Ming-Na Wen Quotes

I love doing TV. It's so great for my world as a mom, as someone who likes to have a steady job and go to work feeling secure because I'm with a family.

I used to pray to god, Buddha, and the Force because that’s how much a belief it was for me. It was a religious experience for me. No small thing! No small connection there… I’ve been part of the [fandom] family for so many decades that now to actually be in the family is pretty crazy.

Mom takes all the credit for my success. Now Mom says, 'I read your face when you were a baby, and it said you were going to be a star. That's why I named you Ming - because it's all about the sun and the stars and enlightenment.'

I really think as long as you have a good story that relates to a lot of people it doesn't matter what ethnicity it is.

I'm not one of those actresses that's going to feel like I never achieved my dreams and goals and just get disgruntled and hate everything about the business. I've had so much fun.

That's what was so amazing about Mulan. Here is this story with all Chinese characters, and yet so many people related to her character and loved the story. So I really think as long as you have a good story that relates to a lot of people, it doesn't matter what ethnicity it is.

I think, definitely with this business, it was part luck, part timing, and maybe some destiny. I think we’re all destined for something. So I’m just very grateful, I’m always extremely grateful for any job that comes along and any dreams that can come true. Because it’s a really tough business, especially if you’re a woman, and especially if you’re an ethnic woman, and especially now, if you’re an older woman. So I’m always very, very grateful.

The whole reason why we’re in this business is to please our fans. When I go to conventions, I see the reactions of women and men alike, and some girls actually shake and cry when they tell me stories about how much Mulan has influenced their lives and had such a strong impact in their lives. It’s profoundly moving for me. So I think it is important to not just gain new fans with the live-action adaptation, but really pay tribute to the fans that have been around for so long with the film and now have passed it on down to their kids and their families.

Being Buddhist, I do believe we are reincarnated. Our spirit goes back into the celestial forces and we come back based on how well we’ve treated others — whether we come back better or in worse forms.

I was a nerd! I was president of my science fiction club. Doesn’t get any nerdier than that. I took Latin — that’s pretty nerdy. And theater. I was a trainer for our football team. I got into the boy’s locker room that way, ha! I loved being in high school. I had a boyfriend all through high school. I was friends with all different kids in different clubs. A floater!