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Interview with Ming-Na

In taking on the role of International Oversight Committee (IOA) officer aboard the Destiny in SyFy’s Stargate Universe, actress Ming-Na is exploring perhaps even more uncharted territory than her character, Camile Wray. Stargate’s Camille is the first Asian American lesbian on a primetime broadcast or basic cable show, and one of only a few Asian American lesbian or bisexual characters ever on primetime American TV. She’s also the Stargate franchise’s first lesbian character.

The actress, who began her career on a soap opera (As the World Turns) before getting her big break in The Joy Luck Club (1993) and going on to star in ER (from 1995 to 2004), has embraced her role in the Stargate universe, where soldiers and scientists interact with alien races while aboard an ancient ship locked on an unknown course and unable to return to Earth.

AfterEllen.com recently spoke to Ming-Na about the show and this week’s episode, “Life,” in which we meet Camile’s partner Sharon (played by Reiko Aylesworth) and see more of their relationship, including a kiss.

AfterEllen.com: Congratulations on the success of the series.

Ming-Na:Thank you so much! It’s been a lot of fun, and very exciting that we’re finding our audience.

AE: I guess by now you’ve heard that you’re playing the first Asian American lesbian series regular on a broadcast or cable television show. Did you know that when you took on the role?

MN: (laughs) No, I had no idea that I would be bestowed with the honor of being the first at something, so it’s quite special.

AE: You’ve had such a long and varied career, it’s surprising that you haven’t played a lesbian until now. Although I guess some people might have wondered about Mulan. She was quite the tomboy.

MN: (laughs) Well, she was cross-dressing. That’s a whole different area.

You know when I signed on, she [Camile] was still a character in development, and I was really basing it on a conversation with [series creator] Robert Cooper about where they were envisioning the character, because in the beginning, in the pilot especially, she wasn’t very clearly defined. I think the whole aspect of her being gay was an inspiration on their part.

I don’t know, maybe they were thinking about it all along, but when it was presented to me I felt it was a new challenge as an actor. I’ve never played a lesbian before and I thought it was very fitting for her character.

AE: What kind of feedback have you heard from your LGBT fans about her and the show?

MN: I’ve heard some things through Twitter, but I try not to do too much blogging because … if you’re going to believe the good, you have to believe the bad, you know? So I haven’t heard too much feedback, but I guess I will once the “Life” episode airs [November 20]. On my birthday, kinda nice right? It’s my birthday, my first lesbian kiss on camera …(laughs)

I would love for you to let the [AfterEllen.com] readers know that I do respond quite often on Twitter, so they can always follow me at twitter.com/MingNa and I would love, love to get their responses to the November 20th episode. That would be great for me. I do answer Twitter messages, it’s a great way to keep in touch with the fans.

AE: Can you tell us more about the relationship between Camile and [her partner] Sharon? I know they’re light years away from each other, but I’m assuming that regardless of the physical distance the relationship will develop and we’ll learn more about their lives together.

MN:Well, I really think that their relationship will be the most stable and most loving of any relationship on the series. Which to me is a wonderful take on showcasing a lesbian relationship that is extremely healthy and supportive. And yet they are put through the wringer as far as the challenges the separation brings.

And you’ll see in “Life” that there is such a bond between them, and to be ripped away from each other … it will be very heart-warming to see that kind of love between two women showcased on television.

AE: Often when a lesbian relationship is introduced on a show, that isn’t the case. It can be a sweeps week stunt, or the relationship will develop in a direction in which the woman doesn’t end up being a lesbian or something like that. We don’t often get to see those stable relationships portrayed. It’s a real shame.

MN: Yeah, and it’s really lovely. I was watching The Oprah Show with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi, I was listening to them talk about their relationship and looking at their wedding pictures and stuff, and for me, that’s how I feel Camile’s relationship with Sharon is. It’s just love, and it shouldn’t be something that’s controversial. It’s a beautiful thing when two people really care about each other.

