The Book of Boba Fett’s Ming-Na Wen on Feedback From Star Wars Fans: “Warms My Heart”

Ming-Na Wen opens up about the reception of The Book of Boba Fett and the heartfelt feedback from Star Wars fans. A spinoff of The Mandalorian, where Wen first played elite mercenary and master assassin Fennec Shand, the Disney+ series teaming Wen with Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. After reprising her role in Season 2 of Mandalorian, Wen returns as the consigliere of Lord Fett, self-appointed Daimyo of Mos Espa on Tatooine, to navigate the criminal underworld of the Star Wars galaxy in The Book of Boba Fett. 

“It’s been wonderful because the fans are loving the show, we’re getting such positive feedback, and that just warms my heart because this show is so, so special to me,” Wen said on Good Morning America‘s GM3: What You Need to Know. “They love Fennec, which is an added bonus. Everybody knew that Boba Fett was the legendary character, and it’s nice to be able to come through with a new character.” 

A lifelong Star Wars super-fan, Wen voiced her deadly character on the animated The Bad Batch before taking her place at Fett’s side in The Mandalorian spinoff created by Jon Favreau and showran by Robert Rodriguez. Though she was seemingly fatally shot in The Mandalorian Season 1 episode “The Gunslinger,” Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni revived the fan-favorite​ with The Book of Boba Fett revealing how the ex-bounty hunter saved her life​ on the sands of Tatooine.  

“The determining factor [in Shand’s survival] might have been several things. One, I looked really cool in the outfit,” Wen previously told ComicBook with a laugh. “I really felt like, because I knew this world so much, that when this character was presented to me and I did a lot of research, I took inspiration from her name, you know, worked on the hair design with Maria [Sandoval, hair designer], and then just clicked with Dave when he was directing and we got to know each other.”

On signing on to Star Wars only to seemingly be killed off, Wen said, “I had no idea Boba Fett was going to come and save her. That blew me away. They didn’t even tell me … to wait and find out everything was just this wondrous, magical surprise, like winning the golden ticket.”

New episodes of Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.

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