'Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai' Star Ming-Na Wen on Voicing Matriarch in Max Series (Exclusive)

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is now streaming on Max and tells the origin story of Gizmo and his owner Sam Wing (known as Mr. Wing in the movies). The story is set in 1920, and a young Sam has the task of taking Gizmo to his home. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Ming-Na Wen who voices Sam's mother, Fong Wing, in the animated series. She explained how her character is strong on the outside but is very vulnerable as well. 

"She's a medicine woman," Wen exclusively told PopCulture. "She knows Chinese medicine and she runs a shop with her husband Hong. She's very modern for someone who is from the 1920s in Shanghai. Where she's very equal with her husband, and at the same time, just takes no prisoner. She's very protective of Sam. When it comes time to do extraordinary things, she is brave enough to come up with ideas and concepts, even though deep down inside she's scared and nervous and worried and less confident, but she won't show it on the outside."

As the official synopsis states, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai "takes viewers back to 1920s Shanghai where the Wing family first meets the young Mogwai called Gizmo (AJ LoCascio). Voiced by Izaac Wang, Sam Wing accepts the dangerous task to take Gizmo home and embarks on a journey through the Chinese countryside. Sam and Gizmo are joined by a teenage street thief named Elle (Gabrielle Nevaeh), and together, they encounter—and sometimes battle—colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. Along their quest, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist named Riley Greene (Matthew Rhys) and his growing army of evil Gremlins."

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is a prequel to the 1984 film Gremlins and the 1990 film Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Wen remembers seeing the films when they were released and is happy the animated series kept the same energy as the films. 

"The title was Gremlins and I went to see it, I was like, oh, my gosh, that's a Mogwai, which I grew up with," Wen said. "It's like this Chinese folklore. So that really piqued my interest. Then all the scary, the dark comedy, it's so good. I think Steven Spielberg, John Dante, and Tze Chun, they really made sure to keep that aspect that made Gremlins, the original Gremlins, so lovable."

New episodes of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai debut every Tuesday on Max.