Early life

Lucy Liu was born on December 2, 1968 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, New York. In high school, she adopted a middle name, Alexis. She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, a trained civil engineer who sold digital clock pens. Liu's parents originally came from Beijing and Shanghai and emigrated to Taiwan as adults before meeting in New York. She has an older brother, Alex, and an older sister, Jenny. Her parents worked many jobs while Lucy and her siblings were growing up.

Liu has stated that she grew up in a diverse neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin at home and began studying English when she was 5. She studied kali-eskrima-silat as a hobby when she was young. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986. She later enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian languages and cultures. Liu worked as a waitress at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase club circa 1988-89.

Acting career

1991-99

Liu was discovered by an agent at the age of 21 while traveling on the subway. She did one commercial. As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group, she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally tried out for only a supporting part, Liu was cast in the lead role. While queuing up to audition for the musical Miss Saigon in 1990, she told The New York Times, "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 both 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 a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series. In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a high-class BDSM prostitute with links to the Chinese mafia.

2000-06

Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the film Charlie's Angels, alongside Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and earned 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 also did well at the box office, earning $100 million in the U.S. and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. Liu also 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. In a 2001 episode of Sex and the City entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing Samantha Jones' new client. She starred in the Sex and the City-inspired TV show Cashmere Mafia on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on Futurama (as herself and robot duplicates) in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket", and on The Simpsons in the season 16 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan."

In 2002 Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm (a k a 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.

2007-present

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 number 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. Liu guest starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the 2007 episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake."

In 2007 Empire named Liu number 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 adaptation, 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.

In 2013, Liu was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Career as visual artist

Liu had previously presented her artwork under a pseudonym, Yu Ling (which is her Chinese name). Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had several 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. Liu attended the New York Studio School for drawing, painting, and sculpture from 2004 to 2006.

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. Her painting "Escape" was incorporated into Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection and was shown during Art Basel Miami 2008, which showed works by contemporary American artists. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits from the NYC Milk Gallery gallery show to UNICEF. In London, portion of the proceeds from her book Seventy Two went to UNICEF.

Charity

In 2001 Liu was the spokeswoman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education. In 2004 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.

Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility. She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. In 2008, she produced and narrated the short film The Road to Traffik, about the Cambodian author and human rights advocate Somaly Mam. The film was directed by Kerry Girvin and co-produced by photographer Norman Jean Roy. This led to a partnership with producers on the documentary film Redlight.

Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and became a spokeswoman 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.

Personal life

In 1991 Liu underwent surgery after a breast cancer scare. "The doctor sort of felt and said it was cancer and it needs to come out. I went into shell-shock. It was pretty traumatizing." The lump was removed just two days after the doctor's examination and was found to be benign.

Liu has studied various religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Jewish mysticism. She has stated, "I'm into all things spiritual—anything to do with meditation or chants or any of that stuff. I studied Chinese philosophy in school. There's something in the metaphysical that I find very fascinating."

She has been a member of the Chinese-American organization Committee of 100 since 2004.

Liu announced the birth of her son Rockwell Lloyd, who had been born via a gestational surrogate, on August 27, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Rhythm of Destiny	Donna
1993	Protozoa	Ari	Short film
1995	Bang	Hooker
1996	Jerry Maguire	Former girlfriend
1997	Gridlock'd	Cee-Cee
1997	City of Industry	Cathi Rose
1997	Flypaper	Dot
1997	Guy	Woman at newsstand
1998	Love Kills	Kashi
1999	Payback	Pearl
1999	True Crime	Toy shop girl
1999	Molly	Brenda
1999	Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, TheThe Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human	The Female's Friend (Lydia)
1999	Play It to the Bone	Lia
2000	Shanghai Noon	Princess Pei Pei	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Action
2000	Charlie's Angels	Alex Munday	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Action Team MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Dressed Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2001	Hotel	Kawika
2002	Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever	Agent Sever
2002	Cypher	Rita Foster
2002	Chicago	Kitty Baxter	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Alex Munday	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence
2003	Kill Bill: Volume 1	O-Ren Ishii	MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2004	Kill Bill: Volume 2	O-Ren Ishii
2004	Mulan II	Mei (voice)	Direct-to-video
2005	3 Needles	Jin Ping
2005	Domino	Taryn Mills
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Lindsey
2007	Code Name: The Cleaner	Gina	Also executive producer
2007	Rise: Blood Hunter	Sadie Blake
2007	Watching the Detectives	Violet
2008	Year of Getting to Know Us, TheThe Year of Getting to Know Us	Anne
2008	Kung Fu Panda	Master Viper (voice)	English and Mandarin version
2008	Tinker Bell	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2009	Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2009	Redlight	Herself	Narrator and producer
2010	Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2010	Nomads	Susan
2011	Detachment	Dr. Doris Parker
2011	Trouble with Bliss, TheThe Trouble with Bliss	Andrea
2011	Kung Fu Panda 2	Master Viper (voice)	English and Mandarin version
2011	Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You	Hilda Temple
2012	Secret of the Wings	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2012	Man with the Iron Fists, TheThe Man with the Iron Fists	Madame Blossom
2014	Pirate Fairy, TheThe Pirate Fairy	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2014	Magic Wonderland	Princess Ocean (voice)	English and Mandarin version
2014	Tale of the Princess Kaguya, TheThe Tale of the Princess Kaguya	Lady Sagami (voice)	English and Mandarin version
2014	Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast	Silvermist (voice)	Direct-to-video
2016	Kung Fu Panda 3	Master Viper (voice)	English and Mandarin version

