It Looks Like Disney Finally Did Something Right With Its Mulan Reboot

When it comes to these live action reboots of Disney movies, it’s hard to get earnestly excited. Between the overhyped and underwhelming “exclusively gay moment” in Beauty and the Beast, the casting controversy of Aladdin, and the Mulan spec script that centers the story about a white traveling merchant, I’m not exactly confident in the studio’s various reboots. But Disney has given us a little bit of hope with its casting for Mulan.

It was announced today that, after a search across five continents over a year, Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, would be portraying the legendary warrior—a role which calls for, as Hollywood Reporter writes, “credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak English and the most ineffable requirement of all: star quality.” (LOL but also true.)

Yes: Disney has made a Mulan out of Liu.

Liu is a successful model, singer, and actress in China, having appeared in television shows and films since 2003. She’s also worked on a number of international co-productions like The Forbidden Kingdom, an American-Chinese film starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li; Outcast, a 2014 American-Canadian-Chinese film starring Hayden Christensen and Nicolas Cage, and Night Peacock, a Chinese-French film.