Turning Red is a coming-of-age tale about Mei Lee, a 13-year old girl of Cantonese descent who turns into a red panda every time she feels an intense emotion, thanks to a curse that affects the women in her family. In order to keep her panda in check, Mei will have to understand who she really is while she also navigates her first years as a teenager and all that teenagehood entails, such as first crushes, bullies in school, and long-standing friendships.
To carefully create this beautiful tale full of interesting characters, Pixar assembled a top-notch cast, full of Asian-descent actors and actresses. Some of these actors are familiar faces that the fans may recognize immediately, but others are fairly new to the film industry, which makes Turning Red the perfect platform to showcase their talents.
10 James Hong Voices Mr. Gao
In order to seal Mei's panda, the Lee family needs to perform a ritual under the red moon. To achieve this, they need the help of one of their elderly neighbors, Mr. Gao, a trained shaman who apparently has been a part of all the Lee women's rituals. If Mr. Gao's voice sounds familiar, this is because he's voiced by James Hong.
Chinese-American actor James Hong has a long-standing career of around 70 years. He became widely known in the '50s for his role as Barry Chan in The New Adventures of Charlie Chan. More recently, fans may remember Hong as Mr. Ping, Po's adoptive father in Kung Fu Panda, Azmorigan in Star Wars Rebels, and Chi-Fu, the emperor's annoying advisor in Mulan.
9 Tyler Was Voiced By Tristan Allerick Chen
Tyler Nguyen-Baker starts as Tyler, Mei's nemesis at school. Tyler is always present during Mei's more awkward moments and he has no problem mocking her. However, by the end of the film, Mei and her friends discover Tyler is also a fan of 4*Town, the boy band that they love, so he becomes another member of their friend squad.
The actor behind Tyler's voice is Tristan Allerick Chen. Besides voicing Tyler, he played a minor role in WandaVision as the Commercial Kid. Additionally, he provided additional voices in Ron's Gone Wrong and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Chen's career only started in 2020, but he's surely on his way to stardom.
8 Ava Morse Lent Her Voice For Miriam
Miriam Mendelsohn is one of Mei's best friends. She's a tomboyish and caring girl with a peculiar love for the color green. Although the movie doesn't explore her character completely, Miriam can be a bit of an outcast. The movie implies she's Mei's closest friend since she's the one that takes care of Mei's Tamagotchi when they get into a fight.
Miriam is voiced by Ava Morse, an American actress, singer, and dancer whose career started fairly recently. Before working on Turning Red, she voiced Ava in the 20th Century Studios film Ron's Gone Wrong. Additionally, she has been working in theater since she was a child.
7 Hyein Park Voices Abby
Abby is Mei's loudest friend. She's a short but feisty 13-year-old with a cartoonish personality that reminds people of anime characters. Abby is of Korean descent, hence her last name, Park. This background is also noticeable when she starts speaking Korean during an anger crisis.
Like Abby, Hyein Park, Abby's voice actress, is Korean-Canadian. Turning Red is her first voice role. However, Park has been working with Pixar for a while as a storyboard artist. Her art can be found in Soul, Toy Story 4, and Bao, which was directed by Turning Red's director, Domee Shi.
6 Priya Is Voiced by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Priya Mangal is a deadpan and skeptical girl who enjoys young adult literature. Like her friends, she's a 4*Town fan. Additionally, she's seen dancing with a goth girl during Tyler's friend in the film, which suggests she may be bisexual. Andrea Goh, a Turning Red animator, confirmed Priya is queer.
Priya's voice actress is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. She's best known for her role as Devi Vishwakumar in the Netflix show Never Have I Ever and is voicing Zipp Storm in the My Little Pony: Make Your Mark series. Funnily enough, Ramakrishnan is only 20 years old, which means she was only one year old during the events of the movie, which is set in 2002.
5 4*Town Is A Fictional Band That Includes Many Voice Actors
In Turning Red, Mei's main goal is to attend the upcoming concert of her favorite band, 4*Town, a fictional boy band formed by Aaron Z., Aaron T., Robaire, Jesse, and Tae Young. This fictional boy band is, in a way, the glue that binds Mei to her friends, so it's a very important element of the film.
In order to recreate the 2000s vibe of a boyband, the Turning Red producers took inspiration from older boy bands such as *NSYNC and O-Town. The band has three songs, sung by Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva, and Finneas O'Connell aka FINNEAS, who created the music alongside his sister, Billie Eilish.
4 Orion Lee Is Mei's Father, Jin
Although Turning Red mainly focuses on Mei's problematic relationship with her mother, Ming, the teenager also has a father, Jin. He's a kind and quiet man who seems to blend into the background until almost the end of the film when he comforts Mei and helps her mend her relationship with Ming.
Jin Lee is voiced by Australian actor Orion Lee who has been in the film industry since 2010. In addition to Turning Red, Lee's most famous works include the film First Cow, the TV series Critical, and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, where he plays Suday Bascus a warrant officer for the First Order.
3 Wai Ching Ho Voices Wu, Mei's Grandmother
Mei's grandmother, Wu, is a strict but loving woman who represents the ideology of previous generations in the Lee family. Due to her expectations of her own daughter, her relationship with Ming has been damaged in the same way that Ming's bond with Mei is problematic. Like all women in her family, Grandma Wu has a red panda of her own, which she keeps hidden.
Granda Wu is voiced by Hong Kong actresss Wai Ching Ho. Fans may recognize her for her role as Madame Gao in the Marvel series Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. However, Ching Ho has a career of more than 30 years. She has appeared in several episodes of Law & Order and more recently, she played Le-Wei in Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens.
2 Sandra Oh Lent Her Voice For Ming, Mei's Mother
Turning Red's deuteragonist is Ming Lee, Mei's mother. Although she isn't a villain, Ming is an overbearing mother, which makes Mei resent her. Even though she has good intentions, Ming doesn't realize that what Mei wants for her life isn't the same as she did. The plot of the movie revolves around the mending of this mother-daughter relationship.
Ming Lee was voiced by Sandra Oh. Originally known for her role as Christina Yang in Grey's Anatomy, Oh has recently become more famous thanks to her role as Eve Polastri in Killing Eve. Turning Red isn't the first time Oh has played a Disney character. She voiced Virana in Raya and the Last Dragon and Princess Ting-Ting in Mulan II.
1 Mei Was Voiced By Rosalie Chiang
Meilin "Mei" Lee is a confident and quirky 13-year-old enjoying her life in Toronto who finds herself caught in the middle of her mother's expectations for her and what she really wants from life. Due to a family curse, Mei turns into a red panda whenever she feels a strong emotion. Instead of hiding this part of her personality, she chooses to embrace it.
Actress Rosalie Chiang voices Mei Lee. Born in California, Chiang is of Taiwanese and Singaporean descent. This is her first major role in the film industry. Before Turning Red, she starred in short films and commercials. Besides acting, Chiang has published two poetry books: A is for Albatross: Birds A to Z and A is for Arowana: Freshwater Fish A to Z.