Early life

Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Juanita, an engineering drafter for Honolulu, and Herbert Hu, a salesman and exotic bird breeder. Her parents divorced during Hu's childhood. Her brother, Glenn, is a Resource Manager in the United States Army. She is of Native Hawaiian, English American and Chinese American descent. She attended Maʻemaʻe Elementary School and Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hu has held a lifelong interest in singing and dancing and has also been interested in martial arts since her early childhood. Hu's cousin was a successful model in Japan, and Hu decided to follow her example. Kelly Hu won the title of Miss Hawaii Teen USA and competed in the Miss Teen USA 1985 pageant, becoming the Miss Teen USA pageant's third titleholder in history and its first Asian American winner. Hu has mentioned in interviews that her mother had told her America was not ready for an Asian as such a prominent role model. Ironically, she discovered after winning that she was prohibited from appearing in non-contest related activities for the year of her reign, though this rule was changed in later years.

Career

Hu modeled in Japan and Italy, and became well known in the latter as the star of a series of television advertisements for Philadelphia brand cream cheese, playing a young Japanese college student named Kaori.

Hu won the title of Miss Hawaii USA in 1993, becoming the first former Miss Teen USA to win a Miss USA state title. In the 1993 Miss USA pageant, held in Wichita, Kansas, Hu entered the top 10 in second place, after winning the preliminary interview competition and placing second and third, respectively, in swimsuit and evening gown. She then made the top 6 ranked second, winning the top 10 evening gown competition and placing second in swimsuit. She was eliminated in 4th place after the judges' questions, just 2/100 of a point from the final three.

Hu moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1987, with a guest starring role as Mike Seaver's Hawaiian love interest on the sitcom Growing Pains. Hu followed this with appearances on various television series, including Night Court," Tour of Duty, 21 Jump Street and Melrose Place. Her first film role was in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. In 1995, Hu starred as an undercover police officer in the film No Way Back. Hu was cast as Dr. Rae Chang on Sunset Beach for six months in 1997. Afterwards, she was cast as police officers Michelle Chan in the television series Nash Bridges, and Pei Pei "Grace" Chen on Martial Law. Her subsequent film appearances include The Scorpion King (2002), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), and X2 (2003) as Yuriko Oyama/Deathstrike.

She was Agent Mia Chen on the last three episodes of the television series Threat Matrix in 2004. She also starred in 2005's Underclassman alongside Nick Cannon and in 2006's Americanese, Undoing and Devil's Den. During the first quarter of 2007, she completed filming the film Stilletto, followed by Farmhouse.

In January 2007, Hu began appearing in a full-time role on the television series In Case of Emergency. She played Kelly Lee, a Korean American woman who accidentally reunites with her high school classmates and realizes none of them grew up according to their high school plans. The show did not have a successful run, being cancelled after airing 12 episodes and leaving its season finale un-aired. The same year she appeared in films The Air I Breathe and Shanghai Kiss.

In 2009, she appeared in the film The Tournament as Lai-Lai Zhen. In April 2009, Hu developed the character JIA for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. She was the first guest actor to cross over between the television series NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS, playing Lee Wuan Kai in a two-episode arc within both series. In 2010 and 2011, Hu guest-starred as a vampire named Pearl on the CW television series The Vampire Diaries.

In 2010, Hu began a recurring role on the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0. In 2012, Hu was cast in the role of Karai in the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She commented: "It wouldn't quite be the first time I played a ninja, I think. Yeah, I don't know why people think I'm dangerous, but for some reason, I keep getting these roles for the ninja, assassin, bodyguard, bad-girl type." In 2013, she joined the cast of the series Warehouse 13 as Abigail Cho, the new owner of the Warehouse-connected B&B.

She also provided voice talents in video games including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords as Visas Marr, the Sith woman who joins the Jedi Exile's party, and Batman: Arkham Origins as Lady Shiva, among the eight assassins hired by Black Mask to kill Batman. In a personal first, she lent both her face and voice to the in-game character Khai Minh Dao in Battlefield Hardline, who partnered alongside the protagonist in roughly half of the game levels.