So that brought to me a lot of connection when I was watching that particular episode of Oprah. I love Ellen anyway, but it was just great to see she’s so happy right now and that she’s really standing up for the image of what a gay woman is, and that you can be successful, you can be loveable, like anyone else. You like them for who they are, you get the whole package.

AE: What are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding the upcoming body-swapping storyline? So much has been written about that, especially about the body swap between Camile and Eleanor Perry.

MN:I believe that episode (“Sabotage”)* airs in the second half of the season. Like I said, that was all misconstrued and I think once they see the episode, they will have a completely different response to it. It was extremely emotional on many levels for me to play as an actress, playing a quadriplegic. It really makes you appreciate … I mean, I always appreciate health anyway.

People will ask “Why are you so happy?” and I say, “Because everybody I love is healthy right now and I’m healthy and that’s all that matters.” When you’re playing a quadriplegic, it really makes you appreciate how lucky you are if you can pick up a pen, or stand up or sit down when you want too.

And I think the other stuff that’s been expressed has been misunderstood. In the previous episode that has aired, Colonel Telford and Colonel Young exchange bodies and there is an understanding, an underlying understanding, that once you do that, you forfeit your right to your body at that point. And, for me, I feel that if that’s true for all the other characters, then it would sort of be prejudicial not to do that with the gay character.

It’s almost like it has to be equal in every way. But this particular storyline [the “Life” episode] doesn’t address what was the big controversy in the breakdowns.

*Editor’s note: The SyFy network had this to say about the “Sabotage” episode:

Syfy worked closely with Stargate Universe producers in introducing a quadraplegic storyline for future air, to ensure that this very serious subject matter was handled responsibly and with sensitivity. We researched, worked directly with all involved, including executive producers, writers and actors to bring honesty, dignity and understanding to a very sensitive and heartfelt situation. SGU fans can expect a strong episode with emotional performances and a wonderful story about overcoming hardship, love and most of all respect.

AE: Yes, the initial thing that some people were upset or disappointed by was information from the breakdowns. Some people felt like, “We finally have a lesbian character on a show, and when we do see her having physical intimacy with someone, it’s with a man.” I mean, are we going to see the straight male characters, when they have a body swap, having sex with other guys?

MN:As you can see with the “Life” episode, when we see her with her partner, it kind of negates that controversy anyway.

The great thing that I know and that I’m positive about is that the writers from Stargate Universe, all of them, are so respectful and for this series they want to draw out great characters who have real emotional issues and things that happen to them that people can relate to. I fully trust what their sensibilities are, the stories they want to tell.

In “Life,” when you watch it … the responses from the people that have watched it, has been all positive. So I’m 100 percent confident that people will enjoy it.

AE: In terms of the controversy, you’re probably also experiencing runoff from so many other shows that have let lesbians and bisexual women down…

MN:Being an Asian woman, I’ve got the double whammy of being Asian and being a woman in this business, so I completely empathize and totally understand the sensitivity of a minority group.

And I think that’s why I felt challenged to take on the part of Camile, because for me I really had an innate understanding of why she could sometimes come off as having a big chip on her shoulder, because she’s had to, in so many ways. Not just being an Asian woman, but also being a gay Asian woman in a man’s world and fighting for what she believes she deserves.

And in the previous episodes, you can see the hinting at some of the stuff she’s had to come up against in trying to get promotions. So, it’s just a wonderful discovery of who she really is and the strength that she has as a person to overcome all those obstacles and to reach the level of authority she has in the IOA. And a lot of it comes from the support she has from Sharon as well.

So for me, it’s been really interesting to show her vulnerability because she doesn’t have that support anymore on Destiny. These are really human issues, and that’s what I love about the show. It takes place in outer space, we have aliens, the crazy stargate … but ultimately, they’re relatable characters.

AE: Is that struggle (dealing with three types of discrimination in this environment) going to be a bigger part of her story throughout the season?

MN: I think you see it in the way she handles situations, whether it’s confrontations with Colonel Young or Colonel Telford, or whether it’s dealing with Rush, even. You see different levels in how she relates to the people around her.

