Latest news with #YahooLife
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Mac and cheese. Smoothies. Mashed potatoes. Americans love soft foods — and that's not necessarily a good thing.
Buttery mashed potatoes. Creamy macaroni and cheese. Luscious ice cream and smoothies. It's hard to overlook the fact that when it comes to soft foods Americans seem to have, well, a soft spot. Just ask the Atlantic, the New York Times and Salon, the latter of which cited an evolutionary purpose for the preference. And it's no wonder: These foods are not only delicious but also comforting. 'Soft foods are just very satisfying because they feel really indulgent,' registered dietitian Bree Phillips tells Yahoo Life. 'A lot of those foods tend to be really rich in fat or sugar, like mac and cheese or ice cream. Those are really satisfying foods to eat.' Some are also linked to childhood memories and those nostalgic comfort foods you used to eat as a kid. 'A lot of the foods that are soft tend to have memories attached to them — mashed potatoes, stuffing on Thanksgiving,' says Phillips. 'There's a nostalgia element that also plays into why they are so satisfying.' Food scientist Bryan Quoc Le points out that many super-soft foods are desserts like ice cream, custard, pudding and cake. 'Even with cookies, we like them softer,' he tells Yahoo Life. Le uses bread as another example, explaining that Americans tend to prefer soft bread compared with a crunchy French baguette. 'I think it's an interesting phenomenon from a food culture standpoint,' he says. Food manufacturers are keenly aware of the appeal of soft foods. Food scientist Abbey Thiel explains that at many food companies, product developers are often separated into two teams, one for creating U.S. products and another for European products, since each population has 'drastically different' preferences when it comes to food textures. 'Americans like a softer version, while Europeans prefer harder textures,' Thiel tells Yahoo Life. 'However, this isn't just limited to texture. Americans also prefer higher sweetness levels and brighter colors than Europeans.' Dietary concerns aside, there's just one pesky thing to take into consideration: When you're eating soft foods, you're not exactly chewing — and the health effects of that can be a little hard to (metaphorically) swallow. Food experts break it down. You probably don't think much about it, but chewing plays a key role in both satiety (meaning feeling satisfied with the amount of food you've eaten) and digestion. 'The more we chew, the more time our bodies have to register fullness,' says Thiel. 'Solid foods that require extensive chewing, like a steak, promote slower eating and give the brain a chance to catch up with the stomach.' Phillips explains that when you chew and slow down the pace of your meal, it allows time for gut hormones that play a role in appetite (she specifically mentions GLP-1 and peptide YY, or PYY) to signal fullness to the brain. But many soft, processed foods are engineered to be quickly eaten and swallowed, which Thiel says delivers calories rapidly without triggering the same fullness signals. 'Liquids can be consumed up to 60 times faster than solids, and because they require little to no chewing, they provoke a weaker satiety response, even when they contain the same number of calories,' Thiel says. Smoothies are a good example of this. Registered dietitian Maura Fowler adds: 'The less you chew, then the quicker you are able to swallow your food, allowing less time between bites for your stomach to send the appropriate hormones to your brain to let you know that it's becoming full.' The result: 'You can end up with indigestion,' says Le. Soft foods can contribute to overeating, say experts. Thiel points to a study by researchers in the Netherlands that found people tend to consume more calories with soft foods. That's because 'they're eaten more quickly, without triggering the same level of satiety as harder foods that require more effort to chew,' Thiel says. 'Over time this can lead to increased calorie intake without even realizing it.' Soft foods tend to have what's called vanishing caloric density, meaning they melt in your mouth and make it more likely that you'll reach for more. 'Texture also plays a hidden role in how much we eat,' says Thiel. 'Many processed carbs are designed to melt in the mouth or break down quickly in saliva. For example, puffed snacks collapse rapidly due to their airy structure, encouraging fast consumption before the body has time to signal that it's full.' Phillips says that soft foods also tend to be lower in fiber, which is important for digestive health and feeling full and satisfied. Le also notes that some soft foods contain preservatives and additives to maintain that coveted softness. For example, 'in order to make white bread, there's a lot of manipulation you need to do to not only get it soft but keep it soft on the shelf,' Le says, 'and that requires a lot of additives.' You don't need to pass on that side of mashed potatoes or ditch your morning smoothie; it's more about being mindful of how easy it is to quickly eat these foods. It's also important to point out that not all soft foods are unhealthy. Greek yogurt is packed with protein and probiotics. Oatmeal is heart-healthy and high in fiber, something many Americans aren't getting enough of. Avocado is rich in healthy fats, while bananas are packed with potassium. And beans and lentils are full of fiber and protein. Soft foods are also essential for certain groups, from infants who are starting to eat solid foods to seniors with weaker jaw muscles and teeth, which make it harder for them to eat foods that require more chewing, Fowler tells Yahoo Life. People with difficulty swallowing (a condition called dysphagia) or those recovering from dental, mouth or throat surgery may also need soft foods to get proper nutrition. 