Ming-Na Wen dreamed of being in Star Wars for decades before it finally happened. Now she has portrayed her character, Fennec Shand, across three separate TV shows across the franchise -- and it's likely her time in a galaxy far, far away isn't over just yet.
Landing the role of the bounty hunter in The Mandalorian, while a dream come true for the actor, wasn't as difficult as one might expect. She recently spoke about the experience with Katee Sackhoff on the latter's podcast, revealing the process didn't follow the typical path an actor would normally follow to obtain an on-screen role.
She told Sackhoff: "Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, they wrote this character ... Deborah Chow said 'You know what? I'm going to mention you to Jon and Dave.' And she did ... they just offered me the role. I didn't have to audition for it."
Fennec has since appeared not only in The Mandalorian, but in The Book of Boba Fett and the animated Disney+ series The Bad Batch as well. Wen has an impressive history of both voice acting and live-action credentials and is one of few actors to have portrayed characters for major studios owned and overseen by the Walt Disney Company -- Disney (Mulan), Marvel (Agent May), and Lucasfilm (Shand).
Whether or not Wen will return as Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian is still up in the air -- especially since it is currently unclear whether or not The Mandalorian & Grogu movie will be the end of that particular story. But it's possible that Star Wars could find another way to bring the character into a different story, perhaps in another show that takes place around the same time or directly after The Book of Boba Fett.
It has been delightful seeing the actor live out one of her biggest dreams on screen, and even if she doesn't end up returning, at least she grabbed the opportunity as soon as it was offered. Manifesting your ambitions really can lead to the best possible outcomes.