Lucy Alexis Liu was born on December 2, 1968. She is an Emmy Award nominated American actress of Chinese ancestry, best known for starring in the TV series Ally McBeal and the 2000 film Charlie's Angels.
Liu is widely considered the most prominent Asian-American actress in American media.
Liu was born in New York City, and was raised with her older brother, John Ya Liu (Liú Yá Lì), and older sister, Jenny Liu, in Queens, New York by Chinese immigrant parents, and attended New York City's famous Stuyvesant High School. She attended New York University for one year, transferred to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and graduated with a degree in Asian languages and cultures.
Liu began her acting career in 1989 after auditioning for a role in University of Michigan's production of "Alice in Wonderland" during her senior year. Liu won the lead role although she tried out for a supporting role.
Liu had small roles in films and TV roles (for example in X-Files) before landing a break on Ally McBeal. Liu's role on the series was originally not meant to be a regular, but the enthusiastic audience response to the actress' feisty Ling Woo secured Lucy as a prominent cast member.
She became more famous with her turn as Alex in the Charlie's Angels movie, starring alongside more established modern Hollywood icons Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The sequel to the film, however, opened to poor reviews and box office receipts. Lucy was also paid sixteen million dollars less for her work in Charlie's Angels than co-star Cameron Diaz.
Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a critical and box-office failure. Lucy is perhaps most famous for her role as O-Ren Ishii (assassin Cottonmouth) in director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. The first installment of the Kill Bill films, Volume 1, exposed Lucy as a more serious and physically adept actress than had been evident from her previous roles. She won an MTV Movie Award, further solidifying her fame with young, hip audiences, for "Best Movie Villain".
Lucy recently appeared on several episodes of Joey with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels movies. She also had a small role as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino. Other appearances include a cameo on the animated show Futurama, and more recently, The Simpsons. Liu is currently in talks to recreate the Charlie Chan series for modern audiences.
Although Liu is not married, rumors in the past have linked her with George Clooney. Recently, there was news that she is engaged to a New York playwright, Zach Helm. The engagement has been canceled and she is currently single.
In 2005, Liu was appointed a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Ambassador.
Early in 2006, Liu received an Asian Excellence Award for Visibilty, since she is the most well-known and visible Asian American in the media today.
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