That’s what I love, that it’s not just expository scenes, but there are moments in a person’s life in which they’re in a workplace and have to deal with a particular person or issue. You deal with it based on who you are and where you’re coming from.

With Camile, that’s what you see. Even in the scene with Colonel Young, in which he’s saying, “Look, I’m going to have a lottery,” she says, “No, let’s think about this. Don’t you want the people who will have the best chance to survive on this planet?” And she doesn’t present it in a way where it’s like, “Well, you have to listen to me because I’m an IOA officer.” She’s trying to present it in a way where it’s like, “Look, there are other solutions to the problem.”

So you see her intellect and you see her various ways of trying to deal with authority (the military, let’s say). But when she’s batted down, then you see the fire in her come out. And yet at the same time, there’s the other layer of her own vulnerability, of not wanting to die. I just love all of that about her. She’s just not what you would expect an IOA officer to be.

That’s what I’ve always loved about the science fiction genre, It’s always been sort of like a morality play. In anything that you read about, whether its Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov. Though they’re set in these fantastical worlds, ultimately they’re about peoples’ morals. That’s why I love the way that this series has been approached. It’s more the type of science fiction I’ve always enjoyed.

AE: I was going to ask if you enjoyed science fiction before Stargate, and it sounds like you have.

MN:Yes, well, and one of the great female heroes of all time would be Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, I mean, come on! (laughs) It doesn’t get better than that.

AE: Would you like to play a role like that?

MN:As long as I don’t get hurt! (laughs)

AE: I want to go back a little to what we were talking about before, in terms of the portrayal of minority groups in television. There are probably more portrayals of Asian American people in film and television now than before, but certainly it’s not where it could be. What are your thoughts on that, and how have things changed in the industry since you entered it.

MN:Do you mean for Asian Americans, or for actors?

AE: Both in terms of characters you’re seeing in pop culture and also your experience as an actor.

MN: Well I think there’s been great leaps and bounds. What I notice oftentimes, which is so fantastic for my kids, is that there are so many many animations which have an Asian character incorporated. And that never happened when I grew up. And sometimes there are whole series that have all Asian characters. That to me, is just incredible.

It’s an extreme leap in allowing my children to also have an image of themselves in these animations early in their lives. They’re not going to have the same issues feeling like they don’t belong, feeling like an outcast, or feeling like they don’t have representation of themselves, like how I grew up.

I grew up always treated like I was a foreigner, and had a non-Anglo name. But for me, those were the obstacles that made me stronger. In that sense I think it’s great; it’s never enough. I don’t take it personally, a lot of time its economics, as far as I’m concerned.

If there were more Asians in American, there would be more Asians depicted in the American media. If you go to Vancouver, where we shoot Stargate Universe, there are a lot of Asians in Vancouver and in every other commercial you see an Asian.

To me, its sometimes an economic issue more than a racial issue. And I don’t take that personally.

With the gay community, you guys are an extremely wonderful, vocal, strong, united group, and I wish Asian Americans were more that way. And you know, you guys knock it out of the ball park a lot of times. You get a lot of changes happening, you also get a lot of opposition. So hopefully, being a Buddhist, I always believe in accepting and staying open and I’m hoping more and more people lean that way, as time goes on.

AE: That’s why these portrayals in popular culture make a difference in the political landscape. They give people a face, a person to relate to when they think of a label. Which is why having your character on the show is important to LGBT people, it makes a difference.

MN:I appreciate that. And sometimes it makes me really nervous because as an actor you do what is on the page, and so that’s why I have a lot of trust in my writers. Because if i didn’t, there might be a lot of conflicts ahead that we’d have to deal with. But because I trust them, that’s the other reason why I took on the job, it’s an artistic group effort. And so far so good.

I’ve been really happy with the character that they’ve been creating with Camile and I’m really excited. I hope we see Season Two and just keep building on great characters.

To read more about the body-swapping controversy, click here.

The “Life” episode of Stargate Universe airs this Friday, November 20, at 9:00 PM on SyFy.

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