Ming-Na Wen is thriving, as taking roles in some of the biggest franchises out there have really boosted her into the spotlight. Even despite mostly working on TV shows, where actors tend to gain less recognition than the blockbuster movies, her roles in both Marvel and Star Wars shows are often what people recognize her for today.

In the last few years, Wen has received both Disney Legend status and her own Hollywood walk of fame star. It’s clear from this alone that she’s made an impact with her career, even if she hasn’t earned many nominations at the larger acting award ceremonies. From simply lending her voice in order to bring animated characters to life, to doing her own stunts in some of her action roles, there’s a lot of great Ming-Na Wen performances out there that you don’t want to miss.

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10 Street Fighter

     Universal Pictures

Though not well liked by critics, Street Fighter is one of the movies Wen is best known for. Based on the video game series of the same name, the movie brings a small part of a civil war to life. General M. Bison captures several relief workers from the other side of the war and demands a ransom in return for them, but Colonel William F. Guile refuses and intends to put Bison on trial for his crimes. When their attempt to pinpoint his location is only partially successful, Guile recruits several con artists he recently arrested and asks them to help gain Bison’s trust and figure out his location in return for their freedom.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Wen plays Chun-Li, a news reporter bent on revenge after her father was killed by Bison. She’s also a fierce warrior, with Wen bringing to life her fair share of fights throughout the movie. As one of her first action movie roles, it’s definitely worth checking out what launched her career into this genre.

9 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

     Sony Pictures Releasing

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is another video game inspired movie. As the first photorealistic computer animated movie, this sci-fi adventure follows two scientists, Aki Ross and Doctor Sid, as they work to stop an alien invasion. The aliens, known as Phantoms, can kill someone just by touching them. When Ross is briefly touched, becoming infected, she is quickly stabilized with the help of a spirit they had collected, and she realizes if they can gather eight, they can save Earth.

The scientist duo now has to race against the clock as others seek to end the alien invasion through more violent means, which would be harmful to the Earth and those who still live there. Wen voiced Aki Ross, bringing the heroine to life in a way only she could. Though Spirits Within did have its issues, Wen knew just how to bring the right emotion through in her tone of voice to carry the movie forward.

8 Vanished

     Fox

Vanished is a single-season TV show centered around the disappearance of a Georgia senator’s wife. As the FBI begins to investigate, they reveal it’s part of a wider conspiracy, as a secretive group is trying to sway the upcoming supreme court nomination as they want a certain judge to earn the position. They then hope this judge will overturn a scholar’s conviction after presumably killing his research team and wife so that he can translate a set of Dead Sea scrolls recently uncovered.

A larger mystery begins to unravel as the search for the wife continues, and the senator tries to do everything they want in order to get her back. Wen plays Lin Mei, one of the FBI agents investigating the kidnapping. It’s clear she leans into the role well, playing her character with just the right amount of grit and compassion to get the job done.

7 The Book of Boba Fett

     Disney+

The Book of Boba Fett is a spin-off show from the series The Mandalorian, where the well known bounty hunter was first brought back to life in the Star Wars universe. Boba Fett and his recently acquired ally, Fennec Shand, return to Tatooine and take over the territory Jabba the Hutt once owned. As they try and establish themselves as the new crime leaders, not only do we learn more about Fett’s past and everything that’s happened since we thought he was devoured in the sarlacc pit, as well as all the new challenges he faces as he tries to fill in the void Jabba’s death created, as well as fight off others hoping to gain his territory for themselves.

Wen stars as Fennec Shand, an assassin who works with Fett after he rescued her from near death. Stealthy and deadly, it’s always fun to watch Wen in another powerful role where she can pull off crazy stunts, including jumping from roof to roof in the middle of town.

6 Stargate Universe

     Syfy

The sci-fi show Stargate Universe is just a small part of the larger Stargate franchise, following the present day adventures of a group of people stuck together and trying to survive. While trying to figure out how to properly dial one of the Stargates to reach far remote locations, the base is attacked and try to use the Stargate to escape to Earth. However, finding out that the planet’s power core is about to explode and that the explosion would follow them, they create a wormhole instead.

