Disney has unveiled the first look at star Liu Yifei, who plays the titular role in the upcoming Mulan movie.
The actress, who is known as Crystal Liu, plays the Chinese heroine who disguises herself as a man to take her father’s place in the military.
30-year-old Yifei is said to be fluent in English, having grown up partly in New York. She is nicknamed ‘Fairy Sister’ for her delicate looks and history of roles in fantasy dramas.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Yifei beat more than 1,000 candidates for the role in filmmaker Niki Caro’s (The Zookeeper’s Wife) upcoming film.
Other cast members include Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Gong Li and Jet Li. The movie is being filmed in in New Zealand and China.
Disney has a string of live action remakes in the works including The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Aladdin.
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Recent Disney classics remakes include Beauty and The Beast (2017), which stars Emma Watson, and The Jungle Book (2016).
Mulan is released in cinemas on March 27 2020.