Ming-Na Wen Biography

MING-NA

Date of Birth: November 20, 1963

Birth Name: Ming-Na Wen

Born in China, Ming-Na and her family immigrated to New York City when she was four. She fell in love with acting in the third grade after playing a bunny in a school play. When she was nine, her family relocated to Pittsburgh. Ming-Na pursued acting throughout high school and college, eventually graduating from Carnegie-Mellon University with a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater.

Returning to New York, Ming-Na began landing roles in stage productions, then moved into television in 1985 with guest appearances on Mister Roger's Neighborhood. In 1998 she received her first big break when she won the part of Lien Hughes on the daytime soap opera, As the World Turns. After three years she left the show and began working in film, including the role of June Woo in the major motion picture The Joy Luck Club (1993). In 1995 she played a recurring guest role on the hit series ER before landing a regular role on the sitcom The Single Guy, which ran from 1995 to 1997. In 1998 she voiced the title role in the animated Disney feature film Mulan.

From 2000 to 2004, Ming-Na reprised her ER role as Deb Chen. She has also voiced the character of Mulan for the TV series House of Mouse, the TV special Reflections on Ice: Michelle Kwan Skates to the Music of Disney's 'Mulan' and the video Mulan II (2004).

Ming-Na lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, actor Eric Michael Zee. Their daughter Michaela, born November 21, 2000, was named for the main character on the TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, on which Eric guest-starred as Peter Chow.

Filmography:

Perfection (2004)
Mulan II (2004) (V) (voice)
A Ribbon of Dreams (2002) (voice)
Teddy Bears' Picnic (2002)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (voice)
12 Bucks (1998)
Mulan (1998) (voice)
One Night Stand (1997)
Hong Kong 97 (1994)
Terminal Voyage (1994)
Street Fighter (1994)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Rain Without Thunder (1992)