Rosalind Chao

Acting

Rosalind Chao

Born 1957-09-23 · Los Angeles, California, USA

​Rosalind Chao (born September 23, 1959) is an American actress of Chinese heritage. Chao's most notable roles are as South Korean refugee Soon-Lee Klinger on CBS' AfterMASH, as Keiko O'Brien on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dr. Kim on The O.C., Rose Hsu Jordan in The Joy Luck Club (1993), and Hua Li, Mulan’s mother, in the live-action version of Mulan (2020). Chao is married to voice actor Simon Templeman; they have 2 children. She began acting at the age of five in a California-based Peking opera traveling company at the instigation of her parents who were already heavily involved, and during the summers they sent her to Taiwan to further develop her acting skills. As a child, she played the daughter of a laundry owner (played by James Hong) on the 1970 episode of Here's Lucy entitled "Lucy the Laundress". For some time, Chao worked at Disneyland as an international tour guide. Deciding not to pursue acting, Chao enrolled in the communications department at the University of Southern California where she earned her degree in journalism. However, after spending a year as a radio newswriting intern at the CBS-owned Hollywood radio station KNX, she soon returned to acting. Her big break was with the role of Soon-Lee, a South Korean refugee, in the final episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H. Soon-Lee married longtime starring character Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr) in the series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", the most-watched U.S. sitcom television episode of all time as of 2021. Chao continued playing the character in the M*A*S*H sequel series: AfterMASH (1983), her first role billed at co-starring status. Chao regularly portrayed the Japanese exo-botanist Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She was also originally considered for the part of Enterprise security chief Tasha Yar. She's had recurring roles as Miss Chung on season 5 of Diff'rent Strokes, Li Ying on season 5 of Falcon Crest, Dr. Judith Lin on Citizen Baines, Dr. Kim on seasons 1 & 3 of The O.C., Pastor Jin on Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment B, Mrs. Wu on Sin City Saints, Caroline on Better Things, and Tina Tchen on The First Lady. She's guest starred on numerous shows including This is Us, Code Black, The Catch, black-ish, The OA, Hawaii Five-O, Castle, Forever, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Bones, The Event, CSI, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, According to Jim, Six Feet Under, The Parkers, Monk, Without a Trace, Dharma & Greg, Once and Again, The West Wing, Family Law, ER, Brimstone, Chicago Hope, Murder She Wrote, thirty something, Jake & the Fatman, Miami Vice, Beauty and the Beast (1988), The A-Team, St. Elsewhere, Riptide, M*A*S*H,One Day at a Time (1981), Emergency!, The Incredible Hulk (1978), Here's Lucy, and more. She has starred in several movies including The Joy Luck Club, North (1994), What Dreams May Come, Impostor, I Am Sam, Freaky Friday (2003), Just Like Heaven, Mulan (2020) as Mulan’s mother, Together Together, and The Starling. In 2019, Chao was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences citing her contributions to critically acclaimed films The Joy Luck Club and I Am Sam.

Acting credits

Mulan poster
6.8

When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Chinese Army to defend the country from Huns, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. She is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. Disguised as a man by the name of Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her innermost strength and embrace her true potential.

Mulan

2020

Freaky Friday poster
6.6

Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.

Freaky Friday

2003

The Laundromat poster
6.0

When a widow gets swindled out of insurance money, her search for answers leads to two cunning lawyers in Panama who hide cash for the superrich.

The Laundromat

2019

Freakier Friday poster
6.8

Years after Tess and Anna endured an identity crisis, Anna now has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the myriad challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover lightning might indeed strike twice.

Freakier Friday

2025

I Am Sam poster
7.6

Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.

I Am Sam

2001

What Dreams May Come poster
7.2

Chris Nielsen dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he died, his wife Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in Hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven.

What Dreams May Come

1998

Just Like Heaven poster
7.0

Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts that the apartment is hers -- and promptly vanishes. When she starts appearing and disappearing at will, David thinks she's a ghost, while Elizabeth is convinced she's alive.

Just Like Heaven

2005

Impostor poster
6.1

A top-secret government weapons designer is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile alien race wanting to take over Earth.

Impostor

2001

Three Blind Mice poster
5.2

A lawyer defends a man he's known since serving together in Vietnam, who has been accused of murdering three Vietnamese immigrants. Now he'll have to fight against a tenacious district attorney, and evidence connected to the man's wife.

Three Blind Mice

2001

Memoirs of an Invisible Man poster
5.9

After a freak accident, an invisible yuppie runs for his life from a treacherous CIA official while trying to cope with his new life.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man

1992

The Man from Elysian Fields poster
5.9

A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.

The Man from Elysian Fields

2001

Tragedy Girls poster
6.0

McKayla and Sadie, two death-obsessed teenage girls, use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small Midwestern town into a frenzy and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.

Tragedy Girls

2017

The Joy Luck Club poster
7.2

Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.

The Joy Luck Club

1993

Magic Camp poster
6.9

Andy, at the urging of his former mentor and Magic Camp owner Roy Preston, returns to the camp of his youth hoping to reignite his career. Instead, he finds inspiration in his ragtag bunch of rookie magicians.

Magic Camp

2020

The Big Brawl poster
5.9

A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.

The Big Brawl

1980

North poster
5.0

Eleven-year-old North has had it with his parents. They are always busy with their careers and don't give North the attention he needs, so he files a lawsuit against them. The judge rules that North should either find new parents or return to his own parents within two months. Thus North starts off on a journey around the world to find parents that really care about him.

North

1994

Love Affair poster
5.5

Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. They become romantic on board a ship sent to take them to a larger island. They agree to meet in New York three months later to see if the attraction is real. One shows up but the other doesn't. However, a chance meeting brings them together again.

Love Affair

1994

Plus One poster
6.8

Longtime single friends, Ben and Alice, agree to be each other's respective plus one at every wedding they're invited to, during a busy summer of wedding fever.

Plus One

2019

The Starling poster
6.9

A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward.

The Starling

2021

Going Berserk poster
5.1

John Bourgignon, a drummer-chauffeur engaged to the daughter of a United States senator, encounters a sleazy film director, the leader of an aerobics cult, and other crazed characters in the days leading up to his wedding.

Going Berserk

1983

Sacramento poster
6.3

When free-spirited Rickey suddenly reappears in father-to-be Glenn’s life, the two former best friends embark on a spontaneous road trip from LA to Sacramento.

Sacramento

2025

Together Together poster
6.4

When young loner Anna is hired as the surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s, the two strangers come to realize this unexpected relationship will quickly challenge their perceptions of connection, boundaries and the particulars of love.

Together Together

2021

Bride of the Incredible Hulk poster
6.7

In one of the saga's most emotional stories, David Banner travels to Hawaii to find Dr. Caroline Fields, a psychiatrist who has developed a hypnotherapy technique that could cure him. Discovering they share the burden of an incurable condition—Caroline suffers from a terminal illness—the two fall in love and marry, offering Banner a glimpse of happiness. However, tragedy looms when Jack McGee's relentless pursuit and a devastating hurricane threaten their brief moment of peace.

Bride of the Incredible Hulk

1980

The End of Violence poster
5.4

In Hollywood, the lives of a successful film producer, his wife, a police detective and a surveillance agent intersect after a botched abduction.

The End of Violence

1997