Li Mulan is the protagonist of the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan and its direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II. She is inspired by the legendary Hua Mulan from the Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan...
in Disney's animated movie
MulanMulan is a 1998 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998...
, and its sequel
Mulan IIMulan II is a Disney direct-to-video animated feature released in 2005 and is a sequel to the 1998 animated film Mulan. It was directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland, and features Mulan, and her new fiancé, General Shang, on a special mission: escorting the Emperor's three daughters...
, as well as reprising her role in the
Square Enixis a video game and publishing company based in Japan best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Dragon Quest series, the Final Fantasy series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series....
/Disney videogame
Kingdom Hearts IIis an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
,
Aki Rossis a fictional character in the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, voiced by Chinese American actress Ming-Na Wen. She was expected to be the first photorealistic computer-generated "actress" to appear in multiple movies in different roles....
in the computer animated film
Final Fantasy: The Spirits WithinFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a computer animated science fiction film by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing games...
, and Detective
Ellen YinEllen Yin is a fictional character created specifically for the Batman animated series, The Batman, as part of the DC Comics franchise. She is voiced by Ming-Na and made her debut in the episode "The Bat in the Belfry." Her name comes from Commissioner Ellen Yindel in The Dark Knight...
in the animated series
The Batman The Batman is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids WB...
. 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 TourThe World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments featuring most of the world's professional players. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who now serves as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that controls the World Poker Tour. In...
, and won. In fall 2005, she starred on the NBC drama series
InconceivableInconceivable was an American primetime television medical drama which was broadcast on NBC. The program premiered on September 23, 2005. The show revolved around the professional and personal lives of those who work at the Family Options Fertility Clinic. The clinic is run by its co-founders ...
as the lead character, Rachel Lu. However, the series was canceled after only a few episodes. Her next TV role was an FBI agent in the
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
kidnap drama series
VanishedVanished is an American hour-long television drama series produced by Twentieth Century Fox. The serialized drama premiered on August 21, 2006 on Fox and its last episode aired on November 10, 2006. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the series begins with the sudden disappearance of the wife of a Georgia...
, which premiered in the fall of 2006 then was canceled roughly three months later. She also has played a small role as a college professor in the comedy series
George LopezGeorge Lopez is an American sitcom starring the comedian George Lopez. The show originally aired on ABC from March 27, 2002 to May 23, 2007...
.
On October 8 through October 29, 2007, Ming-Na (billed as "Ming Wen") appeared in a four-episode arc of CBS'
Two and a Half MenTwo and a Half Men is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American television comedy series, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. The sitcom stars Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. The show is about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie; his uptight brother,...
playing
Charlie SheenCarlos Irwin Estévez , better known as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. His character roles in films have included Chris Taylor in the 1986 Vietnam War Drama Platoon and Bud Fox in 1987 film Wall Street. His career also made room for more comedic roles, including Major League, the Hot Shots!...
's love interest, a judge closer to his own age. In November 2008, she guest-starred on two
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
series:
Private Practice and
Boston LegalBoston Legal is an American legal drama-comedy created by David E. Kelley, which originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2004 to December 8, 2008. A spin-off of the long-running series The Practice, Boston Legal followed the personal and professional exploits of a group of attorneys working at the...
.
On December 5 - 6, 2008, Ming-Na starred in a benefit production of the musical
GreaseGrease is a 1972 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.The show takes its name from the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class kids as they navigate the complexities of love,...
with "Stuttering"
John MelendezJohn Edward Melendez , commonly known as "Stuttering John," is an American television writer and radio personality. Prior to his work on television as a writer and announcer, Melendez was a regular on-air personality on The Howard Stern Show...
at the Class Act Theatre.
Ming-Na has been cast as a regular in the
Stargate UniverseStargate Universe is a Canadian and American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper which premiered with the first two parts of a three-part episode, "Air" on Syfy on October 2, 2009...
television series as political attaché Camille Wray. The series debuted in October 2009.
Filmography
| Year |
Title |
Role |
Other notes |
| 1992 The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films :source: - Awards :Academy Awards:*Article 99B...
|
Rain Without ThunderRain Without Thunder is a 1993 movie directed by Gary Bennet and starring Betty Buckley and Jeff Daniels. Set in the future where abortion is outlawed in the US, a mother and daughter are put on trial for murdering a fetus.-Featured cast:...
|
"Uudie" Prisoner |
|
| 1993 The year 1993 in film involved many significant films. -Events:...
|
The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
|
Jing-Mei "June" Woo |
|
| 1994 The year 1994 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :*This was the Highest Grossing film of 1994 Worldwidesource: - Awards :Academy Awards:* Andre...
|
Terminal Voyage |
Han |
|
| Hong Kong 97 Hong Kong 97 is a 1994 film by Albert Pyun starring Robert Patrick. The story revolves around the day Hong Kong was transferred back to China by Britain...