Hu has been featured twice in Maxim magazine (May 2002 and May 2005). In 2015, she became the face of Viagra, appearing in the commercials.

Personal life

She is an avid poker fan and has frequently taken part in competitions such as the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour, including the WPT Celebrity Charity match on March 3, 2008. She was part of HollywoodPoker.com's "Celebrity Poker Night" on May 30, 2006, and in July 2006 placed in the top 200 in the World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament, besting nearly 1,000 other competitors.

Activism

Hu has supported the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment and in 2004 starred in a public service announcement for them titled "The Least Likely" to encourage young Asian Americans to register and vote.

In 2007, Hu was a driver in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race a national fund-raising program supporting children’s hospitals throughout the United States. In April 2011, Hu was a celebrity host for Save the Children's "Caring for Japan's Keiki" a benefit for Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. Also in 2011 she hosted a Celebrity Poker Tournament in support for Best Buddies International, a charity to which she has given support for several years.

In January 2008, Hu participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by will.i.am called "Yes We Can". She campaigned for Obama in Hawaii in the run-up to the February 19, 2008 Democratic caucuses. In February 2008, Hu also appeared in another viral video in support of Obama, "Sí Se Puede Cambiar", written and performed by Andrés Useche, directed by Eric Byler. She was the emcee of the Asian American Action Fund's annual fundraiser on June 10, 2008.