'How many adults remember getting wisdom teeth taken out and told to just eat mashed potatoes and ice cream?' says Fowler. 'I do! And I know I wasn't mad about it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Not everyone wants kids. 5 women open up about the decision to be child-free.
As a labor and delivery nurse, Bari M. is used to answering questions about having babies. As a happily child-free woman, she's also used to answering questions about not having them — and is readily equipped to answer them. 'I have so many reasons that I find it's always a different one that flies out of my mouth,' the 36-year-old tells Yahoo Life. "If it's someone I'm very close with, I'll give them a deep, multi-level answer. If it's someone like a patient, I usually give a brief, kind of silly answer like, 'Well, I just went to Paris for three nights for my birthday, and I'm going to South Africa next month. I have no interest in giving that up.'' There are myriad reasons why a person might not have children (all of which are, quite frankly, no one's business). In a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll of 1,597 U.S. adults conducted last month, 43% of respondents said they don't have children. Of that number, 19% cited concerns for the future of the planet, and 32% attributed the decision to cost. And then there are those who, like Bari, are choosing to be child-free ... well, because they just don't want to. More than a quarter (26%) of the poll respondents who didn't have kids said it's because they 'prefer life as it is,' and 25% answered, 'I'd rather just not' have children. 'Even when I was little, when we would play school or house or whatever, I was always the 'professional,'' L.M., a Brooklyn-based hair stylist, tells Yahoo Life. 'Being pregnant was very weird to me. My friend would put a pillow up her shirt, and it really freaked me out.' She says there was a fleeting period — a 'blip,' she calls it — where she thought she might want to have kids but ultimately found that it was not something she needed to find fulfillment. 'I sat down with myself on a serious level and thought, Would raising a functional member of society fulfill me? and [realized] that no, it's not something that brings me joy,' L.M. says. She recalls 'having that clear thought of like, This is not something that drives me when there are all these other things in life that do.' For Bari, the decision to be child-free came later. 'I actually used to really want kids in my late teens and early 20s,' she shares. Seeing the people closest to her become parents is what ultimately sealed the deal. 'I watched the day-to-day of their lives and their anxieties grow,' she says. 'A co-worker told me that on her first Mother's Day, she sat in her car alone and drank coffee for an hour, and it was all she could have wanted. I knew that wasn't for me.' The choice not to have kids is a personal one, but that doesn't stop some people in these women's lives from forming (and sharing) their unsolicited opinions. 'I got a lot of pushback, especially during the two years after my wedding,' Bari says. 'A (no longer) friend said to me, 'But you have to give your mom a grandbaby. You can't disappoint her.' I find that generally the people with the strongest opinions are the ones that know me the least.' That judgment is not only reserved for those who have made a definitive decision ruling out kids but also for those whose perspectives on parenthood have evolved over the years. That was the case for 37-year-old Gryte V. 'I froze my eggs a few years ago to have the insurance in case I changed my mind,' Gryte tells Yahoo Life. 'I definitely had a friend question me. Like, 'If you froze your eggs, it means you do want kids.' It's weird to have people tell you what they think you want.' Andrea C. was similarly questioned, in her case by her mother, after sharing that she no longer wanted to have kids. She had experienced two miscarriages in her first marriage, and her mom assumed that she would continue trying. 'She was stunned,' Andrea says. 'In her mind, she was like, 'But you tried to get pregnant before!' I think at the time I was just trying to fit in with society, and I didn't realize that not everyone fits in with those stereotypes.' The women we spoke to have some theories about why there's still so much pushback about opting out of the mommy track. 'I think for so many years we've been taught this very narrow life path you're supposed to follow,' Gryte says. 