Gong Li is confirmed as the film's villain
Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Gong Li will join the cast of Disney’s live-action Mulan remake.
According to the Hollywood Reporter Gong Li will play Mulan‘s villain and Jet Li is in final talks to play the emperor of China.
In November, it was revealed that Liu Yifei AKA Crystal Liu will star as Mulan in Disney’s upcoming. It has now been confirmed that Beijing-born Jet Li, Guangzhou-born Donnie Yen and Liaoning-born Gong Li will join the film too.
Jet Li, whose film history includes Shoalin Temple, Once Upon a Time in China, Lethal Weapon 4, Romeo Must Die, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and The Expendables, is in final talks to play the emperor of China who orders the mobilisation of troops through conscription.
Donnie Yen is set to play a new character, Commander Tung, who is “a mentor and teacher to Mulan”. Yen’s acting credits include Star Wars: Rogue One, Ip Man, xXx: Return of Xander Cage and Fist of Fury. The Hong Kong based actor recently criticised his Star Wars: Rogue One character as being a “cliché”. “I don’t want to portray another stereotypical Chinese martial-arts man,” he said.
Gong Li’s film repertoire includes Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, Curse of the Golden Flower and Coming Home. Li won two Best Actress awards for The Story of Qiu Ju. She is set to play a powerful witch, who is the villain in Mulan. The 1998 animated version of Mulan’s antagonist was leader of the invading Huns, Shan Yu.
New Zealand-based Chinese-Vietnamese actress Xana Tang (Filthy Rich, The Letdown, Dead Lucky) will play Mulan’s sister.
In related news, Korean American actor Soon Tek Oh, who voiced the father of Mulan in Disney’s 1998 animated version, died at the age of 85 after a long fight with Alzheimer’s.