Lucy Liu

**Lucy Liu** (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and artist who has worked in both television and movies. She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards and has won a Critic's Choice Award and a Seoul International Drama Award. She has also been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and has received nominations for three People's Choice Awards and two Saturn Awards.

Liu is best known for her roles as Ling Woo in the television series *Ally McBeal* (1998–2002), Alex Munday in two *Charlie's Angels* films (2000 & 2003), Master Viper in the *Kung Fu Panda* franchise (2008–2016), Silvermist in the *Tinker Bell* series (2008–2015), and Joan Watson in the crime-drama series *Elementary* (2012–2019). Her film work includes starring in *Payback* (1999), *Shanghai Noon* (2000), *Chicago* (2002), *Kill Bill: Volume 1* (2003), *Lucky Number Slevin* (2006), *The Man with the Iron Fists* (2012), and *Set It Up* (2018). Her other voice credits include *Mulan II* (2004), as well as the English and Mandarin-dubbed versions of *Magic Wonderland* (2014) and *The Tale of the Princess Kaguya* (2013).

## Early life

Liu was born on December 2, 1968, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted a middle name, Alexis.[2] She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, a trained civil engineer who sold digital clock pens.[3][4] Liu's parents originally came from Beijing and Shanghai and immigrated to Taiwan as adults before meeting in New York.[3][5][6][7] She has an older brother, John,[8][9][10][11] and an older sister, Jenny.[12] Her parents worked many jobs while Lucy and her siblings were growing up.[13]

Liu has stated that she grew up in a diverse neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin at home and began studying English when she was 5.[14] She studied the martial art *kali-eskrima-silat* as a hobby when she was young.[15] Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School.[1] She later enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian languages and cultures. She worked as a waitress at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase club circa 1988–89.[16]

## Acting career

### 1990–99

At the age of 19, while traveling on the subway, Liu was discovered by an agent. She did one commercial.[17] As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group,[18] she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigan's production of *Alice in Wonderland* during her senior year of college. Although she had originally tried out for only a supporting part,[19] Liu was cast in the lead role. While queuing up to audition for the musical *Miss Saigon* in 1990, she told *The New York Times*, "There aren't many Asian roles, and it's very difficult to get your foot in the door."[20] In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in *Fairy Bones*, directed by Tina Chen.[21]

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. In 1992, she made her big-screen debut in the Hong Kong film *Rhythm of Destiny*, which starred Danny Lee and Aaron Kwok.[22] In 1993, she appeared in an episode of *L.A. Law* as a Chinese widow giving her evidence in Mandarin.[23] She was cast in both *Hercules: The Legendary Journeys* in "The March to Freedom" and *The X-Files* in "Hell Money". In 1995 she played a young Chinese single mother of a 4 year old with AIDS on the second season of ER for 3 episodes. In 1996, Liu landed her first role in the main cast of a television series, that of Amy Li in *Pearl* alongside Rhea Perlman and Malcolm McDowell.

Shortly after the end of *Pearl's* run in 1997, Liu was cast in a role on *Ally McBeal*. Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned a Primetime Emmy Award[24] nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.[19] In *Payback* (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a high-class BDSM prostitute with links to the Chinese mafia.

### 2000–06

Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the film *Charlie's Angels*, alongside Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and earned more than US$125 million in the United States. *Charlie's Angels* earned a worldwide total of more than US$264 million. The sequel, *Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle*, opened in June 2003 and also did well at the box office, earning US$100 million in the U.S. and a worldwide total of more than US$259 million. Liu also starred with Antonio Banderas in *Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever*, a critical and box office failure.

In 2000, she hosted *Saturday Night Live* with Jay-Z. In a 2001 episode of *Sex and the City* entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing Samantha Jones' new client. She starred in the *Sex and the City*–inspired TV show *Cashmere Mafia* on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on *Futurama* (as herself and robot duplicates) in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket", and on *The Simpsons* in the season 16 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan".

In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's *Brainstorm* (a k a *Cypher*). Soon thereafter, she appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, *Kill Bill*. While in negotiations for *Kill Bill* with Tarantino the two joined together to help produce the Hungarian sports documentary *Freedom's Fury*.[25] She won an MTV Award for Best Movie Villain for her part in *Kill Bill*. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of *Joey* with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the *Charlie's Angels* films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film *Chicago* and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller *Domino*. In *Lucky Number Slevin*, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. *3 Needles* was released on December 1, 2006, Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman.[26]

### 2007–present

In 2007 Liu appeared in *Code Name: The Cleaner*; *Rise*, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter[14] (for which she was ranked number 41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires");[27] and *Watching the Detectives*, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of *Charlie Chan*, which had been planned as early as 2000.[19] Liu guest-starred as lawyer Grace Chin on *Ugly Betty* in the 2007 episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake".