'Getting married, buying a house, having a child ... it's one type of way of living, and it's really hard for people to challenge themselves and think about why they actually want kids. I think people can't have the imagination of not having kids and still having a fulfilling life.' Bari echoes that sentiment. 'I think so many people just consider [parenthood] 'the next step' and don't even wonder what their lives could be like by staying child-free,' she says. 'I think people want other people to have similar experiences to them,' L. adds. 'To be able to relate. I think a lot of people can't step out of themselves and see someone else's perspective.' And while unsolicited opinions can feel intrusive, Melissa M. says talking through the inner conflict of whether or not to have kids actually helped her find clarity. When she was in her early 30s, a good friend who was wrestling with those same doubts connected her to a therapist specializing in fertility mental health issues. Was this a fear-based decision, or do I really not want to do it? Melissa, now 44, remembers her and her friend wondering at the time. 'I went to see [the therapist], and she was incredible. I ultimately realized that for me, it wasn't fear, it wasn't anger. It was just that I really didn't want to [be a mom], in the same way that I don't want a cat, or I don't want to go camping. It was a huge aha moment for me, coming to that conclusion.' Melissa jokes that she now has 'a home that looks HGTV-ready at all times' and that 'no one has peed on me recently.' Indeed, a feeling of freedom is a sentiment expressed across the board for these child-free women. Silence. Using the bathroom alone. The freedom to travel, to sleep! Not to mention, the space, time, energy and commitment that being child-free allows them to offer the other children in their lives. 'I have beautiful nieces and nephews,' Melissa says. 'We adore them. We get to be the bougie auntie and uncle and do all the ridiculous things, we get to be ... the cool friends for our friend's kids. You get to fill all those roles, do all those things. It's just a different life.' 'I love kids,' L. agrees. 'I will snuggle the s*** out of a baby, but I want to be able to give them back.' She's also uneasy about the current state of the world. 'If I had children, the anxiety I would feel about what we're leaving is terrifying, and I have that thought for my friends' kids, for my nephews. But I don't have it for myself.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ming-Na Wen is 61. She feels like she's in her 30s.
If you're surprised to learn that Ming-Na Wen — best known for voicing Mulan in the Disney films alongside roles in ER, The Joy Luck Club and, more recently, the Star Wars franchise — is 61, it might be because she was playing teenagers into her 20s. It also doesn't hurt that, as Wen herself notes, her skin is pore-free. And despite being a Hollywood veteran who has weathered motherhood and menopause — the latter of which 'kicked me in the ass,' she tells me during our call for Yahoo Life's Unapologetically series — the actress has managed to embrace aging while maintaining a youthful spirit. 'I don't know what 61 feels like. I mean, I still feel like I'm in my 30s, I guess,' she says. 'And then there are days when I feel like I'm 14 years old when I meet [someone] like Jackie Chan or when I geek out at Mark Hamill in his Jedi outfit on set. ... It just depends on the circumstances.' Her Karate Kid: Legends co-star Chan, who is 10 years her senior, also set an example for career longevity, Wen says. 'He's still vying for roles, he's still hungry to create stories and content for himself. That's what keeps pushing me,' she shares. Here, she talks about this latest era of her career, her all-natural approach to beauty and why she's excited to play moms after always being cast as daughters. Wow, no, not at all. ... I think the idea that I would have a long career like this is something you dream about. But you never know. Your fear is always, OK, this is my last job, this is all I'm gonna get. And then you just fade off into the sunset. It happens to a lot of actors. So I'm very grateful. [As an Asian American actress] you're constantly just fighting for roles, and especially back then, there were so few and far between. So you're scrambling and your agents are scrambling to try to find parts that were not written specifically for an Asian. And I did, you know, obtain a lot of those roles ... but you were just fighting for scraps back in those days. I feel like it's such a combination of luck, fate, hard work and having the right team of people who believe in you and want to see you succeed. ... Having a belief in yourself, that this is your destiny and that you have to keep pursuing it and not quitting. Those are, I think, some of the elements that keep propelling me. And then I'm always looking for role models [within] each age bracket. I've always looked up to Betty White, especially now. I look up to Jean Smart. You recognize that the possibilities remain endless. