[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucyliu_324.jpg]]
->''"You respect all of these people that you know in the business as actors. And they sort of turn around and say, we really like your work. It's a nice acknowledgment."''

Lucy Alexis Liu (劉玉玲 Liú Yùlíng; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress of Chinese-Taiwanese descent.

She was born in Queens, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, to Chinese-born Taiwanese immigrant parents. Although she did well in her studies, she started acting when she auditioned for a minor role in a college production of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', and instead won the lead. After some small roles in films and television, her breakthrough came when she got a part in ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', playing the foul-mouthed Ling Woo, a new character specifically written for her. Her tough attitude made her a sex symbol for a lot of viewers, and her performance earned her Emmy and Screen Actors Guild award nominations.

Since then, she has appeared in a variety of film and television roles, often playing an ActionGirl or DarkActionGirl, as well as doing voice-acting in animation (cf. her appearance on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode where Fry downloads Lucy Liu's likeness into a robot and uses it as his girlfriend and her role on the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do?" as Connie's delinquent cousin Tid Pao who tricks Bobby into making a meth lab for her). Liu also holds the honor of being the first Asian-American woman to host ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (her episode was a season 26 Christmas episode with Music/JayZ as a musical guest). In the 2010s, she completely changed her image and finally broke away from DragonLady and MsFanservice typecasting by playing [[GenderFlip Dr. Joan Watson]] opposite Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes in ''Series/{{Elementary}}''.

Her conventional acting career may sometimes overshadow her roles as an action star, but Liu is a lifelong practitioner of the martial art of UsefulNotes/{{Eskrima}} and has showed it in plenty.

Liu is bilingual in English and [[UsefulNotes/ChineseLanguage Mandarin]], and holds a Bachelor's degree in Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Michigan.

