Rosalind Chao is an American actress, born on September 23, 1957, in Anaheim, California. She grew up in a family that ran a successful pancake restaurant near Disneyland, where she worked from an early age. Her parents were involved in Peking opera, which influenced her interest in performing. She attended Pomona College and later earned a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California.

     Chao initially considered a career in journalism, working as a radio newswriting intern at KNX, but ultimately returned to acting. She gained recognition for playing Soon-Lee Klinger, a South Korean refugee, in the final episodes of MASH* (1983) and its sequel AfterMASH (1983–1984). She later starred as Rose Hsu Jordan in The Joy Luck Club (1993) and appeared in films such as What Dreams May Come (1998) and The Laundromat (2019).

     In Star Trek, Chao portrayed Keiko O’Brien, a botanist and wife of Chief Miles O’Brien, in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She was originally considered for the role of Tasha Yar, but the part went to Denise Crosby. Chao turned down a full-time role on Deep Space Nine to focus on her family but continued to appear in recurring episodes throughout the series.

      More recently, she played Hua Li, Mulan’s mother, in the live-action Mulan (2020) and starred as Ye Wenjie in 3 Body Problem (2024).