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ming-Na Wen (@mingna_wen) I think being a mom has definitely made me a better actor. When you're a mom, you go through so many emotions and so many intense feelings — everything from vulnerability to inner strength to just growing up and being more observant. And also learning from my own children about who they are and who I am. It's definitely made me a better actor. I always played the daughters, or the young girlfriend and the ingenue. Now to be able to play the moms, I think it goes deeper and it gives me a chance to explore a lot of these more vulnerable and yet powerful emotions. I'm looking forward to what else I can dip my toes into. Well, luckily, with my genetics and my Asian genes, I am so grateful now. When I was younger, I was like, Oh, I wish I didn't look so Asian. You know, you don't appreciate being Asian; you just want to fit in. You want to be like the blond, blue-eyed [type] that you see everywhere, that are the 'Miss Popular' or getting all the lead roles. So now I embrace my culture, I embrace who I am. I love the fact that I can play younger roles. When I was in my 20s, I was playing a teenager. So it just perpetuates. I just hope to always be able to work with great, talented people who can not look at age as the factor in hiring, but instead look at what you can bring to the table. It's about the artistry, it's about the talents, as opposed to how many followers you have on social media. There are people out there who see beyond that, and those are the people that I look forward to working with, because they don't set boundaries for themselves. My reality is always and has always been that just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I can't play the role that wasn't specifically written for an Asian. So just because I'm a woman of a certain age now doesn't mean I [can't] play younger. We've got AI, babe. They can freaking transform me into a teenager if they wanted to. And what's so great is that I do have a childlike, Peter Pan sort of mentality. So I still play Mulan all the time. I still voice her all the time. So I do get to be a bit of a teenager whenever I'm Mulan. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ming-Na Wen (@mingna_wen) We are in a world of plastic surgery, Botox and filters to look as [young] as you can — young with no pores. Luckily, I don't have pores. I mean, this is all natural, babe, all natural right there. But I work at it, you know. I eat healthy, I train. I wish I slept better — I don't — but I work out. I make sure that I do my best because [my body] is my instrument. This is what I'm selling and it's important to keep it [in] its best form possible. With aging, I think if you try to fight what is a natural progression and the honor of getting older, the alternative is you're six feet under. [In] my culture, we do revere the elders and I think it's important to look your best, but it's also important to love the beauty of being more natural. So yeah, I don't mind aging. Sometimes it sucks because parts of your body hurt here and there. I think it's really important never to label how you're supposed to feel at any age. I think it's really important to just feel the best you can feel and be the best you can be and just say 'eff that' to that number. You know, I wish that our moms and our grandmothers had the platform to be open about it rather than feeling like they're going crazy or that they're alone in this struggle. It's real. I've never had postpartum [struggles] when I had kids, I never had really, really bad hormonal imbalance during my menstrual cycles. But menopause kicked me in the ass. ... I was getting panic attacks that I've never had before. I would be lethargic and unable to be motivated to even like, I don't know, do dishes or get up. It was scary because there's a part of me, maybe being an actor, where I can always kind of look in on myself. I'm like, This is not me. This is so not me. Something is wrong, something is happening. And so being able to share that and kind of forewarn younger women that if these things happen to you, be on the lookout, there is help out there, there [are] ways to try to rebalance your hormones and it's nothing to be ashamed about. It's a natural part of our body changing. So why should we be ashamed? You know, it would be like being ashamed that our hair grows. It's so bizarre. And that's the other hormonal thing about [menopause]: I have nose hair. Why is this my reward for perpetuating the human species by being able to give birth? Well, I went to see my doctor and got my hormones checked. My testosterone was really low and that's why I had no motivation to do anything. It's crazy that this is so strong in changing your personality, because I've always been someone who was absolutely motivated all the time to do anything, whether it's gardening, whether it's my arts and crafts, whether it's my work, whether it's raising my kids. So that imbalance altered who I am and I didn't like that person. I didn't like not being motivated to do anything. So he gave me some things for rebalancing my hormones. And it really, really helped a lot. I'm trying to embrace social media because I want to make it fun. It's another way to connect