As of 2023, Liu has branched out into directing, helming an episode of the television series ''Series/AmericanBornChinese2023''.
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!!Her filmography includes:
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'' (1991) as Courtney
* ''Series/LALaw'' (1993) as Mei Lin
* ''Series/{{Coach}}'' (1994) as Nicole Wong
* ''Series/HomeImprovement'' (1995) as Woman #3
* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' (1995) as Oi-Lan
* ''Series/{{ER}}'' (1995) as Mei-Sun Leow
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' (1996) as Kim Hsin
* ''Series/NashBridges'' (1996) as Joy Powell
* ''Film/JerryMaguire'' (1996) as Former Girlfriend
* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' (1997) as Melana (voice)
* ''Film/CityOfIndustry'' (1997) as Cathi Rose
* ''Series/NYPDBlue'' (1997) as Amy Chu
* ''Series/AllyMcBeal'' (1998-2002) as Ling Woo
* ''Film/{{Payback}}'' (1999) as Pearl
* ''Film/TrueCrime'' (1999) as Toy Shop Girl
* ''Film/Molly1999'' as Brenda
* ''Film/TheMatingHabitsOfTheEarthboundHuman'' (1999) as The Female's Friend (Lydia)
* ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' (2000) as Princess Pei-Pei
* ''[[Film/CharliesAngels2000 Charlie's Angels]]'' (2000) as Alex Munday
** ''Film/CharliesAngelsFullThrottle'' (2003)
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' (2001-02) as herself (voice)
* ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' (2001) as herself
* ''Film/{{Hotel}}'' (2001) as Kawika
* ''[[VideoGame/{{SSX}} SSX Tricky]]'' (2001) as Elise Riggs (voice)
* ''Film/BallisticEcksVsSever'' (2002) as Sever
* ''Film/{{Cypher}}'' (2002) as Rita Foster
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' (2002) as Tid Pao (voice)
* ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' (2002) as Kitty Baxter
* ''Film/KillBill'' (2003-04) as O-Ren Ishii
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' (2004) as Future Jade Chan (voice)
* ''WesternAnimation/MayaAndMiguel'' (2004-06) as Maggie Lee (voice)
* ''Series/{{Joey}}'' (2004-05) as Lauren Beck
* ''WesternAnimation/MulanII'' (2004) as Mei (voice)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (2005) as Madam Wu (voice)
* ''Film/{{Domino|2005}}'' (2005) as Taryn Mills
* ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'' (2006) as Lindsey
* ''Series/UglyBetty'' (2007) as Grace Chin
* ''Film/RiseBloodHunter'' (2007) as Sadie Blake
* ''Film/WatchingTheDetectives'' (2007) as Violet
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'' (2008) as Master Viper (voice)
** ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' (2011)
** ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' (2011-14, 2016)
** ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'' (2016)
* ''Series/DirtySexyMoney'' (2008-09) as Nola Lyons
* ''WesternAnimation/DisneyFairies'' (2008-14) as Silvermist (voice)
* ''Anime/AfroSamurai: Resurrection'' (2009) as Sio (voice)
* ''Film/MarryMe2010'' (2010) as Rae Ann Carter
* ''Series/{{Southland}}'' (2012) as Officer Jessica Tang
* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' (2012) as Vivienne (voice)
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' (2012-19) as Dr. Joan Watson
* ''Film/TheManWithTheIronFists'' (2012) as Madam Blossom
* ''Anime/TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya'' (2013) as Lady Sagami (voice)
* ''Series/{{Girls}}'' (2016) as Detective Mosedale
* ''WesternAnimation/MichaelJacksonsHalloween'' (2017) as Conformity (voice)
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' (2017) as Cinderella
* ''Film/SetItUp'' (2018) Kirsten Stevens
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animals|2016}}'' (2018) as Yumi (voice)
* ''Film/FutureWorld2018'' (2018) as Queen
* ''Series/WhyWomenKill'' (2019) as Simone Grove
* ''Anime/StarWarsVisions'' (2021) as Bandit Leader (voice)
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho'' (2021) as herself (voice)
* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (2021) as herself
* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeWorld'' (2022) as Callisto Mal (voice)
* ''Film/ShazamFuryOfTheGods'' (2023) as Kalypso
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!! Her tropes include:
* ActorAllusion: ''Cypher'' references ''Film/KillBill''.
* ActorInspiredElement: O-Ren in ''Film/KillBill'' was written to be Japanese. When Quentin Tarantino saw ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' he rewrote the character to be part Chinese in order for Lucy to play her.
* ArtistDisillusionment: Most recently, towards her ActionGirl DragonLady filmography.
* TheCameo: She has one in ''{{Film/Chicago}}'' as Kitty Baxter, an heiress who murders her husband and his lover (nearly stealing Roxie's thunder in the process).
* CelebrityVoiceActor: As Viper in ''Franchise/KungFuPanda'', Silvermist in ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'' and Mei in ''WesternAnimation/MulanII''.
* DawsonCasting: She was ten years older than her character Lindsey in ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin''.
* DirectedByCastMember: She directed seven episodes of ''Elementary'' in addition to being one the show's leads.
* DragonLady: A modern day example; especially with her notable roles in ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', ''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' and ''Film/KillBill''. However, in 2021 she became disillusioned by being remembered for playing these roles and now viewed them as an OldShame.
* EnforcedMethodActing: In ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'' Josh Hartnett actually flashed Lucy for the scene where Lindsey discovers Slevin with his towel open. It was scripted but she didn't know he'd be naked - so her reaction is real.
* FakeMixedRace: For some reason, Creator/JohnCleese was cast as her character's father in ''Film/CharliesAngelsFullThrottle'', and there is no indication that she was adopted. (Liu for her part is fully Chinese.)
* HostilityOnTheSet: Apparently with Creator/BillMurray on ''Film/CharliesAngels2000''. It was reported that the argument shut down filming for a day.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's in her fifties but certainly doesn't look it.
* PlayingAgainstType: In ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'' as a dorky and geeky scientist.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Vivian in ''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' was written to be white. When Lucy was cast as Alex, they changed Vivian to Chinese.
* StarMakingRole: ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', which even got her a special news report about how she was the only Asian-American doing anything major on television at the time.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/ThandiweNewton was cast as Alex in ''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' but had to drop out when ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' ran over schedule. Angelina Jolie and Jada Pinkett Smith had turned it down.
** Ling Woo wasn't intended to be a regular. David E Kelly liked Lucy so much as a guest star that he revealed she had a law degree, and had the character join the firm after a few episodes. She had previously auditioned for the role of Nelle, which went to Portia De Rossi.
** She auditioned for the role of Elektra in ''Film/{{Daredevil|2003}}'' but lost out to Jennifer Garner.
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