The survivors escape through it before the planet explodes and find themselves on one of the Ancients ships, Destiny, billions of lightyears away from the Milky Way. They now have to make the new ship habitable and figure out its function so that they can find a way back home. Wen plays Camile Wray, a regular character throughout the series who used to work HR and is now the civilian leader. She really knows how to bring the role together bringing Wray’s stubbornness and near arrogance to life in a way that still helps the people stuck aboard the ship.

5 ER

     NBC

ER is one of the longest running primetime medical dramas, having spanned 15 seasons and 331 episodes. The show is set at the fictional Cook County General Hospital in Chicago and follows the daily struggles of those who work in the emergency room there. Many people filtered in and out through each episode and season as different patients came in with different emergencies, some more life-threatening than others to add to the drama. It also shows the relationships between the doctors too, however, and how they keep each other going even through the rough times.

Wen played Jing-Mei ‘Deb’ Chen, originally appearing as a guest medical student in season one, before becoming part of the main cast when she returns for seasons six through 11, now as an official medical resident. Though it isn’t the action you usually see Wen in, she still does a great job bringing this character to life, especially when things grow tense around the ER, whether from a big medical emergency or just some rivalries between the doctors.

4 Eureka

     Sci-Fi Channel

The sci-fi show Eureka is set in the secret fictional town of the same name that resides on the west coast. The town is well known for its residents, who are almost all scientific geniuses that work for a facility that is responsible for most of the world’s technological breakthroughs. Of course, this doesn’t come without its mishaps. Whether intentional or accidental, each episode features some kind of technology malfunction which has to be solved, and each season also has a larger story arc connecting many of the episodes together.

Wen plays Michaela Wen, a US senator who is sent by the Department of Defense to run Eureka. However, things are not quite as they seem with this senator. Wen knows how to play up the character while also hiding her secrets well, and then pulls a great turn when those secrets are revealed, really showing off the duality of her acting skills.

3 Mulan

     Buena Vista Pictures

Disney’s Mulan, based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, follows the titular heroine through a life-changing moment. When the Huns invade China, her father is called to help protect the country despite his disability and age, due to the fact that he is the only male in his family. Instead of seeing him risk his life, Mulan risks hers and disguises herself as a man to take his place, joining the ranks of the army and training with them as she slowly becomes one of the greatest warriors they’ve ever seen.

Wen voices Mulan in the animated Disney classic, bringing her to life in the perfect way. From being the woman who doesn’t fit in with other women, to pretending to be a man who definitely doesn’t fit in with the other men, Mulan finds herself somewhere in the middle of both, and it’s thanks to Wen and her voice work that the story really feels genuine as Mulan just wants to protect her father.

2 The Joy Luck Club

Based on a novel of the same name, The Joy Luck Club is a drama that focuses on family relationships between Chinese American women and their immigrant mothers. There are four different stories told over the course of the movie between four different families. Older stories from the mother’s pasts are revealed as problems they had to face and resolve before they left China, which then translate into similar problems their own daughters are beginning to face and how they overcome these obstacles together instead of alone.

Wen plays June Woo, Suyuan’s daughter, who suffers from feeling inadequate in her mother’s eyes. She brings the role to life well, showing how she is just trying her best but still often feels she is falling short, especially when she misinterprets what her mother says. It’s a powerful performance that helped put Wen’s name out there, and definitely for good reason.

1 Agents of SHIELD

     Walt Disney Television

The Marvel show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set in the MCU after The Avengers, where Phil Coulson is brought back to life and put in charge of a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The well known spy agency uses this team to handle some new, strange cases that require some of the best agents to work on it. While they have several smaller missions throughout each season, there is often some kind of overarching mystery in them too for each season as they work towards solving it. From dealing with the reveal of Hydra and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, to dealing with hidden Inhumans on Earth, and different alien races in space, the crew goes through a lot in their seven seasons.

Wen plays the recurring character Melinda May, also known as the Cavalry. Initially recruited as a pilot, it’s revealed that May was once one of the top field agents who stepped down after a traumatic experience. She does eventually overcome this obstacle, and Wen shows us her full acting and fighting potential as she gets right into the nitty-gritty fist to fist fighting action while still portraying a great nuanced character. Perhaps she’ll get to return to the role, as the MCU would benefit from the series being canon and returning in some way.