with the audience. ... I just started [TikTok], I don't know why. There's a part of me that's so regretting it. My whole persona or brand will be just like, I play all these badasses and I have these beautiful red carpet things, but that's not what comes home. That's what my husband's always saying when he sees me in a magazine. He's like, 'Can she come home some night?' So I want to show the real me where I'm a goofball. My kids will probably be hating it and feel embarrassed. But yeah, we'll see. Maybe that's my goal, is just to embarrass my kids. The advice that I would give to my 30-year-old self is to not give a shit about what other people think. And to cut [those people] out of your lives as soon as possible, or keep them at a very, very good distance. Because those are the people that you don't need to have in your life. I wish I could have appreciated my youth in my 30s. It's so crazy. I look back at some of my pictures in my 30s and I'm like, Why was I so critical of myself? Look at that hot little lady there. You know, it's so crazy. And I try to instill that in my kids and young people, to just really love being your age right now — or at any age, really. Now I think that way about myself. If I'm lucky enough to live as long as my mom — my mom's going to be 90 — if I'm able to live another 30 years, I'm going to look back and go, Shit, what was I complaining about? Being 60 was young. So yeah, if you're lucky enough to live long, appreciate where you're at now. I love that I can right now just live more in the present. I used to always think about the future. I used to always worry about the future. And I love the fact that, knowing that life is precious, I try very hard to be present and be aware of where I'm at and what I'm experiencing.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ming-Na Wen is 61. She feels like she's in her 30s.
If you're surprised to learn that Ming-Na Wen — best known for voicing Mulan in the Disney films alongside roles in ER, The Joy Luck Club and, more recently, the Star Wars franchise — is 61, it might be because she was playing teenagers into her 20s. It also doesn't hurt that, as Wen herself notes, her skin is pore-free. And despite being a Hollywood veteran who has weathered motherhood and menopause — the latter of which 'kicked me in the ass,' she tells me during our call for Yahoo Life's Unapologetically series — the actress has managed to embrace aging while maintaining a youthful spirit. 'I don't know what 61 feels like. I mean, I still feel like I'm in my 30s, I guess,' she says. 'And then there are days when I feel like I'm 14 years old when I meet [someone] like Jackie Chan or when I geek out at Mark Hamill in his Jedi outfit on set. ... It just depends on the circumstances.' Her Karate Kid: Legends co-star Chan, who is 10 years her senior, also set an example for career longevity, Wen says. 'He's still vying for roles, he's still hungry to create stories and content for himself. That's what keeps pushing me,' she shares. Here, she talks about this latest era of her career, her all-natural approach to beauty and why she's excited to play moms after always being cast as daughters. Wow, no, not at all. ... I think the idea that I would have a long career like this is something you dream about. But you never know. Your fear is always, OK, this is my last job, this is all I'm gonna get. And then you just fade off into the sunset. It happens to a lot of actors. So I'm very grateful. [As an Asian American actress] you're constantly just fighting for roles, and especially back then, there were so few and far between. So you're scrambling and your agents are scrambling to try to find parts that were not written specifically for an Asian. And I did, you know, obtain a lot of those roles ... but you were just fighting for scraps back in those days. I feel like it's such a combination of luck, fate, hard work and having the right team of people who believe in you and want to see you succeed. ... Having a belief in yourself, that this is your destiny and that you have to keep pursuing it and not quitting. Those are, I think, some of the elements that keep propelling me. And then I'm always looking for role models [within] each age bracket. I've always looked up to Betty White, especially now. I look up to Jean Smart. You recognize that the possibilities remain endless. I think being a mom has definitely made me a better actor. When you're a mom, you go through so many emotions and so many intense feelings — everything from vulnerability to inner strength to just growing up and being more observant. And also learning from my own children about who they are and who I am. It's definitely made me a better actor. I always played the daughters, or the young girlfriend and the ingenue. Now to be able to play the moms, I think it goes deeper and it gives me a chance to explore a lot of these more vulnerable and yet powerful emotions. I'm looking forward to what else I can dip my toes into. Well, luckily, with my genetics and my Asian genes, I am so grateful now. When I was younger, I was like, Oh, I wish I didn't look so Asian. You know, you don't appreciate being Asian; you just