Ming-Na Wen Talks ‘Karate Kid: Legends,' New On Streaming
After having her Star Wars dreams come true by playing fan-favorite Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian, Ming-Na Wen recently realized another exciting vision with a role in The Karate Kid franchise in the new film Karate Kid: Legends.
Wen said discovered early on that she wasn't the only person on the production who dreamed of working on a Karate Kid project. In fact, it came as a big surprise to her that Karate Kid: Legends director Jonathan Entwistle was also a massive fan of the franchise, which she found amusing considering he's the director behind the dark Netflix comedy series The End of The F***ing World and I Am Not Okay with This.
'I was surprised that he was doing a film in this genre, but he's as huge a fan of the franchise as I am,' Wen said in a recent Zoom conversation. 'His other works are just so fun and hip and kind of out there, but I love the series he's done."
Karate Kid: Legends, which brings Ralph Macchio from the original Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai series together with Jackie Chan from the 2010 remake, opened in theaters on May 30. The film arrives for purchase or rent on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Tuesday.
Wen plays the pivotal role of Dr. Fong in Karate Kid Legends, the mother of the Li-Fong (Ben Wang), who are new residents of New York City after the two move from Beijing for a fresh start after a family tragedy a year before.
A karate prodigy, Li-Fong goes against the wishes of his mother to compete against the best of the best in the famed 5 Boroughs Karate Tournament in New York City.
Note: The next section includes a spoiler from "Karate Kid: Legends."
Ming-Na Wen Believes Pat Morita Would Be So Proud Of Ralph Macchio
Karate Kid: Legends is the sixth film in the action franchise, which kicked off, so to speak, with The Karate Kid in 1984 with Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita as Mr. Miyagi, William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence and Martin Kove as John Kreese.
After three Karate Kid sequels — the last of which was released in 1994 — the franchise was dormant for 24 years until it made a comeback with Cobra Kai in 2018. The series wrapped up in February after six seasons.
Of course, missing from Cobra Kai was Morita, who died in 2005 at age 73. Macchio, however, ensured Mr. Miyagi's presence was felt not only in Cobra Kai, but in Karate Kid: Legends as well. The film begins with Morita in a flashback scene with Macchio, where he explains how his and Mr. Han's (Jackie Chan) families share the same martial arts lineage.
Referring to Macchio's accomplishments in the Karate Kid films, Cobra Kai and now Karate Kid: Legends, Ming-Na Wen feels if the venerable actor were here, 'Pat Morita would just be patting him on the back and saying, 'Good job son.''
After all, without Pat Morita, The Karate Kid and everything that came after it would likely never have made the indelible impact that it's had on popular culture.
'I think [Ralph] knows that and that's why he is so protective of the image of who he is and what he represents,' Wen said.
As Wen found out, Macchio is so protective of The Karate Kid franchise that even as a cast member, she wasn't privy to the big end credits cameo that concludes Karate Kid: Legends.
"I didn't even know about William Zabka's cameo. That's how secretive they were. I was shocked when I saw it at the screening of the film and cheered,' Wen enthused. 'It was so good. It was so good because I'm a massive fan of Cobra Kai, too.'
Rated PG-13, Karate Kid: Legends is available on several digital platforms, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube on Tuesday.
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