Chao's parents were instrumental in her decision to pursue acting. She began acting at the age of five, in the California-based Peking opera traveling company with which her parents were involved. During the summer, they sent her to
Taiwan for further acting study and experience. As a child, she played the daughter of a laundry owner (played by
James Hong) on a 1970 episode of ''
Here's Lucy'', "Lucy the Laundress". 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 a year as a radio newswriting
intern at the CBS-owned Hollywood radio station
KNX, which aired on February 28, 1983, and was the
most-watched US sitcom television episode of all time as of 2021. Chao repeated the role in the
M*A*S*H sequel series,
AfterMASH (1983), her first role billed at co-star status. During the development of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Chao was considered for the role of
Enterprise security chief
Tasha Yar. The role ultimately went to
Denise Crosby, but Chao was later cast in a recurring role as Japanese
exo-botanist Keiko O'Brien, which she reprised on
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In August 2018, Chao was cast as Mulan's mother in the 2020 live-action retelling of
Mulan. In 2019, she was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, citing her contributions to the critically acclaimed films
The Joy Luck Club and
I Am Sam. ==Personal life==