want to fit in. You want to be like the blond, blue-eyed [type] that you see everywhere, that are the 'Miss Popular' or getting all the lead roles. So now I embrace my culture, I embrace who I am. I love the fact that I can play younger roles. When I was in my 20s, I was playing a teenager. So it just perpetuates. I just hope to always be able to work with great, talented people who can not look at age as the factor in hiring, but instead look at what you can bring to the table. It's about the artistry, it's about the talents, as opposed to how many followers you have on social media. There are people out there who see beyond that, and those are the people that I look forward to working with, because they don't set boundaries for themselves. My reality is always and has always been that just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I can't play the role that wasn't specifically written for an Asian. So just because I'm a woman of a certain age now doesn't mean I [can't] play younger. We've got AI, babe. They can freaking transform me into a teenager if they wanted to. And what's so great is that I do have a childlike, Peter Pan sort of mentality. So I still play Mulan all the time. I still voice her all the time. So I do get to be a bit of a teenager whenever I'm Mulan. We are in a world of plastic surgery, Botox and filters to look as [young] as you can — young with no pores. Luckily, I don't have pores. I mean, this is all natural, babe, all natural right there. But I work at it, you know. I eat healthy, I train. I wish I slept better — I don't — but I work out. I make sure that I do my best because [my body] is my instrument. This is what I'm selling and it's important to keep it [in] its best form possible. With aging, I think if you try to fight what is a natural progression and the honor of getting older, the alternative is you're six feet under. [In] my culture, we do revere the elders and I think it's important to look your best, but it's also important to love the beauty of being more natural. So yeah, I don't mind aging. Sometimes it sucks because parts of your body hurt here and there. I think it's really important never to label how you're supposed to feel at any age. I think it's really important to just feel the best you can feel and be the best you can be and just say 'eff that' to that number. You know, I wish that our moms and our grandmothers had the platform to be open about it rather than feeling like they're going crazy or that they're alone in this struggle. It's real. I've never had postpartum [struggles] when I had kids, I never had really, really bad hormonal imbalance during my menstrual cycles. But menopause kicked me in the ass. ... I was getting panic attacks that I've never had before. I would be lethargic and unable to be motivated to even like, I don't know, do dishes or get up. It was scary because there's a part of me, maybe being an actor, where I can always kind of look in on myself. I'm like, This is not me. This is so not me. Something is wrong, something is happening. And so being able to share that and kind of forewarn younger women that if these things happen to you, be on the lookout, there is help out there, there [are] ways to try to rebalance your hormones and it's nothing to be ashamed about. It's a natural part of our body changing. So why should we be ashamed? You know, it would be like being ashamed that our hair grows. It's so bizarre. And that's the other hormonal thing about [menopause]: I have nose hair. Why is this my reward for perpetuating the human species by being able to give birth? Well, I went to see my doctor and got my hormones checked. My testosterone was really low and that's why I had no motivation to do anything. It's crazy that this is so strong in changing your personality, because I've always been someone who was absolutely motivated all the time to do anything, whether it's gardening, whether it's my arts and crafts, whether it's my work, whether it's raising my kids. So that imbalance altered who I am and I didn't like that person. I didn't like not being motivated to do anything. So he gave me some things for rebalancing my hormones. And it really, really helped a lot. I'm trying to embrace social media because I want to make it fun. It's another way to connect with the audience. ... I just started [TikTok], I don't know why. There's a part of me that's so regretting it. My whole persona or brand will be just like, I play all these badasses and I have these beautiful red carpet things, but that's not what comes home. That's what my husband's always saying when he sees me in a magazine. He's like, 'Can she come home some night?' So I want to show the real me where I'm a goofball. My kids will probably be hating it and feel embarrassed. But yeah, we'll see. Maybe that's my goal, is just to embarrass my kids. The advice that I would give to my 30-year-old self is to not give a shit about what other people think. And to cut [those people] out of your lives as soon as possible, or keep them at a very, very good distance. Because those are the people that you don't need to have in your life. I wish I could have appreciated my youth in my 