Disney

Ming-Na Wen says 'Mulan' will "find new fans every which way" and "inspire a whole new generation"

By Sophia Soto | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 7:53 PM ET

While promoting Karate Kid: Legends, which is now in theaters, Ming-Na Wen reflected on the legacy of playing Mulan as the animated film reaches its 27th anniversary.

"Mulan is so near and dear to my heart, and I am telling you that her legacy will continue on forever," she expressed to PEOPLE. "She will find new fans every which way, inspire a whole new generation, and I am so thrilled to be a part of it. It's such a gift."

Mulan first premiered in 1998 and became a beloved Disney classic, earning a sequel that came out in 2004. Wen lent her voice to the princess in both projects. Additionally, she reprised the role in Ralph Breaks the Internet and appeared as a special cameo in the Mulan live-action adaptation.

"The only reason why I started thinking more about it was because so many of the fans, when they heard about it, they were like, 'Are you going to be in it? You have to be in it. They better put you in it. You could still play Mulan.' I'm like, 'Yeah, right. OK.' Maybe, Mulan: The Later Years," the actress joked, explaining how she became involved with the 2020 adaptation. "It was really the fans that kind of sparked the idea in me to inquire — Would they be interested in maybe having me do a cameo or maybe a scene, a character, just for the fans? I'm always, always, always about the fans."

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"I love them dearly and I'm a huge fan myself and a total geek. So I know what would get me excited with all the different genres that I love. That, to me, would've been a really lovely Easter egg for the fans. My manager and my agent, they put in a call and I met with [producer] Jason Reed, who's lovely, and we had a wonderful conversation," she continued to explain. "They made it work out... under very top-top-secret situations because I was shooting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time. With my producers, we figured out a time period that I was able to fly all the way up to New Zealand, shoot it, and then fly back, and nobody knew."

As for the reaction? "Fans are writing [that] they cried, they cheered. So that was lovely," Wen added.

But that wasn't the only cameo: her daughter, Michaela, was also in the movie. "When we met, Michaela was there, too. We were sort of toying with the idea of — 'Oh, how great would it be if Michaela got to play young Mulan?' But she was way too young. He got to meet her, too. And I think he just loved her," she commented. "It was a gift for Jason to have it kind of be cemented in film, this really special moment. [She] was very proud of her mom being Mulan."

Sophia Soto

Sophia Soto is a writer and interviewer with a passion for all things entertainment. She is a Senior Reporter at The Nerds of Color and contributes to Yardbarker, Screensphere, Den of Geek, What to Watch, Nerdtropolis, and Temple of Geek. You can see her past work on Remezcla, Young Hollywood, Looper, Paste Magazine, Primetimer, Soundsphere, and Starry Constellation Magazine

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