Lucy Liu

Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, singer 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), and 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.

Personal life
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, morning, noon and night trying to make ends meet. Both of Liu's parents were immigrants from Taiwan and are 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 Chinese at home and began studying English when she was five years old.

Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145). She 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.

In 2004, Liu was engaged to Zach Helm, whom she had met the year before. She called off the engagement at the year's end. In 2005, Liu was dating Will McCormack. She began a relationship with Noam Gottesman in 2010.

Career
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 only tried out for a supporting part, Liu was cast in the lead role. She told The New York Times in 1990 while queuing up to audition for the musical Miss Saigon: "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 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.

Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels film with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and was a hit, earning 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 was also ranked highly, 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 sixteen 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 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.

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 #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 #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.

Activism
Liu speaking at the USAID Human Trafficking Symposium in September 2009.

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 spokesperson 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
1992 Rhythm of Destiny

1993 Protozoa

1995 Bang

1996 Jerry Maguire

1997 Flypaper

1997 Riot

1997 Gridlock'd Cee-Cee

1997 City of Industry

1997 Guy

1998 Love Kills

1999 Payback

1999 True Crime

1999 Molly

1999 The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human

1999 Play It to the Bone

2000 Shanghai Noon

2000 Charlie's Angels

2001 Hotel Kawikar

2002 Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

2002 Cypher

2002 Chicago

2003 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

2003 Kill Bill Volume 1

2004 Mulan II

2004 Kill Bill Volume 2

2005 3 Needles

2005 Domino Taryn

2006 Lucky Number Slevin

2007 Code Name: The Cleaner

2007 Rise: Blood Hunter

2007 Watching the Detectives

2008 Kung Fu Panda

2008 The Year of Getting to Know Us

2008 Tinker Bell

2009 Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure 2010

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

2010 Nomads

2011 Detachment

2011 Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games

2011 Kung Fu Panda 2

2011 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

2012 Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings

2012 The Trouble with Bliss

2012 The Man with the Iron Fists

Television
1996–1997 Pearl

1998–2002 Ally McBeal

2004 Game Over

2004–2010 Maya and Miguel

2008 Ben & Izzy

2008 Cashmere Mafia

2008–2009 Dirty Sexy Money

2009 Afro Samurai Resurrection

2010 Marry Me

2011 Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

2012 Southland

2012 Elementary

Television Guest Appearances
1991 Beverly Hills 90210

1993 L.A. Law Mai

1994 Coach

1994 Hotel Malibu

1995 Home Improvement

1995 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

1995 ER

1996 Nash Bridges

1996 The X Files

1996 High Incident

1997 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

1997 Michael Hayes

1997 Dellaventura

1997 NYPD Blue

2000 MADtv

2001 Sex and the City

2002 King of the Hill

2001–2002 Futurama

2004 Jackie Chan Adventures

2004–2005 Joey

2005 The Simpsons

2005 Clifford's Puppy Days

2007 Ugly Betty

2010 Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

Producer
2006 Freedom's Fury

2007 Code Name: The Cleaner

Video games
2001 SSX Tricky

2012 Sleeping Dogs