Ming-Na Wen surprised fans over the weekend when they saw her at the end of the new live-action Mulan film.
If you didn’t see, the 56-year-old actress and original voice of the animated Mulan plays the part of “Esteemed Guest” as she introduces her successor, Yifei Liu, to the Emperor.
However, the plan was for her to be in an entirely different scene.
“I was going to be the potential mother-in-law for the matchmaker scene,” she shared with the NY Times.
That didn’t work out “because of the weather, they needed me to be out there for a month just in case” and because of her Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. schedule.
“[They] just threw up their hands: ‘We can’t lose you for a month!’” Ming-Na explained. “I totally understood, and I’m always very Zen about this stuff. I said, ‘Look, if it was meant to me be, it was meant to be. We all tried, and it’s too bad.’”
But the idea wasn’t tossed out, but instead, re-worked with producer Jason Reed and director, Niki Caro.
“[They] came up with this great idea where instead of shooting an entire scene, I’d just make a cameo at the very end to announce Mulan to the emperor,” Ming-Na shared. “I thought that was very appropriate and just wonderful, a little Easter egg where I could pass the baton. And this time, they only needed me there for a week. So it all worked out!”
She also credits Mulan fans for suggesting that she appear in the film.
“I asked my manager and my agent if that would be a possibility because I thought that would be kind of fun. Then I met with Jason and he loved the idea,” she says.
If you missed it, learn more about the actor who plays Hongui, Yoson An now!
