She was acting there with the Ensemble Studio Theatre when director Wayne Wang expressed interest.
I still love that part of it-to be able to dress up and create a character and walk in with it.” After high school, she attended Carnegie-Mellon Institute, famed for its theater program, then headed to New York. Her mother had performed with the Peking Opera and Wen was always interested in theater. Wen grew up outside Pittsburgh, where her parents, immigrants from Macao, ran a restaurant. “If George Lucas calls, I’m there! I’m trying to show I’m a trained actress-I can transform myself into different characters. But he’s a fun flirt.” Asked if she’d like to do more action pictures, Wen’s reply is immediate. “He’s very intelligent, and very charismatic, and of course he’s a big flirt. Her preparation for the role was “really intense, especially the three weeks before the film.” The petite actress is buffed up in the film, displaying the toned muscles and swift moves of the dojo-trained kick-boxer she plays. I started doing (martial arts) kicks in Pressman’s office. The role, Wen says, “is the antithesis of June in ‘The Joy Luck Club.’ I had to convince (writer-director) Steven de Souza and (producer) Ed Pressman-they couldn’t see me as this tough, aggressive fighter. I’m as proud to be Chinese as I am American.”Īs it happened, the role in “Street Fighter,” which is based on the popular video game, called for an Asian woman, a reporter who joins Jean-Claude Van Damme’s renegade force to defeat a power-mad dictator, played by the late Raul Julia. “What I want is the same opportunities as anyone to get a part. “Sometimes I can tell-they won’t take the risk.” It’s a constant challenge in her career, she says, as well as for other Asian actors. “I’m so used to it, it doesn’t even faze me,” she says. If a role is not “Asian specific,” Wen is ready to hear reluctance on the part of casting directors. 12, playing a third-year medical student at County General Memorial Hospital.
“When I (auditioned), it was me and a dozen Caucasian actresses.” I told my agent, ‘Get me on “ER"-that would be great.’ Then this role came up,” Wen said.
#MING NA MOVIE#
“While I was between movie gigs, we were looking for something to do on television.