Pull out your karaoke machines and queue up your Disney songs, because the lead in Niki Caro’s live-action version of Mulan has finally been cast!
After searching for a year for the perfect star, Chinese actress Liu Yifei – also known as Crystal Liu – has been cast in the title role.
Image via Getty
For the few people who aren’t familiar with the Disney classic from the 90s, Mulan tells the story of a young Chinese girl who pretends to be a male solider in order to take her sick father’s place in the Chinese military. It’s also responsible for some of Disney’s best songs, including ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You’ and ‘Reflections’ (and we’ll argue with anyone who pretends like they haven’t belted out the latter during a karaoke session)
The search took a full year, due in part to the studio being adamant that the role should go to someone of Chinese heritage and who had believable martial arts skills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcLIfSC4OE
Liu has previously been seen in The Forbidden Kingdom and The Chinese Widow, but this will be her first major leading role in an English-language film.
No word yet on whether Eddie Murphy will reprise his role (somehow) as the little talking dragon, Mushu, but we’ve got our fingers crossed!
Now excuse us as we re-watch Mulan a million times before 2019.