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Beverly Hills, 90210	Courtney	Episode: "Pass, Not Pass"
1993	L.A. Law	Mai Lin	Episode: "Foreign Co-Respondent"
1994	Hotel Malibu	Co-worker	Episode: "Do Not Disturb"
1994	Coach	Nicole Wong	2 episodes
1995	Home Improvement	Woman #3	Episode: "Bachelor of the Year"
1995	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys	Oi-Lan	Episode: "The March to Freedom"
1995	ER	Mei-Sun Leow	3 episodes
1996	Nash Bridges	Joy Powell	Episode: "Genesis"
1996	X-Files, TheThe X-Files	Kim Hsin	Episode: "Hell Money"
1996	High Incident	Officer Whin	2 episodes
1996-97	Pearl	Amy Li	Main cast; 22 episodes
1997	Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, TheThe Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Melana (voice)	2 episodes
1997	NYPD Blue	Amy Chu	Episode: "A Wrenching Experience"
1997	Riot	Boomer's girlfriend	Television film (segment "Empty")
1997	Dellaventura	Yuling Chong	Episode: "Pilot"
1997	Michael Hayes	Alice Woo	Episode: "Slaves"
1998-2002	Ally McBeal	Ling Woo	Main cast (seasons 2-5); 72 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
2000	MADtv	Herself	Season 6, episode 6
2000	Saturday Night Live	Herself	Episode: "Lucy Liu/Jay-Z"
2001-02	Futurama	Herself (voice)	2 episodes
2001	Sex and the City	Herself	Episode: "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda"
2002	King of the Hill	Tid Pao Souphanousinphone (voice)	Episode: "Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do"
2004	Jackie Chan Adventures	Adult Jade Chan (voice)	Episode: "J2: Rise of the Dragons"
2004	Game Over	Raquel Smashenburn (voice)	6 episodes
2004-07	Maya & Miguel	Maggie Lee (voice)
2004-05	Joey	Lauren Beck	3 episodes
2005	Clifford's Puppy Days	Teacup, Mrs. Glen (voice)	Episode: "Adopt-a-Pup/Jokes on You"
2005	Simpsons, TheThe Simpsons	Madam Wu (voice)	Episode: "Goo Goo Gai Pan"
2007	Ugly Betty	Grace Chin	2 episodes
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Mia Mason	Main cast; 7 episodes
2008	Ben & Izzy	Yasmine (voice)
2008-09	Dirty Sexy Money	Nola Lyons	Main cast (season 2); 13 episodes
2008	Little Spirit: Christmas in New York	Leo's mom (voice)	Television film
2009	Afro Samurai: Resurrection	Sio (voice)	Television film
2010	Ni Hao, Kai-Lan	Bear Queen (voice)	Episode: "Princess Kai-Lan"
2010	Kung Fu Panda Holiday	Master Viper (voice)	Television special
2010	Marry Me	Rae Carter	Miniseries; 2 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2011	Pixie Hollow Games	Silvermist (voice)	Television special
2011-present	Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness	Master Viper (voice)
2012	Southland	Jessica Tang	10 episodes Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2012-present	Elementary	Joan Watson	Main cast Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress: Action Seoul International Drama Award for Best Actress New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award - Best Actress Nominated—Prism Award - Female Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode
2013	Pixie Hollow Bake Off	Slivermist (voice)	Television short film
2016	Girls	Detective Mosedale	Episode: "Japan"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	SSX Tricky	Elise Riggs	Voice
2003	Charlie's Angels	Alex Munday	Voice
2012	Sleeping Dogs	Vivienne Lu	Voice

Art exhibitions

Year	Title	Location	Notes
1993	Unraveling	As Liu Yu-ling, Cast Iron Gallery, SoHo, New York, US	Collection of multimedia art pieces, photographs
1995	Catapult	As Yu Ling, Purple Gallery, Los Angeles, US	Collage mixed media exhibition
2006	Antenna	Emotion Picture Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada	Incorporating paint and drawing into photographs. Seven pieces of which two new. March 5 to June 30
2006	Glass Onion	As Yu Ling, Milk Gallery, New York City, US	Paintings. Duration 2 days. Benefits for UNICEF
2007	—	Art Basel Miami, Casa Tua in South Beach Miami, US as part of Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection	Painting Escape, a black and white abstraction
2008	je suis. envois-moi	As Yu Ling, Six Friedrich Lisa Ungar, Munich, Germany	Six oil paintings, four prints and ten sculptures. Revenue was donated to UNICEF. May 8 to 31
2010	—	As Yu Ling, Painting included in the Bloomsbury Auctions 20th Century Art and Editions sale in New York, US	Painting
2011	Seventy Two	Salon Vert, London, UK	Personal canvases - hand-stitched and stuck with funny little found objects, pieces of rubbish
2013	Totem	The Popular Institute gallery, Manchester, UK	Series of work on linen, explores the fragility of the human form

Charities

vLucy Liu supports the following charitable causes: Heart Disease, Cancer, Breast Cancer, Rape/Sexual Abuse, Heart Disease, Gay Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]