Dec 15 2008
Lucy Liu
Name: Lucy Liu
Occupation: Actress
Height: 5 ‘2
Nationality: American
Why Famous: Ally McBeal, Charlie’s Angels.
Date of Birth: December 2, 1967
Birthplace: Queens, New York, United States
Lucy Liu is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in 1986 and enrolled at New York University; discouraged by the “dark and sarcastic” atmosphere of NYU, but they transferred to the University of Michigan after its first year. She is a graduate of UM with a degree in Chinese language and culture, managing to squeeze in some additional training in dance, voice, visual arts, and acting.
Lucy Liu first appeared on a large screen as an ex-girlfriend in Jerry Maguire (1996) (it had previously filmed a scene in the indie Bang (1995), but it was shelved for two years). She then waded through a series of supporting parts in small films before landing her big break on “Ally McBeal” (1997). Lucy Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, who went to Portia de Rossi, but writer-producer David E. Kelley was so impressed with her courage that he had promised to write a part for her in the next episode. The part turned out to be that of making Grom, grumpy lawyer Ling Woo, which Liu filled with such aplomb that she was signed on as a regular cast member.
The “Ally” win gave Liu’s film career a much-needed boost - in 1999 she was cast as Dominatrix in the Mel Gibson action flick Payback (1999), and as a hitchhiker in the ill-received boxing saga game to The Bone (1999). The next year brought even larger roles: first as the kidnapped Princess Pei Pei Jackie Chan in the Western Shanghai Noon (2000), then as one third of the comely crime-fighting trio in Charlie’s Angels (2000).
If they do not hissing at clients or throwing well-coiffed punches, Liu is busy with an eclectic mix of off-screen hobbies. They use the martial art of Kali-Eskrima-Silat (knife-and-stick fighting), skis, rock climbs, rides horses and plays the accordion. In 1993, she exhibited a collection of multimedia works on the Cast Iron Gallery in Soho (New York), which she won a scholarship to study and create art in China. Her hectic schedule is not much time for romantic intrigue, but Liu says she prefers on that side of her life uncluttered.
Early life
She was born and raised with her brother, Alex Liu, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York by Chinese immigrant parents . Liu said that she grew up in a “diverse” neighborhood. [1] Her family spoke Mandarin at home and she did not learn English until she was five years old. [2] [3] Her father, Tom, was a civil engineer and her mother, Cecilia, a biochemist, [4], but those who sacrificed career to come to the United States. Liu, at her parents’ insistence, devoted her spare time to study. She attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (IS145) and she graduated from New York City’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School in 1986 [5]. She lived in New York University for a 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. [1] At one point, Liu worked as a waitress in Michigan [1].
Career
Liu began in 1989, after auditions for a role in the University of Michigan production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year. Liu was cast in the leading role to play, although they had originally only tried for a supporting part [1]. Liu had small roles in films and TV (including the “Hell Money” episode of The X-Files and “The March to Friday” Episode on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) before landing a role in Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of ‘Nelle Porter’ (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character “Ling Woo” was later specially for her. Liu is part of the series was originally not meant to be regular, but the enthusiastic public response to pain”the actress’ Ling Woo secured Liu as a permanent member cast. 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 [1]. Liu cemented her reputation playing bad girls by portrait “Pearl” the sadistic Dominatrix / hitwoman for the Chinese mafia in the film Payback (1999).
Lucy Liu (left) in her first leading role as Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels.
With her turn as Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels movie, alongside established Hollywood stars Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The movie 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 back to earn more than $ 100 million in the U.S., and a worldwide total of more than $ 259 million. 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 greatest villains in 2003 of Quentin Tarantino 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 Charlie’s Angels movies. They also had smaller roles as Kitty Baxter in the movie 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 performances include a Cameo in the animated shows Futurama (as himself in the episodes “I Dated a robot” and “Love and Rocket” and The Simpsons (of the season sixteen episode “Goo Goo Gai Pan”), a guest host on a 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. [1] The film dramatizes the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, climaxes with the infamous water polo showdown between Hungary and the Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, better 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 movie for less than usual, because they wanted to pay to raise awareness about how AIDS is improperly treated in China and Thailand [6]. Liu 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 [3] Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co - star Cillian Murphy, and Kung Fu Panda, an animated film in which she expresses Viper [1]. Liu has also signed on to star in Beautiful Asian brides and a new version of Charlie Chan, who is in the pre-production since 2000, they will produce both films [1].
Liu has guest starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty episodes in the “derailed” and “happy end”. 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” [7].
In 2008, after pitching an interest in a part of the new hit show Dirty Sexy Money, the producers from the outset a role for her as a series regular. She plays the role of Nola Lyons, a powerful lawyer who faces Nick George (played by Peter Krause). [8]
Personal life
In an interview Jane, she pointed to the possibility that she is bisexual. She is quoted as saying,
“I think sometimes people the wrong impression if they want, ‘Oh, yes, yes-and-so was straight and then she was gay, and now they will again,’ you know? But it’s like, how often I have to kiss a woman before I’m gay? Everybody wants to label people. Sometimes you just fall in love with someone, and you’re really not thinking about what gender or how they are. I think that if I happen to love on a woman, everybody will have a major problem with it. But if I happen to love with a man, nobody cares. “[9] [10]
With her parents’ work ethic, Liu continued, “I’m always multitasking, doing 10 things at once.” She is the aunt of Nelson and Cindy Chang Meng, co-founder of Alpha Science Learning Centers in Temple City, California, according to the newspaper Los Angeles Wave 2 September, 2007 issue.She speaks English, Chinese, Italian, [7] Spanish, and a little Japanese, a language they studied in preparation for her role in Kill Bill. [1] She also rock climbs, practices martial arts, skis, and plays the accordion.
Liu is also an artist in several media, and has three gallery shows presentation of her collages, paintings and photography. [11] They started with mixed media collages on 16 and then to photography and painting later. [12] Lucy Liu had an art show in September and she donated her share in the profits of UNICEF. [12] [13] She also has a show in 2008 in Munich and has declared that it will donate its share in the profits of UNICEF [12].
In 2001, Liu was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. In 2005 he was appointed a U.S. ambassador Liu Fund for UNICEF, in that capacity she has traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among other countries. [1] She has 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 the visibility, because it is seen as the most known and visible Asian American in the media today. She is also the first Asian-American woman to host Saturday Night Live.
Liu said about her background, “when you grow up Asian-American, it is difficult because you do not know if you or you are Asian American. You get confused … You have to recognize where your background is. I think it is important is. Just for yourself. It makes you more whole. It does. “[1]
She lives with her brother and his wife in New York [12].
Tags: Asian American actress, asian Hollywood actress, Chinese Hollywood actress, fighting girl, Lucy Liu, sexy asian hollywood, tan chinese girl
