Lucy Liu
(1968)
Lucy Liu is an American actress and artist. She was a Charlie’s Angel and was the voice of Viper in ‘Kung Fu Panda’. She has held several exhibitions of her painting and photography. She regularly donates the profits of her shows to UNICEF, for whom she is an ambassador. Liu is probably the most well-known Asian-American in the world.
Liu was born in 1968 and raised in Queens, New York by Taiwanese immigrant parents. She did not learn English until she was five years old. Her parents pushed her hard to study and she managed to get into a prestigious New York high school. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Languages and Cultures.
Liu took up acting in 1989. She got lucky and landed small TV parts. She had a four-year stint in the popular TV series Ally McBeal. She played the feisty Ling Woo and audiences loved her. She hit the big time in 2000 in ‘Charlie’s Angels’. In 2003, Liu played the evil O-Ren Ishii in ‘Kill Bill’ and won the MTV award for Best Movie Villain.
Liu is known for her charitable work. In 2006, she starred in ‘3 Needles’, a movie about HIV/AIDS. She agreed to receive a fraction of the usual pay because she wanted to raise awareness of AIDS in China. She has traveled to Pakistan, Lesotho and other countries with UNICEF. She has also highlighted the impact of human trafficking in Asia.
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BIOGRAPHY
Lucy Alexis Liu (born Lucy Liu; December 2, 1968) is an American actress, artist, narrator, and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002) for which she was nominated for both a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Perfomance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series. She has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Payback, Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.
In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT original series Southland in the recurring role of Jessica Tang, for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress. She is currently one of the two series lead actors of the CBS television crime drama, Elementary, based on the story of Sherlock Holmes, playing the role of Joan Watson. In 2008, she was the series lead of her own Television show, the ABC comedy-drama, Cashmere Mafia, which was short-lived and ended after one abbreviated season. The show is one of only a few American television shows with an Asian American series lead.
In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT original series Southland in the recurring role of Jessica Tang, for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress. She is currently one of the two series lead actors of the CBS television crime drama, Elementary, based on the story of Sherlock Holmes, playing the role of Joan Watson. In 2008, she was the series lead of her own Television show, the ABC comedy-drama, Cashmere Mafia, which was short-lived and ended after one abbreviated season. The show is one of only a few American television shows with an Asian American series lead.
EARLY LIFE
Lucy Liu was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted her middle name "Alexis". She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, who was trained as a civil engineer but sold digital clock pens. Her parents worked many jobs when Lucy and her siblings were growing up. Both of Liu's parents were immigrants of Chinese descent. She has an older brother, John, and an older sister, Jenny.
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 five years old. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986. She enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian languages and cultures. In Michigan, Liu worked as a waitress.
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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 five years old. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986. She enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian languages and cultures. In Michigan, Liu worked as a waitress.
CAREER
1989 - 1999
In 1989, Liu auditioned 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, 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." In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen.
Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. She was cast in both The X-Files in "Hell Money" and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in "The March to Freedom", before landing 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 an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a high-class BDSM prostitute with links to the Chinese mafia.
2000 - 2006
Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels films, alongside Dres Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and earned more than $125 million in the United States. Charlie's Angels earned a worldwide total of more than $264 million. The sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opened in June 2003 and also did well at the box office, earning more than $100 million in the U.S. and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. In contrast, Liu 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. Liu starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake". In a 2001 episode of Sex and the City entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing a new client of character Samantha Jones who does public relations. She starred in the Sex and the City–inspired TV show, Cashmere Mafia on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on the animated shows Futurama (as herself and/or robot duplicates thereof in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket") and The Simpsons (on the season 16 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan").
In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm (aka Cypher). Soon thereafter, she appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. She won an MTV Award for "Best Movie Villain" for the part. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of Joey with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angelsfilms. 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 Harnett. 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006. Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman.
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 (for which she was ranked number 41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"), 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.
In 2007 Empire named Liu number 96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars." 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). Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.
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. In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is an American Sherlock Holmes adaption, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men. 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. She received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress for this role.
In August 2011, Liu became a narrator for the musical group The Bullitts. Liu stars as Joan Watson, a version of Dr. John Watson, in the CBS crime drama Elementary, a contemporary update of Sherlock Holmes, in which she stars opposite Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes. Liu's double duty as an NYPD consultant onElementary and an LAPD officer on Southland won her praise from TV Guide in their "Cheers & Jeers 2012" issue, which cheered her "arresting performances".
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PERSONAL LIFE
Liu has been romantically linked to Zach Helm, Will McCormack, and Noam Gottesman.
Liu has been romantically linked to Zach Helm, Will McCormack, and Noam Gottesman.
Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography. She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16-years-old, and became a photographer and painter. In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to Unicef.She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits to Unicef.
In 2001 Liu was the spokesman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. In 2005 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries. She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. Liu produced Traffic to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia. Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility. Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and she became a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011.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.
In 2001 Liu was the spokesman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. In 2005 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries. She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. Liu produced Traffic to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia. Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility. Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and she became a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011.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.
FILMOGRAPHY
FILMTELEVISION
VIDEO GAMES
