One reaction to Ming-Na Wen’s accomplishment would be to say that ‘she deserves it’, which would be a simplistic sentiment that a lot of people would probably agree with, but it wouldn’t quite say enough. Thinking of how long she’s been in the business and what she’s accomplished makes it necessary to remind people that she’s had he share of flops and triumphs, and to date, she’s continued to amaze audiences by simply doing what she does and being one of the many actors that can make a role work in a very convincing way. One thing about Wen is that she’s had the most success playing very stoic characters to be certain since she’s done more with the least amount of self-expression than many have done with emotions that range from calm to uncontrolled. This is evident in how she’s taken her current character of Fennec Shand and created a cold as ice bounty hunter whose motives shift only when they need to in order to adhere to whatever moral code the character follows. She did the same with her character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well, and it worked in that show as well.
Taking a look at her career it’s not hard to see how Wen has come this far since she’s taken on a number of roles over the years that a lot of people might not remember, but she did get her start on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which is pretty interesting to discover. She also starred in a couple of daytime dramas well and has done various voice-over roles during her career, with Mulan being one of the most notable. She has been a part of a few pretty big flops, as her time spent as Chun-Li in the first Street Fighter movie wasn’t exactly a shining moment in her career, but it was another bit of experience she was able to learn from as she continued forward. Despite her own disbelief that her name will be joining many others on the walk of fame, one can easily say that Wen deserves this because she’s put a great deal of herself into her career, and it shows when she’s on-screen since, despite the lack of emotion that her characters display at times, she’s fun to watch and adds another interesting character to whatever show or movie she’s a part of.
To say that this is a surprise to Wen is evident since in the tweets she’s put online one can’t help but grin when she admits to being a bit of a nerd and that her excitement is hard to tamp down. There’s no doubt that her response is one of those that people might see as uplifting since she obviously didn’t expect to be accepted into this group of actors that are being honored in this manner. But there is something that people need to know about the star that’s kind of interesting. One of the most obvious bits of information is that a star has to be nominated for the honor, as around 200 names are put up for nomination every year, and only a small number actually end up getting their stars after the matter is sorted out.
On top of that, the celebrity actually has to pay $50k for the star, which sounds kind of suspect but is justified in terms of cost. An actor can actually deny their nomination, as several have done throughout the history of show business. Many might wonder why an actor would deny such an honor, but the best answer is that everyone has their reasons for doing the things they do, and it’s easy to think that some don’t want to fork over the money or bother to see their name on a walkway. It’s hard to figure out, but some folks simply don’t want this type of recognition. Ming-Na Wen has worked long and hard for this though, and while it might not have been the first thing she might have opted to see happen in her career, it’s still something she’s very excited about, and with good reason. It’s fair to say that this will help to cement her place in cinema even further since she’s become irreplaceable in a lot of ways.
One thing that’s great about giving her a star is that it creates a sense that she’s still a very popular person, but unlike an Oscar, there doesn’t appear to be any drawback from having one’s name on a walkway since a ‘Walk of Fame’ curse hasn’t really been discussed over the years, while the Oscar curse is still in effect and has been seen to alter careers in one way or another at times. But based on her acting and her importance in the business, it’s easy to say that Ming-Na Wen has earned this honor.
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