From ‘Street Fighter’ to ‘ER’ : After ‘Joy Luck Club,’ Actress Ming-Na Wen Finds Diversity in Career Roles

If an actor’s range--the ability to define diverse characters--is a career-making trait, then Ming-Na Wen has little to worry about.

Consider her most visible roles: As June, she was the piano-playing daughter whose story was central to last year’s multi-hankie film “The Joy Luck Club.” In the new thriller “Street Fighter,” which opens Friday, she plays Chun-Li, a kick-boxing television reporter who helps save the Free World, while managing to look stunning in red silk. And she has just joined the cast of the rookie NBC drama “ER,” a hit with both the public and the critics.

“The ‘ER’ role was not Asian-specific, and my agent knew that I loved the show,” Wen, 26, says.

Receiving a visitor in her West Los Angeles duplex, she is fitting an interview into a typically busy day. A movie script lies close at hand, ready for an audition scheduled later in the afternoon.

“While I was between movie gigs, we were looking for something to do on television. I told my agent, ‘Get me on “ER”--that would be great.’ Then this role came up,” Wen said. “When I (auditioned), it was me and a dozen Caucasian actresses.”

She will begin appearing on “ER” on Jan. 12, playing a third-year medical student at County General Memorial Hospital.

If a role is not “Asian specific,” Wen is ready to hear reluctance on the part of casting directors. “I’m so used to it, it doesn’t even faze me,” she says. “Sometimes I can tell--they won’t take the risk.” It’s a constant challenge in her career, she says, as well as for other Asian actors. “What I want is the same opportunities as anyone to get a part. I’m as proud to be Chinese as I am American.”

As it happened, the role in “Street Fighter,” which is based on the popular video game, called for an Asian woman, a reporter who joins Jean-Claude Van Damme’s renegade force to defeat a power-mad dictator, played by the late Raul Julia. The role, Wen says, “is the antithesis of June in ‘The Joy Luck Club.’ I had to convince (writer-director) Steven de Souza and (producer) Ed Pressman--they couldn’t see me as this tough, aggressive fighter. I started doing (martial arts) kicks in Pressman’s office. That got his attention.”

The petite actress is buffed up in the film, displaying the toned muscles and swift moves of the dojo-trained kick-boxer she plays. Her preparation for the role was “really intense, especially the three weeks before the film.”

Van Damme impressed Wen. “He’s very intelligent, and very charismatic, and of course he’s a big flirt. But he’s a fun flirt.” Asked if she’d like to do more action pictures, Wen’s reply is immediate. “If George Lucas calls, I’m there! I’m trying to show I’m a trained actress--I can transform myself into different characters. I’m not just an ingenue.”

Wen grew up outside Pittsburgh, where her parents, immigrants from Macao, ran a restaurant. Her mother had performed with the Peking Opera and Wen was always interested in theater. As a child, she loved “dressing up. I still love that part of it--to be able to dress up and create a character and walk in with it.” After high school, she attended Carnegie-Mellon Institute, famed for its theater program, then headed to New York.

She was acting there with the Ensemble Studio Theatre when director Wayne Wang expressed interest. “He came out to see me, and then he flew me to L.A. twice.” Wen knew she could play the part of June, but Wang had been looking for an actress with more “visibility.” “They questioned me for 45 minutes about my life, and why I had such a kinship with June. I had to express my most inner pain, which is difficult for me.” The film was one of 1993’s sleeper hits--”I can’t tell you how many strangers have come up to me and thanked me for making them cry.”

Wen still tries to find time to return to live theater, occasionally as a producer. “I produced a couple of plays in New York that were successful, and when I came out here, I saw the play ‘Exit the Dragon.’ It starred three male actors, really just exploring the pop-culture Asian American stereotypes for men. It expressed a lot of pain but in a humorous way. I wanted to produce it because I feel that a lot of people from all backgrounds can learn a lot from it and be entertained at the same time. I’d like to take it to New York.”

Wen remains close to her parents. In fact, she says, “Mom takes all the credit for my success. Now Mom says, ‘I read your face when you were a baby, and it said you were going to be a star. That’s why I named you Ming--because it’s all about the sun and the stars, and enlightenment.’

“Even for the ‘ER’ audition”--Wen is laughing out loud now--”I had to fly back early from Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh, and Mom says, ‘We brought you good luck.’ ”

Taking stock, Wen says, “I’m happy. I’m not one of those actresses that’s going to feel like I never achieved my dreams and goals and just get disgruntled and hate everything about the business. I’ve had so much fun.

“I thank Buddha--and Mom.”