I'm not one of those actresses that's going to feel like I never achieved my dreams and goals and just get disgruntled and hate everything about the business. I've had so much fun.

I think on 'ER,' my other long-running show, I had some ideas about what's going on. 'Stargate Universe,' they were kind of secretive too a little bit about what they wanted to do, but I kind of liked working this way. I like the surprises, and I like knowing just enough to work on the character.

I'm trying to show I'm a trained actress - I can transform myself into different characters. I'm not just an ingenue.

I hope Hong Kong and Asia wants to hire American Asian actresses as much as Hollywood has been hiring Chinese actors from Asia.

I'm like Madonna: I'm Ming-Na. Just my first and middle name. That's it. Pure and simple.

There's just so much love that goes into home cooking, and I think it will really help the American family overall. I'm hoping to maybe get a cookbook out one day because I've got some great family recipes.