Ming-Na Wen has enjoyed a remarkable career spanning television, film and voice acting, but one of the most enduring parts of her life has taken place away from Hollywood’s spotlight. The actress has been married to actor and screenwriter Eric Michael Zee since June 16, 1995.
More than three decades after they first met, Wen and Zee remain together and have built a family with two children. Their marriage has also survived the demands of a long entertainment career, with both maintaining creative lives of their own.
In 2025, the couple marked an especially meaningful milestone: their 30th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, they recreated a photograph from their original Hawaii elopement, with Wen once again wearing the wedding dress she wore in 1995.
Their First Meeting
Wen and Zee first crossed paths in 1993, in an encounter that almost sounds like the opening scene of a romantic comedy.
Wen needed transportation to the premiere of The Joy Luck Club, the movie that would become one of the defining early projects of her acting career. Her acting instructor arranged for another student, Eric Michael Zee, to drive her to the event.
The two did not immediately become a couple. Their friendship eventually developed into something more, and they began dating after Wen relocated permanently to Los Angeles.
That chance ride ultimately led to a relationship that has lasted for more than 30 years.
The Hawaii Elopement
Wen and Zee married on June 16, 1995, choosing an intimate Hawaii elopement rather than a large Hollywood wedding.
The couple later looked back on that day when their 30th anniversary arrived in 2025.
For the milestone, Wen and Zee recreated their original wedding portrait in Hawaii. The most striking detail was Wen’s dress: she wore the same wedding gown she had worn three decades earlier.
The recreation gave the anniversary celebration a personal quality that went beyond simply marking the passage of time. It connected the couple’s present-day marriage directly to the beginning of their life together.
Their Children
Wen and Zee have two children, daughter Michaela and son Cooper.
Michaela Zee was born in November 2000, while Cooper Dominic Zee was born in October 2005.
The couple have largely kept their children’s private lives away from the constant attention surrounding Wen’s career. However, Michaela has followed her mother’s professional path in one notable area: voice acting.
That connection has created another link between the generations of the family.
Michaela’s Career
Michaela Zee has pursued voice work, giving her an opportunity to build a career connected to entertainment while establishing her own professional identity.
Her mother’s career includes some of the most recognizable voice roles in modern animation, most notably the title character in Disney’s Mulan. Wen has also voiced characters in numerous other animated projects.
For Michaela, working in voice acting means entering an area of the entertainment business where her mother’s experience provides a natural point of connection.
Cooper
The couple’s younger child, Cooper Dominic Zee, was born in 2005.
Unlike his mother, who has spent decades in the public eye, Cooper has generally maintained a considerably lower profile.
Wen and Zee have not made their children’s personal lives a regular part of their public presence. That approach has allowed the family to maintain a degree of privacy despite Wen’s status as a recognizable actress.
A Creative Couple
Both Wen and Zee have backgrounds in entertainment.
Wen’s career has included television dramas, major studio films, animation and the Star Wars universe. She became particularly well known for roles including Melinda May in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian and related Star Wars projects.
Zee has worked as an actor and screenwriter, giving the couple an understanding of the unusual schedules and pressures that come with working in the entertainment industry.
Their shared professional background may also have helped them navigate the practical demands of a long marriage in Hollywood.
The Fennec Surprise
Zee has also shown that their marriage still has plenty of room for humor.
Wen has shared stories about her husband’s elaborate surprises, including one particularly memorable gift connected to her Star Wars career.
Zee commissioned a life-sized bronze statue of Wen’s character Fennec Shand. He reportedly kept the enormous piece hidden in the garage before revealing it during a dinner gathering.
Wen jokingly described her husband as a “lunatic” over the unexpected gift.
The story offered fans a rare glimpse into their personality as a couple: affectionate, playful and comfortable enough to laugh at each other’s eccentricities.
Her Earlier Marriage
Before meeting Zee, Wen was married to writer Kirk Aanes.
That marriage took place in the early part of her career and lasted from 1990 until 1993.
Her relationship with Zee began shortly after that marriage ended. They have now spent far longer together than either of Wen’s earlier relationships, making their three-decade partnership the defining marriage of her adult life.
30 Years Together
Reaching 30 years of marriage is a significant milestone for any couple, particularly for two people who have spent much of their adult lives working in entertainment.
For Wen and Zee, the anniversary was an opportunity to revisit where their story began.
The decision to recreate their original wedding photograph in Hawaii, complete with Wen’s original dress, reflected how much their relationship has remained connected to its beginnings.
They have since raised two children, navigated demanding careers and continued supporting one another through the changing entertainment industry.
Ming-Na Wen’s career has taken her from The Joy Luck Club to Disney animation, Marvel and Star Wars, making her one of the most recognizable Asian American actresses of her generation.
Through all of those professional chapters, Eric Michael Zee has remained her husband and longtime partner.
Their story began with an unexpected ride to a movie premiere in 1993 and led to an elopement in Hawaii two years later. More than 30 years on, the couple are still together, with two grown children and a collection of memories that includes one very well-preserved wedding dress.
For a Hollywood marriage that began quietly, Wen and Zee’s relationship has proved remarkably enduring—and their 30th-anniversary recreation showed that, after all these years, they can still find a reason to celebrate the moment where it all started.