In 2007 *Empire* named Liu number 96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".[28] The producers of *Dirty Sexy Money* created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George (Peter Krause).[29] Liu voiced Silvermist in *Disney Fairies* and Viper in *Kung Fu Panda*.[19] In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award–winning play *God of Carnage* as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer, and Dylan Baker.[30]

In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for *Elementary*. *Elementary* is an American Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men.[31] She has gained praise for her role as Watson, including three consecutive nominations for the People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actress. She also has played police officer Jessica Tang on *Southland*, a television show focusing on the lives of police officers and detectives in Los Angeles, as a recurring guest actor during the fourth season.[32] She received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress for this role.[33]

In August 2011, Liu became a narrator for the musical group The Bullitts.[34][35] In 2013, Liu was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[36] Liu was named Harvard's 2016 Artist of the Year. She was awarded the Harvard Foundation's arts medal at the annual Harvard Foundation Award ceremony, during the Cultural Rhythms Festival in Sanders Theatre. She is also part of the cast in the post-apocalyptic thriller *Future World*, directed by James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung.[37] In 2019, Liu received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

## Other ventures

### Directing

Liu first started directing in 2015, with a movie, titled *Meena*. The movie is based on a true story about an eight-year-old Indian girl who is sold to a brothel. It was screened in New York City in 2014.

Liu's other directorial credits include 6 episodes of *Elementary*, an episode of *Graceland*,[38] the episode *Dearly Beloved* of *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*, the second-season premiere of *Luke Cage*[39] and the episode “Marriage Don’t Break Up on Account of Murder - It‘s Just a Symptom That Something Else Is Wrong” of ‘’Why Women Kill’’.

### Visual arts

Liu had previously presented her artwork under a pseudonym, Yu Ling (which is her Chinese name).[3][40] Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had several gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.[41] She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter.[42] Liu attended the New York Studio School for drawing, painting, and sculpture from 2004 to 2006.[43]

In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.[42][44] She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Her painting, "Escape", was incorporated into Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection and was shown during Art Basel Miami 2008, which showed works by contemporary American artists.[43] Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits from the NYC Milk Gallery gallery show to UNICEF.[45] In London, a portion of the proceeds from her book *Seventy Two* went to UNICEF.[46]

Her first national museum exhibition was held at the National Museum of Singapore in early 2019[47] and was titled "Unhomed Belongings."[48]

## Philanthropy

In 2001, Liu was the spokeswoman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education.[49] In 2004 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[46] She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.[19]

Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for *Visibility*.[50] She also hosted an MTV documentary, *Traffic*, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. In 2008, she produced and narrated the short film *The Road to Traffik*, about the Cambodian author and human rights advocate Somaly Mam. The film was directed by Kerry Girvin and co-produced by photographer Norman Jean Roy. This led to a partnership with producers on the documentary film *Redlight*.[51][52]

Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for same-sex marriage, and became a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011.[53] She has teamed up with Heinz to combat the widespread global health threat of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin and mineral malnutrition among infants and children in the developing world.[54]

## Personal life

In 1991, Liu underwent surgery after a breast cancer scare. "The doctor sort of felt and said it was cancer and it needs to come out. I went into shell-shock. It was pretty traumatizing." The lump was removed just two days after the doctor's examination and was found to be benign.[55]

Liu has studied various religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Jewish mysticism. She has stated, "I'm into all things spiritual—anything to do with meditation or chants or any of that stuff. I studied Chinese philosophy in school. There's something in the metaphysical that I find very fascinating."[15] In a 1999 interview with Us Weekly, Liu claimed to have had a sexual encounter with a ghost.[56]

She has been a member of the Chinese-American organization Committee of 100 since 2004.[57]

Liu is a single parent by choice. She has a biological son, Rockwell, who was born in 2015 via gestational surrogate.[58][59] Commenting on choosing the method, she states that it was the right option for her as she was busy working at the time.[60] Since the beginning of motherhood, Liu has been heavily involved in celebrating multidimensional familial structures. One major campaign she was involved in was Tylenol's #HowWeFamily Mother's Day Campaign.[61]