There’s a bright new star in a galaxy far, far away.
), and crisscrossed the galaxy as aStar Warsmercenary (Fennec Shand onThe Mandalorian).
She had assumed they wanted her forThe Mandalorianseason 3.
Ming-Na Wen.Illustration by HSIAO-RON CHENG for EW
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Wen has learned to trust the process.
After all, she initially joinedThe Mandalorianforjust a single episode.
But her character was killed off before the credits rolled.
Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’.Lucasfilm
“I kept joking, ‘you could’t kill an alum, dude!'”
“‘C’mon, we’ve got to figure out something here.
There’s gotta be nepotism.
We’re both Yinzers!'”
Eventually, Filoni agreed.
Now the very-much-alive pair are setting off on their own adventure.
“They’re both bounty hunters, and they do adhere to a certain level of respect and honor.
Wen speaks of theStar Warsuniverse with the kind of nerdy reverence that can only come from a lifelong fan.
She still remembers seeing 1977’sA New Hopeand identifying with Luke Skywalker’s journey.
“Those were my two worlds,” she says.
“I would pray to God, Buddha, and the Force.
I still do when I get on a plane.”
She’s so great at that: her looks and glares and smirks.”
Playing an elite assassin also involved extensive stunt work.
After seven seasons onS.H.I.E.L.D., Wen was no stranger to complicated action scenes, butBoba Fettpresented new challenges.
She’s the real deal."
Growing up, she remembers drawing versions of herself as Han Solo or Luke Skywalker.
Now those doodles have become reality.
“That’s the message I think [Star Wars] gets across: It can happen to anyone.
It’s those stories that I really believe in.”