|
Katie Chun |
|
| Street Fighter Street Fighter is a 1994 American martial arts action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom. The film features an international and multicultural cast that included Jean-Claude Van Damme , Raúl Juliá Street Fighter is a 1994...
|
Chun-Li Zang, in , is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, she has since appeared as a player character in each subsequent game...
|
|
| 1997 The year 1997 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Star Wars original trilogy's 20th Anniversary Special Editions are released.*Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace....
|
One Night StandOne Night Stand is a 1997 drama film by British director Mike Figgis. The first draft of the screenplay was written by Joe Eszterhas, who had his name removed from the project following Figgis' rewrite.-Plot summary:...
|
Mimi Carlyle |
|
| 1998 The year 1998 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
|
12 Bucks |
Gorgeous |
|
MulanMulan is a 1998 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998...
|
Fa MulanFa Mulan and later Li Mulan is the protagonist of the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan and its direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II. She is inspired by the legendary Hua Mulan from the Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan...
(voice) |
Voice Actress |
| 1999 The year 1999 in film involved some significant events and was arguably the most successful year for films released in the 1990s. Several new feature films, including Star Wars Episode I, The Sixth Sense, The Green Mile, new sequel Toy Story 2, first of The Matrix, Disney's animated Tarzan,...
|
Spawn 3: Ultimate Battle |
Jade/Lisa Wu (voice) |
|
| 2001 The year 2001 in film involved some significant events. -Top-grossing films:...
|
Aki's Dream |
Dr. Aki Ross (voice) |
|
| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a computer animated science fiction film by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing games...
|
Dr.Aki Ross is a fictional character in the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, voiced by Chinese American actress Ming-Na Wen. She was expected to be the first photorealistic computer-generated "actress" to appear in multiple movies in different roles....
(voice) |
|
| 2002 The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
|
A Ribbon of Dreams |
Mei-Ling (voice) |
|
| Teddy Bears' Picnic Teddy Bears' Picnic is a 2002 film directed and written by Harry Shearer. It was released in May, 2002 to limited audiences. Shearer has a small role.-Plot:...
|
Katy Woo |
|
| 2003 The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
|
The Bronx Bunny Show The Bronx Bunny Show was a ten part series originally broadcast in 2003 on E4 in the UK. An adult puppet interview show which followed the premise of a semi educational show for the good people of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan...
s1 e1 |
|
Talkshow |
| 2004 The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
|
Perfection |
Woman |
|
| Mike's Super Short Show Mike's Super Short Show was a long running promotional mini series that promoted Disney's upcoming VHS/DVD releases-Plot:Initially, the show was set in Mike's bedroom using a traditional talk format similar to that of The Late Show and The Tonight Show, though often adding a certain theme...
|
|
|
| Mulan II Mulan II is a Disney direct-to-video animated feature released in 2005 and is a sequel to the 1998 animated film Mulan. It was directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland, and features Mulan, and her new fiancé, General Shang, on a special mission: escorting the Emperor's three daughters...
(VA film that is released direct-to-video is one which has been released to the public on home video formats before or without being released in movie theaters or broadcast on television...
) |
Fa Mulan (voice) |
Voice Actress |
The Batman The Batman is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids WB...
|
Ellen YinEllen Yin is a fictional character created specifically for the Batman animated series, The Batman, as part of the DC Comics franchise. She is voiced by Ming-Na and made her debut in the episode "The Bat in the Belfry." Her name comes from Commissioner Ellen Yindel in The Dark Knight...
(voice) |
Voice Actress |
| 2005 The year 2005 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top–grossing films:...
|
The World of Mulan |
Fa Mulan (voice) |
Voice Actress |
| 2006 The year 2006 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
|
Kingdom Hearts IIis an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
|
Fa Mulan (voice) |
Voice Actress |
George Lopez (TV series)George Lopez is an American sitcom starring the comedian George Lopez. The show originally aired on ABC from March 27, 2002 to May 23, 2007...
|
Professor Lim |
Guest Actress |
| 2008 The year 2008 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
|
Prom NightProm Night is a horror film from Screen Gems directed by Nelson McCormick and starring Brittany Snow. The film was released on April 10, 2008 in Australia, and on April 11, 2008 in Canada and the United States, followed by a worldwide release in May...
|
Dr. Elisha Crowe |
|
Boston LegalBoston Legal is an American legal drama-comedy created by David E. Kelley, which originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2004 to December 8, 2008. A spin-off of the long-running series The Practice, Boston Legal followed the personal and professional exploits of a group of attorneys working at the...
|
Ming Wang Shu |
Guest Actress |
| Private Practice |
Kara |
Guest Actress |
| 2009 The year 2009 has many new films to be released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top-grossing films:...
|
Push |
Emily Hu |
Supporting Actress |
| 2009 |
Stargate UniverseStargate Universe is a Canadian and American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper which premiered with the first two parts of a three-part episode, "Air" on Syfy on October 2, 2009...
|
Camille Wray |
Series regular |
External links