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Lucy Liu
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Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an Taiwanese American actress. She became known for her role in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002) and has also appeared in several notable film roles, including Chicago, Kill Bill, and the Charlie's Angels films. She signed on to join the cast of Dirty Sexy Money.
Liu was born and was raised with her brother, Alex Liu, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York by Taiwanese immigrant parents.
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Encyclopedia
Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an Taiwanese American actress. She became known for her role in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002) and has also appeared in several notable film roles, including Chicago, Kill Bill, and the Charlie's Angels films. She signed on to join the cast of Dirty Sexy Money.
Biography
Early life
Lucy Liu was born and was raised with her brother, Alex Liu, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York by Taiwanese immigrant parents. Liu has said that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood. Her family spoke Mandarin at home and she did not learn English until she was five years old. Her father, Tom, was a civil engineer and her mother, Cecilia, a biochemist, but they sacrificed those careers to come to the United States. Liu, at her parents' insistence, devoted her spare time to studying. She attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145) and she graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School in 1986. She attended New York University for one year, before transferring to the University of Michigan where she joined the Chi Omega sorority and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Asian Languages and Cultures. At one point, Liu worked as a waitress in Michigan.
Career
Liu began acting in 1989, after auditioning for a role in the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year. Liu was cast in the lead role, although she had originally only tried out for a supporting part. Liu had small roles in films and TV (including the "Hell Money" episode of The X-Files and "The March to Freedom" episode on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) 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 not meant to be regular but the enthusiastic audience response to the actress' 'feisty' Ling Woo secured Liu as a permanent cast member. It also earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Liu cemented her reputation playing bad girls by portraying "Pearl" the sadistic dominatrix/hitwoman for the Chinese mafia in the film Payback (1999).She played the role of Silvermist in Tinkerbell the movie
With her turn as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels film, alongside established Hollywood stars Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and was a hit, earning more than $125 million in the U.S., and a worldwide total of more than $264 million. The sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opened in June 2003 and was a box-office hit again, earning more than $100 million in the U.S., and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. In between the two films, Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a critical and box office failure.
Liu next played O-Ren Ishii, one of the major villains in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. She won an MTV Movie 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 Angels movies. She also had smaller roles as Kitty Baxter in the film Chicago, and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino. In 2006, she played leading lady and love interest to Josh Hartnett in the crime thriller Lucky Number Slevin. Other appearances include a cameo on the animated shows Futurama (as herself in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket" and The Simpsons (on the season sixteen episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan"), a guest host on an episode of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live in 2000 (musical guest" Jay-Z), and the voice of Elise in SSX Tricky.
In April 2006, the documentary Freedom's Fury premiered, with Liu as executive producer. The film dramatizes the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, climaxing with the infamous water polo showdown between Hungary and the Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, known as the 'Blood in the Water match'.
Her film 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006. In the film, she plays Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman. Liu agreed to star in the film for lower than usual pay because she wanted to spread awareness about the way AIDS is improperly treated in China and Thailand. Liu's other recent roles include Code Name: The Cleaner, an action comedy released January 5, 2007; Rise, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter; Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy; and Kung Fu Panda, an animated film in which she voiced Viper. Liu has also signed on to star in a new version of Charlie Chan which has been in pre-production since 2000; she will produce both films.
Liu has guest starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake". She stars in the Sex and the City inspired TV show, Cashmere Mafia on ABC. In 2007, Empire magazine named her among the "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".
In 2008, after pitching an interest in being part of the hit new show Dirty Sexy Money, the producers immediately created a role for her as a series regular. She plays the role of Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney that faces Nick George (played by Peter Krause).
Personal life
In a Jane interview, she indicated the possibility that she is naturally bisexual. She is quoted as saying,
"I think people sometimes get the wrong impression when they're like, 'Oh, well, so-and-so was straight and then she was gay, and now she's straight again,' you know? But it's like, how many times do I have to kiss a woman before I'm gay? Everybody wants to label people. Sometimes you just fall in love with somebody, and you're really not thinking about what gender or whatever they happen to be. I think that if I happen to fall in love with a woman, everyone's going to make a big deal out of it. But if I happen to fall in love with a man, nobody cares."
