We were just celebrating, not just the story and this beautiful movie - and that it was helmed by a woman, which I thought was important. I gave my friends, Rosalind Chao and Tzi Ma and Donnie Yen, big hugs. And I was thinking, "It can't be another 25 years before we have another one of these." So, it's really nice that it only took, like, a year and a half or two years for another big blockbuster movie to come out. But big major studio movie that was also really a moneymaker was Crazy Rich Asians. Listen, for anything that has a large Asian cast, that's a big Hollywood movie- I was in one with Joy Luck Club, and there have been other smaller, independent movies that have come throughout the years. What was that experience like, sitting in the theater watching this Mulan that has ties to something so close to you? Was the first time you saw the movie at the premiere back in April? But previous to that, Mulan has popped up here and there and in different tellings of her, but as a feature, this was definitely Disney's first approach to it. You know, being a Disney legend and all, maybe they'll listen to me more.
Maybe Mulan: The Later Years! Maybe I can try to convince Disney. Over the years, had you heard discussions of a live-action Mulan before this? I mean, I love Yifei, but my goodness, would I love to have seen a production where you got to embody Mulan in the flesh. I think they know that there are such diehard fans of Mulan, the animated film, that it would be really tough to please everyone. I thought that that was a really smart approach for them, so that it's not a carbon copy. Because Mulan itself is a very serious folklore. Then I heard more about how they were going to re-visualize the Mulan folklore and create a bit more of a serious, real action movie, and I started to understand what they were trying to achieve.
I've loved all the previous live actions that Disney has put together - so Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella and Maleficent was amazing - but when they said that they weren't going to have the music, I was kind of taken aback. I just love the idea of keeping this wonderful folklore going and extending it into live action. How did you react when you first heard Disney was making a live-action Mulan? Ahead of Mulan's streaming debut, Wen phoned ET last week to discuss her reaction to seeing the film for the first time, share her favorite Easter eggs and give the inside story of how her cameo role came to be.