Hu has been active to protect the Hawaiian ecology. She supported Reef Check Hawaii by running in and successfully completing the Honolulu Marathon to raise awareness for the organization. She also gave support to the Shark Fin Ban which took effect in Hawaii July 2010. This made it illegal to possess, sell, or distribute shark fins in Hawaii.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan	Eva Watanabe
1991	Doors, TheThe Doors	Dorothy
1991	Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man	Suzie
1993	Surf Ninjas	Ro-May
1995	No Way Back	Seiko Kobayashi
1995	Strange Days	Anchor woman
1997	Fakin' da Funk	Kwee-Me
2002	Scorpion King, TheThe Scorpion King	Cassandra
2003	Cradle 2 the Grave	Sona
2003	X2	Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike
2005	Underclassman	Lisa Brooks
2006	Americanese	Brenda Nishitani
2006	Undoing	Vera
2006	Devil's Den	Caitlin
2007	Shanghai Kiss	Micki Yang
2007	Succubus: Hell-Bent	Detective Pei	Direct-to-video
2007	Air I Breathe, TheThe Air I Breathe	Jiyoung
2008	Stiletto	Detective Hanover
2008	Dead Space: Downfall	Shen (voice)	Direct-to-video
2008	Farm House	Lilith
2008	Dim Sum Funeral	Cindy
2009	Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword	Miyumi / Miss Mirimoto (voice)	Direct-to-video
2009	Tournament, TheThe Tournament	Lai Lai Zhen
2010	Batman: Under the Red Hood	Ms. Li (voice)	Direct-to-video
2011	What Women Want	Girl in lotto commercial
2011	Almost Perfect	Vanessa Lee
2011	Green Lantern: Emerald Knights	Laira (voice)	Direct-to-video
2012	White Frog	May Chung
2013	Haumana, TheThe Haumana	Linda
2013	They Die by Dawn	N/A	Short film
2014	Age of Tomorrow	Dr. Gordon
2014	Death Valley	Greenstreet
2016	Beyond the Game
2016	Maximum Impact	Kate	In post-production
2016	Kepler's Dream	Irene	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987-88	Growing Pains	Melia	3 episodes
1988	Night Court	Krista	2 episodes
1989	Tour of Duty	Vietnamese DJ	Episode: "Saigon: Part 2"
1989	21 Jump Street	Kim Van Luy	Episode: "The Dragon and the Angel"
1990	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Emily	Episode: "American Eyes"
1993	Raven	Pele	Episode: "Heat"
1994	Burke's Law	Dawn	Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?"
1994	Melrose Place	Andrea	Episode: "Parting Glances"
1994	Renegade	Kathy Maruyama	Episode: "Black Wind"
1995	Maybe This Time	Jennifer	Episode: "Please Re-Lease Me"
1996	Star Command	Ens. Yukiko Fujisaki	Television film
1996	Murder One	Natalie Cheng	2 episodes
1996	Sentinel, TheThe Sentinel	Christine	Episode: "Cypher"
1996	One West Waikiki	Dr. Midori	Episode: "Battle of the Titans"
1996	Pacific Blue	Wendy Trang	Episode: "The Enemy Within"
1996	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Ms. Jones	Episode: "The Second Episode"
1997	Sunset Beach	Rae Chang	Role held: January 7 - June 5, 1997
1997-98	Nash Bridges	Insp. Michelle Chan	Main cast (seasons 3-4); 14 episodes
1998	Malcolm & Eddie	Wendy	Episode: "Car Trouble"
1998-2000	Martial Law	Grace "Pei Pei" Chen	Main cast; 44 episodes
2003	Boomtown	Rachel Durrel	2 episodes
2004	Threat Matrix	Agent Mia Chen	3 episodes
2004	Librarian: Quest for the Spear, TheThe Librarian: Quest for the Spear	Lana	Television film
2005-06	CSI: NY	Detective Kaile Maka	4 episodes
2005-08	Robot Chicken	Various voices	5 episodes
2005	Mayday	Sharon Crandall	Television film
2006	Las Vegas	Natalie Ko	Episode: "Died in Plain Sight"
2007	In Case of Emergency	Kelly Lee	Main cast; 13 episodes
2007	Afro Samurai	Okiku (voice)	English dub; episode: "The Dream Reader"
2007-15	Phineas and Ferb	Stacy Hirano (voice)	80 episodes
2008-09	Army Wives	Jordana Davis	4 episodes
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Kelly Sun	Episode: "Smut"
2009	Numbers	Alice Chen	Episode: "Trouble in Chinatown"
2009	Spectacular Spider-Man, TheThe Spectacular Spider-Man	Sha Shan Nguyen	5 episodes
2009	In Plain Sight	Jane Kwan / Ahn Li	Episode: "Let's Get It Ahn"
2009	NCIS: Los Angeles	Lee Wuan Kai	Episode: "Killshot"
2009	NCIS	Lee Wuan Kai	Episode: "Endgame"
2010-11	Vampire Diaries, TheThe Vampire Diaries	Pearl	8 episodes
2010-11	Hawaii Five-0	Laura Hills	3 episodes
2011-13	Young Justice	Cheshire, Paula Crock, Lian Nguyen-Harper (voice)	10 episodes
2011	Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension	Stacy Hirano (voice)	Television film
2011	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Angie Salinger	Episode: "Bittersweet"
2012	Fairly Legal	Lydia	Episode: "Shine a Light"
2012	Breakout Kings	Kendra Park	Episode: "SEALd Fate"
2012-15	Arrow	China White / Chien Na Wei	9 episodes
2013	Castle	Scarlet Jones	Episode: "Death Gone Crazy"
2013-present	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Oroku Karai / Hamato Miwa (voice)	18 episodes
2013-14	Warehouse 13	Abigail Cho	6 episodes
2014	100, TheThe 100	Callie "Cece" Cartwig	Episode: "Pilot"
2014	High School Exorcism	Denise Brady	Television film
2015	Being Mary Jane		Episode: "Some Things Are Black and White"

Other media

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Role
2012	"Outta My Head"	Daughtry	Leading woman

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords	Visas Marr	Voice
2008	Fracture	N/A	Voice
2008	Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3	Suki Toyama	Voice
2009	Afro Samurai	Okiku, Osachi	Voice
2009	Ninja Blade	Ryoko Kurokawa	Voice
2009	Terminator Salvation	Wells	Voice
2012	Sleeping Dogs	Inspector Jane Teng	Voice
2013	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Karai	Voice
2013	Batman: Arkham Origins	Lady Shiva	Voice
2013	Young Justice: Legacy	Cheshire	Voice
2015	Battlefield Hardline	Khai Minh Dao	Voice & mo-cap
2015	Infinite Crisis	Katana	Voice
2015	Mortal Kombat X	D'Vorah, Sindel, Frost	Voice

Charities

Kelly Hu supports the following charitable causes: AIDS, Animals, Lupus.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]