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Thursday, July 12, 2001
Ming-Na is loving real life
Her mother tried to dissuade her from an acting career
By Luaine Lee
Scripps Howard News Service

Scripps Howard News Service

Ming-Na is the lead voice of the movie ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.’

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - You couldn't tell by looking at this woman in the black twill bell bottoms and black nylon knit top with one sequined strap, but Ming-Na is from the old school. She still believes, she admits, in some of the old Chinese superstitions like which days are propitious for moving or giving birth and which numbers are lucky.
   The actress - who plays Deb Chen on "ER" - also co-starred in "One Night Stand" and voiced the leads in "Mulan" and the new movie, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within."
   Two worlds
   Like her character in "Final Fantasy," Ming-Na is part of two worlds. She was born in Macao, lived for a time in Hong Kong and moved to the United States when she was 4. As current as a gigabyte and as traditional as feng shui, she knew she wanted to act from the time she was 13.
   "My mom tried to dissuade me every which way," she says. "She thought it would be a ridiculous profession. There's a lot of slimy people out there who would take advantage of me and she didn't want me to be part of it at all."
   But once Ming-Na got into the Carnegie-Mellon acting program, she figured she'd proved herself to her mom. "Now she takes all the credit for it," she grins.
   It was her mother, a longtime nurse, who inspired in Ming-Na a resolute sense of purpose. So determined was she that she reversed roles with her actor-producer husband, Eric Zee, she confesses.
   Always learning
   "I never thought I could learn so much because I thought I knew so much already," she laughs, in a way that's hearty and infectious. "I couldn't learn from a GUY! With me, it was always career first. And with him, it was always family first. I think I was so driven and so focused. I was able to twist it: If I have my career and I'm successful at it, then I can support my family and nobody has to worry," she says.
   "No, I care for my family, I do. I love my family - but for some reason I couldn't work it out in my head and now I can see that I can still have a successful career but it doesn't take precedence over my family."
   Now the mother of a 7-month-old daughter, Michaela, she says, "Suddenly all the cliches fell into place about how your priorities change.
   "I had Michaela it was like, 'Oh, this is harmless,'" she laughs.

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