Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an
American actress. She became known for her role in the television series
Ally McBeal (1998–2002) as the vicious and ill mannered
Ling Woo, and has also appeared in several notable film roles, including
Charlie's Angels,
Kill Bill and
Kung Fu Panda.
Early life
Lucy Liu was born and was raised with her brother, John 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 in Taiwan 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 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 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).
Liu played 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 and/or robot duplicates thereof 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 [[SSX TAe kayo
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, which met with less success, but later gain
cult followings among her fans, 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
(for which she was ranked number forty-one on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"); and
Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring
Cillian Murphy. 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". 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 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). She is the voice for Silvermist in
Disney Fairies franchise. She also appeared in
Kung Fu Panda, an animated film in which she voiced Viper.
Personal life
In a
Jane interview, 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. She speaks Chinese (Mandarin), English, Italian,
[ Spanish, and a little Japanese, a language she studied in preparation for her role in Kill Bill.]
Liu is also an artist in several media, and has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.[Live with Regis and Kelly. First aired on January 21, 2008.] 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.
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.Filmography
Television
TV guest appearances
Producer
