2023 Alumni Achievement Award
During Ming-Na Wen’s celebrated acting career, she has appeared in some of the most iconic television and film roles of the past several decades. She can currently be seen portraying mercenary assassin Fennec Shand in the Disney+ “Star Wars” Emmy Award-winning series “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.”
Born in Macao and then moving to Hong Kong, Ming-Na came to the U.S. with her family at the age of five. She learned English in Queens, New York, where her love of performance blossomed. When her mother remarried, they moved to Pittsburgh, where her stepfather ran a successful restaurant, The Chinatown Inn.
One of Ming-Na’s most cherished roles was playing one of King Friday’s trumpeters on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood," while attending Carnegie Mellon University. Upon graduating from CMU’s School of Drama in 1986, she moved to New York City to pursue acting. She honed her craft at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizon and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Ming-Na finally made it to Broadway in 1998 in David Henry Hwang’s award-winning “Golden Child.”
In television, Ming-Na broke barriers by becoming the first Asian American contract actor in a daytime drama playing Lien Hughes on “As the World Turns.” She followed that with a seven-year run portraying Dr. Chen on the Emmy Award-winning NBC series “ER.” Her many other television credits include regular roles on “The Single Guy,” “Stargate Universe,” and “Vanished” and recurring guest roles on “Two and a Half Men,” “Young Sheldon,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Hacks,” to name a few.
In 2019, Ming-Na was named a Disney Legend, one of the highest honors and awards given by Disney for her prolific work with the company. Among her countless voice work, Ming-Na is most known for originating the role of warrior princess Mulan in the 1998 animated feature “Mulan,” winning an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer. She also partnered with Disney/ABC by starring for seven years as one of her most beloved characters, Agent Melinda May, on Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
In films, her versatility as an actress can be seen in such diverse roles as June in “The Joy Luck Club,” Chun-Li in “Street Fighter” and Mimi in “One Night Stand.”
This past May, her work was widely recognized when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is also adding author to her list of accomplishments with a forthcoming cookbook from Simon & Schuster. Most importantly, her marriage of 28 years with Eric Michael Zee — as well as her two children, Cooper and Michaela — are her greatest credits to date.
I am forever thankful to have received the invaluable training in Carnegie Mellon’s Drama program that kickstarted my acting career. I am honored to be given another gift with this meaningful CMU alumni award.
MING-Na WEn (CFA 1986)