30s. It's so crazy. I look back at some of my pictures in my 30s and I'm like, Why was I so critical of myself? Look at that hot little lady there. You know, it's so crazy. And I try to instill that in my kids and young people, to just really love being your age right now — or at any age, really. Now I think that way about myself. If I'm lucky enough to live as long as my mom — my mom's going to be 90 — if I'm able to live another 30 years, I'm going to look back and go, Shit, what was I complaining about? Being 60 was young. So yeah, if you're lucky enough to live long, appreciate where you're at now. I love that I can right now just live more in the present. I used to always think about the future. I used to always worry about the future. And I love the fact that, knowing that life is precious, I try very hard to be present and be aware of where I'm at and what I'm experiencing.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ming-Na Wen is 61. She feels like she's in her 30s.
If you're surprised to learn that Ming-Na Wen — best known for voicing Mulan in the Disney films alongside roles in ER, The Joy Luck Club and, more recently, the Star Wars franchise — is 61, it might be because she was playing teenagers into her 20s. It also doesn't hurt that, as Wen herself notes, her skin is pore-free. And despite being a Hollywood veteran who has weathered motherhood and menopause — the latter of which 'kicked me in the ass,' she tells me during our call for Yahoo Life's Unapologetically series — the actress has managed to embrace aging while maintaining a youthful spirit. 'I don't know what 61 feels like. I mean, I still feel like I'm in my 30s, I guess,' she says. 'And then there are days when I feel like I'm 14 years old when I meet [someone] like Jackie Chan or when I geek out at Mark Hamill in his Jedi outfit on set. ... It just depends on the circumstances.' Her Karate Kid: Legends co-star Chan, who is 10 years her senior, also set an example for career longevity, Wen says. 'He's still vying for roles, he's still hungry to create stories and content for himself. That's what keeps pushing me,' she shares. Here, she talks about this latest era of her career, her all-natural approach to beauty and why she's excited to play moms after always being cast as daughters. Wow, no, not at all. ... I think the idea that I would have a long career like this is something you dream about. But you never know. Your fear is always, OK, this is my last job, this is all I'm gonna get. And then you just fade off into the sunset. It happens to a lot of actors. So I'm very grateful. [As an Asian American actress] you're constantly just fighting for roles, and especially back then, there were so few and far between. So you're scrambling and your agents are scrambling to try to find parts that were not written specifically for an Asian. And I did, you know, obtain a lot of those roles ... but you were just fighting for scraps back in those days. I feel like it's such a combination of luck, fate, hard work and having the right team of people who believe in you and want to see you succeed. ... Having a belief in yourself, that this is your destiny and that you have to keep pursuing it and not quitting. Those are, I think, some of the elements that keep propelling me. And then I'm always looking for role models [within] each age bracket. I've always looked up to Betty White, especially now. I look up to Jean Smart. You recognize that the possibilities remain endless. I think being a mom has definitely made me a better actor. When you're a mom, you go through so many emotions and so many intense feelings — everything from vulnerability to inner strength to just growing up and being more observant. And also learning from my own children about who they are and who I am. It's definitely made me a better actor. I always played the daughters, or the young girlfriend and the ingenue. Now to be able to play the moms, I think it goes deeper and it gives me a chance to explore a lot of these more vulnerable and yet powerful emotions. I'm looking forward to what else I can dip my toes into. Well, luckily, with my genetics and my Asian genes, I am so grateful now. When I was younger, I was like, Oh, I wish I didn't look so Asian. You know, you don't appreciate being Asian; you just want to fit in. You want to be like the blond, blue-eyed [type] that you see everywhere, that are the 'Miss Popular' or getting all the lead roles. So now I embrace my culture, I embrace who I am. I love the fact that I can play younger roles. When I was in my 20s, I was playing a teenager. So it just perpetuates. I just hope to always be able to work with great, talented people who can not look at age as the factor in hiring, but instead look at what you can bring to the table. It's about the artistry, it's about the talents, as opposed to how many followers you have on social media. There are people out there who see beyond that, and those are the people that I look forward to working with, because they don't set boundaries for themselves. My reality is always and has always been that just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I can't play the role that wasn't