Mulan is set to follow Beauty and the Beast as Disney's next big live-action remake. While no casting decisions have yet been reported, one member of the original voice cast may return to be in the live-action version as well. Ming-Na Wen, the original voice actress of Disney's Mulan says she has already had "conversations" about taking some sort of role in the new film, and she really hopes that it works out. According to the actress...
I would love to have a part in it in some way. We'll see -- knock on wood!
Ming-Na Wen, who can currently be seen as Melinda May on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., was the original Mulan and the actress has continued to voice her over the years for any other Disney projects that involve the character. As such, she's grown very attached to the fighting princess and so would clearly love to be part of any other movie that Disney makes. At 53-years-old, the actress knows she won't be playing the lead again, but she seems legitimately excited in her comments to ET about taking some sort of a part.
It would be great to see Ming-Na Wen make an appearance in the live-action Mulan. Between her continued voice acting gigs and her work on a Marvel TV series it's clear that the actress has a good relationship with Disney, so they can almost certainly work something out.
The live-action Mulan will be based in part on the animated Disney version as well as the original Chinese myth that inspired it. If there's a potential issue with Ming-Ma Wen taking a role, it may be the fact that the Disney version simply doesn't have many women in it. The fact that Mulan has to pretend to be a man in order to fight in the army is the entire premise of the film. There are certainly some obvious choices though. Mulan is actually one of a limited number of Disney princesses who has a living a mother, so that would be the easiest place to put the actress. With some makeup, the actress could even play Mulan's grandmother, which was a more entertaining role in the animated feature. There's also the matchmaker, which could also be a fun part to play.
Of course, depending on how the live-action version diverges from the animated, we might have several more female roles that Ming-Na Wen could play. A final decision should be made sooner rather than later. The live-action Mulan has a set release date of November 2018, which means casting and other pre-production decisions will be getting made over the next few months, with filming likely planned to start sometime this fall.
