COMIC EXPO ON TAP
Ming- Na Wen among sci- fi celebs
When Ming- Na Wen was a teen in Pittsburg, she was president of her high school Science- Fiction and Fantasy Club.
It’s true, the actress behind Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D.’ s asskicking, mysterious, beautiful and damaged weapons expert, Melinda May, was a proud and unrepentant “geek.”
So the actress admits it’s fun, if a little surreal, to be “on the other side” these days when attending fan conventions.
“It’s really a geek- girl’s dream come true, this job,” says Wen, in an interview from her home in Los Angeles. “I know what it’s like. I still get giddy when I find fans excited. Some of them cry when they meet me. I’m like ‘ I’m not the Beatles!’ But it’s kind of fun to feel that way for a day.”
For fans at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, that day will be Saturday when Wen stops by the Stampede grounds to meet fans. It will be particularly good timing for devotees of ABC’s Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. Tuesday’s episode, entitled Melinda, was a highly anticipated exploration of Agent May’s troubled past, finally delving full- bore into the secrets that have fascinated and taunted fans since the series began in 2013. In a flashbackheavy episode, the origins of her nickname, The Calvary, and details of the Bahrain op that left her traumatized were finally revealed.
May’s secrets were always an appealing part of the character for Wen, who had spent time on the medical drama ER and sci- fi series Stargate before landing the role on Joss Whedon’s superhero show. Before Tuesday’s script arrived, the actress was as much in the dark as the fans about what had transpired in Bahrain. So she invented her own backstory to explain why May was so haunted.
“I loved the fact that she was this mysterious character, particularly in the pilot episode,” says Wen, who was interviewed by the Herald prior to Tuesday’s episode airing and was still sworn to secrecy.
“She was this scarred soldier who left the field for whatever reason, they never gave me the reason. But knowing things about post- traumatic stress, that really interested me.
“She seemed like a very serious character in the Marvel world. The fact that she surprises everyone in the pilot by being such a, I guess, ninja; that to me was very, very appealing. I like strong female roles.”
In May’s case, being strong includes mastering some fierce skills in hand- to- hand combat. Wen says she fully expects to be “all loopy” when she arrives in Calgary Saturday because much of Friday will be spent engaged in rehearsing and filming one- such elaborate scene.
“I love it,” she says. “I feel very, very proud that I’ve learned a lot of stunt fighting and we have an incredible team. Matt Mullins is our choreographer and he always comes up with really great stuff and is always open to some ideas that I have.
“I love action films and I’m always trying to drop Easter eggs into the scenes, paying tribute to a Bruce Lee move or Crouching Tiger. It’s hard work, man. I’m always bruised, or break a fingernail. But it’s a lot of fun and I really admire my stunt doubles, who can do those remarkable moves that I haven’t acquired yet. The dangerous stuff I don’t get to do, although I am always begging to do them.”
Born in Coloane Island, Macau to Cantonese parents in 1963, Wen says Star Trek, Star Wars and the sci- fi writing of authors such as Jerry Pounelle and Larry Niven offered an escape while growing up in Pittsburg.
“I was one of the few Chinese girls growing up in Pittsburgh suburbia,” she says. “It was a necessity.”
After studying theatre at Carnegie Mellon University, Wen began to build a long and varied resume in TV, film and voice work. Besides Melinda May, her most notable role may be voicing Fa Mulan in the animated films Mulan and Mulan II. But she has played everyone from June Woo in the 1993 adaptation of The Joy Luck Club to Chun- Lee in the campy, video game- turnedfilm Street Fighter. Even her first televised appearance, made in 1985 while still a freshman in college, makes for interesting trivia.
Donning “really silly wigs and silly outfits”, Wen and two of her friends played King Friday’s “royal trumpeters” on Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood.
“Another iconic person,” says Wen. “It was one of those moments as a young actor where you get to be on set with someone you grew up with. You realize he likes to talk to his puppets. It was fun. Yep, I was on Mister Rogers Neighbourhood.”
I still get giddy when I find fans excited. Some of them cry when they meet me. I’m like ‘ I’m not the Beatles!’ But it’s kind of fun to feel that way for a day.