specifically written for an Asian. So just because I'm a woman of a certain age now doesn't mean I [can't] play younger. We've got AI, babe. They can freaking transform me into a teenager if they wanted to. And what's so great is that I do have a childlike, Peter Pan sort of mentality. So I still play Mulan all the time. I still voice her all the time. So I do get to be a bit of a teenager whenever I'm Mulan. We are in a world of plastic surgery, Botox and filters to look as [young] as you can — young with no pores. Luckily, I don't have pores. I mean, this is all natural, babe, all natural right there. But I work at it, you know. I eat healthy, I train. I wish I slept better — I don't — but I work out. I make sure that I do my best because [my body] is my instrument. This is what I'm selling and it's important to keep it [in] its best form possible. With aging, I think if you try to fight what is a natural progression and the honor of getting older, the alternative is you're six feet under. [In] my culture, we do revere the elders and I think it's important to look your best, but it's also important to love the beauty of being more natural. So yeah, I don't mind aging. Sometimes it sucks because parts of your body hurt here and there. I think it's really important never to label how you're supposed to feel at any age. I think it's really important to just feel the best you can feel and be the best you can be and just say 'eff that' to that number. You know, I wish that our moms and our grandmothers had the platform to be open about it rather than feeling like they're going crazy or that they're alone in this struggle. It's real. I've never had postpartum [struggles] when I had kids, I never had really, really bad hormonal imbalance during my menstrual cycles. But menopause kicked me in the ass. ... I was getting panic attacks that I've never had before. I would be lethargic and unable to be motivated to even like, I don't know, do dishes or get up. It was scary because there's a part of me, maybe being an actor, where I can always kind of look in on myself. I'm like, This is not me. This is so not me. Something is wrong, something is happening. And so being able to share that and kind of forewarn younger women that if these things happen to you, be on the lookout, there is help out there, there [are] ways to try to rebalance your hormones and it's nothing to be ashamed about. It's a natural part of our body changing. So why should we be ashamed? You know, it would be like being ashamed that our hair grows. It's so bizarre. And that's the other hormonal thing about [menopause]: I have nose hair. Why is this my reward for perpetuating the human species by being able to give birth? Well, I went to see my doctor and got my hormones checked. My testosterone was really low and that's why I had no motivation to do anything. It's crazy that this is so strong in changing your personality, because I've always been someone who was absolutely motivated all the time to do anything, whether it's gardening, whether it's my arts and crafts, whether it's my work, whether it's raising my kids. So that imbalance altered who I am and I didn't like that person. I didn't like not being motivated to do anything. So he gave me some things for rebalancing my hormones. And it really, really helped a lot. I'm trying to embrace social media because I want to make it fun. It's another way to connect with the audience. ... I just started [TikTok], I don't know why. There's a part of me that's so regretting it. My whole persona or brand will be just like, I play all these badasses and I have these beautiful red carpet things, but that's not what comes home. That's what my husband's always saying when he sees me in a magazine. He's like, 'Can she come home some night?' So I want to show the real me where I'm a goofball. My kids will probably be hating it and feel embarrassed. But yeah, we'll see. Maybe that's my goal, is just to embarrass my kids. The advice that I would give to my 30-year-old self is to not give a shit about what other people think. And to cut [those people] out of your lives as soon as possible, or keep them at a very, very good distance. Because those are the people that you don't need to have in your life. I wish I could have appreciated my youth in my 30s. It's so crazy. I look back at some of my pictures in my 30s and I'm like, Why was I so critical of myself? Look at that hot little lady there. You know, it's so crazy. And I try to instill that in my kids and young people, to just really love being your age right now — or at any age, really. Now I think that way about myself. If I'm lucky enough to live as long as my mom — my mom's going to be 90 — if I'm able to live another 30 years, I'm going to look back and go, Shit, what was I complaining about? Being 60 was young. So yeah, if you're lucky enough to live long, appreciate where you're at now. I love that I can right now just live more in the present. I used to always think about the future. I used to always worry about the future. And I love the fact that, knowing that life is precious, I try very hard to be present and be aware of where I'm at and what I'm experiencing.
