Ming-Na Wen promises hugs or punches to fans at Ottawa Comiccon
CBC News | Posted: May 12, 2016 9:50 PM | Last Updated: May 12, 2016
'I feel like sometimes we've taken 100 steps back,' she says of whitewashing of Asian roles
Ming-Na Wen's first television role was as a trumpeter on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood — now more than 30 years later the famous actress is a guest of honour at this weekend's Comiccon in Ottawa.
"I'll give everybody a hug. How does that sound? Or a punch. One or the other. Whatever they feel like having," she told Alan Neal on CBC Radio's All In A Day on Tuesday.
Wen plays Melinda May on Marvel's TV action/sci-fi series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She tweeted yesterday that the series' season finale next Tuesday is "going to hurt. A lot. Sorry," but refused to elaborate further on Thursday.
"I can't tell you any — anything, at all. I can't even hint. I can't even make an innuendo," she said. "All I can't tell you is at the table read it was a very, emotional painful moment for all of us. We love our writers and we love being tortured, apparently."
Wen has been a prominent voice in speaking out against the "whitewashing" of Asian characters, including the casting of Scarlett Johansson in role of Maj. Motoko Kusanagi in the Japanese manga series Ghost in the Shell.
"I'm glad the conversation is being brought up so rampantly. It's needed," the 52-year-old actress said. "I feel like sometimes we've taken 100 steps back since I started in this business."
Her previous roles include Camile Ray on the sci-fi series SGU Stargate Universe, Dr. Jing-Mei Chen on the medical drama series ER, the title voice in Disney's animated film Mulan (1998) and Chun-Li in Streetfighter (1994).
Still on her bucket list is a role in a Star Wars movie, she said.
"Anytime, anywhere, just a walk on, I don't care. It would really, really complete my life," she said.
She will be at Comiccon in Ottawa on Saturday. The event runs from May 13 to 15 at the EY Centre.