With her parents' work ethic, Liu continued, "I'm always multi-tasking, doing 10 things at once". She is the aunt of Nelson Chang and Cindy Meng, Co-Founders of Alpha Science Learning Centers in Temple City, California according to the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper September 2, 2007 issue. She speaks English, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, Spanish, and a little Japanese, a language she studied in preparation for her role in Kill Bill. She also rock climbs, practices martial arts, skis, and plays the accordion.
Liu is also an artist in several media, and has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography. She started doing collage mixed media at 16 and then moved to photography and later painting. Lucy Liu had an art show in September and she donated her share of the profits to UNICEF. She also has another show in 2008 in Munich and has stated that she will also donate her share of the profits to UNICEF.
In 2001, Liu was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. In 2005, Liu was appointed a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Ambassador; in that capacity, she has traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among other countries. She also hosted an MTV documentary for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007, produced to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia. Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility, since she is considered the most well-known and visible Asian American in the media today. She is also the first Asian American woman to host Saturday Night Live.
Liu has said about her background, "when you grow up Asian-American it’s difficult because you don’t know if you’re Asian or you’re American. You get confused... You need to recognize where your background is from. I think it’s important. Just for yourself. It makes you more whole. It does."
She lives with her brother and his wife in New York.
Television
- Beverly Hills, 90210 - Season 2, Episode 6 - "Pass, Not Pass" (1991)
- L.A. Law - Season 8, Episode 4 - "Foreign Co-respondent" (1993)
- Hotel Malibu - Season 1, Episode 2 - "Do Not Disturb" (1994)
- Coach - Season 7, Episode 2 - "It Should Happen to You" (1994)
- Coach - Season 7, Episode 11 - "Out of Control" (1994)
- Home Improvement - Season 4, Episode 16 - "Bachelor of the Year" (1995)
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Season 1, Episode 8 - "The March to Freedom" (1995)
- ER - Season 2, Episode 3 - "Do One, Teach One, Kill One" (1995)
- ER - Season 2, Episode 4 - "What Life?" (1995)
- ER - Season 2, Episode 5 - "And Baby Makes Two" (1995)
- Nash Bridges - Season 1, Episode 1 - "Genesis" (1996)
- The X-Files - Season 3, Episode 19 - "Hell Money" (1996)
- High Incident - Season 1, Episode 6 - "Father Knows Best" (1996)
- High Incident - Season 1, Episode 7 - "Follow the Leader" (1996)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 7 - "Ticket to ride" (1996)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 8 - "Homecoming: Part 1" (1996)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 10 - "Lessons in Love" (1996)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 12 - "Christmas Daze" (1996)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 13 - "Power Play" (1997)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 15 - "Mission ImPearlsible" (1997)
- NYPD Blue - Season 4, Episode 17 - "A Wrenching Experience" (1997)
- Pearl - Season 1, Episode 21 - "My So-Called Real Life" (1997)
- Dellaventura - Season 1, Episode 2 - "Pilot" (1997)
- Michael Hayes - Season 1, Episode 8 - "Slaves" (1997)
- Ally McBeal - Seasons 2-5, 37 episodes (1998–2002)
- Sex and the City - Season 4, Episode 11 - "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" (2001)
- Jackie Chan Adventures - Season 4, Episode 11 - "J2: Rise of the Dragons" (2004)
- Jackie Chan Adventures - Season 5, Episode 11 - "J2 Revised" (2005)
- Joey - Season 1, Several Episodes (2004-2005)
- King of the Hill - Season 7, Episode 3 - "Bad Girls, Bad Girls Whatcha Gonna Do "
- The Simpsons - Season 16, Episode 12 - "Goo Goo Gai Pan" (2005)
- Ugly Betty - Season 1, Episode 16 - "Derailed" (2007)
- Ugly Betty - Season 1, Episode 17 - "Icing on the Cake" (2007)
- Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special - Host of an MTV documentary to raise awareness about human trafficking in Asia (2007)
- Ben & Izzy - Season 1, Episodes 1-13 - Voice-acting for one of the main characters (2007)
- Cashmere Mafia
- Futurama - Season 3, Episode 15, Starring as herself (and robot copies of herself)
- Dirty Sexy Money - Season 2-, Nola Lyons
Cinema
External links
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