The Stargate Actress You Forgot Had A Cameo In Young Sheldon

If you're a fan of "Young Sheldon," you probably remember Dr. Carol Lee, a physics expert and former member of IBM's Watson Research Center, played by Ming-Na Wen. The character only shows up in one episode — season 5's "A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles" — but she makes a pretty significant impact on the titular young Sheldon Cooper, played by Iain Armitage. What you might not know is that Wen was also a major part of "Stargate Universe," where she played Camile Wray.

I'll back up for one second, though — what's Carol Lee's deal on "Young Sheldon?" Well, in "A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles," Dr. Lee joins the Experimental Cosmology Center at East Texas Tech, where she meets Sheldon, Dr. Grant Linkletter (Ed Begley Jr.), and Dr. John Burgess Whitney Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) after being appointed by the university's president Linda Hagermeyer (Wendie Malick). Dr. Lee's purpose is, more or less, to mediate friction between Linkletter and Sturgis, though she is a bit baffled by Sheldon's lack of social graces as well. (This irritates Sheldon, who feels as if he's not being taken seriously by the scientist.) At the end of the episode, Dr. Lee and Linda drink together and talk about how tricky it is to be a woman in their line of work, meaning academia.

On "Stargate Universe," Wen plays Camile, a lesbian who works as the head of the International Oversight Advisory on the show's main vessel, Destiny. Though Wen was downgraded to a recurring role after just a few episodes, Camile eventually became a regular again — which feels important, considering that she's the first openly gay character in the history of the entire "Stargate" franchise.

In an interview with TV Insider after "A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles" in 2022, Ming-Na Wen said she had a blast working on "Young Sheldon" [...], particularly because it felt similar yet completely different when she compared it to many of her previous roles. "What I love is I get to put the men in their place. Par for the course for me, isn't it?" Wen quipped. "Usually I have to worry about fight scenes; this, sometimes I don't know what I'm saying."

"Sheldon challenges her and disputes her theories, but he also finds himself in a situation he's not familiar with — being challenged and outsmarted," Wen continued, speaking to Sheldon's preternatural intelligence and how Dr. Lee handles him. "Everybody else sees Sheldon as a threat and an annoyance. I wanted to take a more maternal approach, set boundaries for him, and nurture his talents."

Even though Sheldon and Dr. Lee butt heads during the episode, Wen also opened up about working with Iain Armitage, and she had nothing but praise for the young performer. "What a remarkable, charming, funny kid," Wen gushed. "He was trying to teach me Russian. I asked his mom, 'Do you speak Russian?' And she's like, 'No. During the COVID lockdown, he was bored, so he decided to learn Russian.' He is Sheldon." (We always knew the "Young Sheldon" casting was perfect, but this confirms it.)

Asked if she would return to "Young Sheldon," Wen was enthusiastic: "I was like, 'Oh, please, please bring me back.' I want to be the Betty White of Asian American actors! [Laughs] That is my ultimate dream, to be able to do a sitcom in my 90s." Even though Wen didn't return as Dr. Carol Lee before "Young Sheldon" ended in 2024, she may well still get that wish about doing sitcoms well into her old age ... because the actress has been a major TV fixture for years.

After getting her start in the 1993 film adaptation of Amy Tan's book "The Joy Luck Club," Ming-Na Wen jumped to television thanks to "ER," Michael Crichton's long-running medical drama on NBC. Though Wen's character, Jing-Mei Chen, leaves as a medical student at the end of the show's first season, she returns in season 6 — using the Anglicized name Debra "Deb" Chen — and remains until the show's 11th season, and throughout her storylines, Wen delivers some truly unforgettable performances (especially in a heartbreaking plotline where she gives up a baby for adoption in season 7).

"ER" helped raise Wen's profile, and after that, she voiced the title character in Disney's animated hit "Mulan," appeared on comedies like "The George Lopez Show" and "Two and a Half Men," and, of course, joined the "Stargate" franchise in "Stargate Universe" in 2009. In recent years, you've probably seen Wen on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as Agent Melinda May, on "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" as Fennec Shand, and even popped up on "Hacks" on HBO Max in its second season. There's no question that Wen is one of the most recognizable actresses on television, which she's earned throughout the years. Her turn on "Young Sheldon" was simply a victory lap for the actress.

"Young Sheldon" is available to stream on HBO Max and Netflix now, including the episode in season 5 that features Wen.