A Rogue One star just joined Disney's live-action Mulan cast

Donnie Yen.
(Image credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

The cast of Disney's live-action Mulan is almost ready to get down to business.

In the past 24 hours, an actor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and two big-name Chinese stars have joined the cast.

Donnie Yen, a martial arts star who played the blind monk Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One, will play Commander Tung, Deadline first reported. Commander Tung, who acts as a mentor to Mulan, is a role created specifically for the live-action film that wasn't in the original version.

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Chinese superstars Gong Li and Jet Li have also joined the cast, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Thursday morning.

Like Yen, Gong is taking on a role that's new to the live-action film: The Beijing-born actress will play the central villain, a witch, signaling another departure from the animated movie. Meanwhile, Li, the martial artist who's been in dozens of American and Chinese action films, is in final talks to play the emperor of China.

Chinese actress Liu Yifei was cast as the title character late last year. The live-action Mulan hits theaters in 2020.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.