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, New York City, 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 Alice in Wonderland, and instead won the lead. After some small roles in films and television, her breakthrough came when she got a part in Ally McBeal, 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 Action Girl or Dark Action Girl, as well as doing voice-acting in animation (cf. her appearance on the Futurama episode where Fry downloads Lucy Liu's likeness into a robot and uses it as his girlfriend and her role on the King of the Hill 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 Saturday Night Live (her episode was a season 26 Christmas episode with Jay-Z as a musical guest). In the 2010s, she completely changed her image and finally broke away from Dragon Lady and Ms. Fanservice typecasting by playing Dr. Joan Watson opposite Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes in 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 Eskrima and has showed it in plenty.
Liu is bilingual in English and 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 American Born Chinese (2023).
Her filmography includes:
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1991) as Courtney
- L.A. Law (1993) as Mei Lin
- Coach (1994) as Nicole Wong
- Home Improvement (1995) as Woman #3
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995) as Oi-Lan
- ER (1995) as Mei-Sun Leow
- The X-Files (1996) as Kim Hsin
- Nash Bridges (1996) as Joy Powell
- Jerry Maguire (1996) as Former Girlfriend
- Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures (1997) as Melana (voice)
- City of Industry (1997) as Cathi Rose
- NYPD Blue (1997) as Amy Chu
- Ally McBeal (1998-2002) as Ling Woo
- Payback (1999) as Pearl
- True Crime (1999) as Toy Shop Girl
- Molly (1999) as Brenda
- The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999) as The Female's Friend (Lydia)
- Shanghai Noon (2000) as Princess Pei-Pei
- Charlie's Angels (2000) as Alex Munday
- Futurama (2001-02) as herself (voice)
- Sex and the City (2001) as herself
- Hotel! (2001) as Kawika
- Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) as Sever
- Cypher (2002) as Rita Foster
- King of the Hill (2002) as Tid Pao (voice)
- Chicago (2002) as Kitty Baxter
- Kill Bill (2003-04) as O-Ren Ishii
- Jackie Chan Adventures (2004) as Future Jade Chan (voice)
- Maya & Miguel (2004-06) as Maggie Lee (voice)
- Joey (2004-05) as Lauren Beck
- Mulan II (2004) as Mei (voice)
- The Simpsons (2005) as Madam Wu (voice)
- Domino (2005) as Taryn Mills
- Lucky Number Slevin (2006) as Lindsey
- Ugly Betty (2007) as Grace Chin
- Rise: Blood Hunter (2007) as Sadie Blake
- Watching the Detectives (2007) as Violet
- Kung Fu Panda (2008) as Master Viper (voice)
- Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011-14, 2016)
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
- Dirty Sexy Money (2008-09) as Nola Lyons
- Disney Fairies (2008-14) as Silvermist (voice)
- Afro Samurai: Resurrection (2009) as Sio (voice)
- Marry Me (2010) (2010) as Rae Ann Carter
- Southland (2012) as Officer Jessica Tang
- Sleeping Dogs (2012) as Vivienne (voice)
- Elementary (2012-19) as Dr. Joan Watson
- The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) as Madam Blossom
- The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) as Lady Sagami (voice)
- Girls (2016) as Detective Mosedale
- Michael Jackson's Halloween (2017) as Conformity (voice)
- Sesame Street (2017) as Cinderella
- Set It Up (2018) Kirsten Stevens
- Animals (2018) as Yumi (voice)
- Future World (2018) (2018) as Queen
- Why Women Kill (2019) as Simone Grove
- Star Wars: Visions (2021) as Bandit Leader (voice)
- Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2021) as herself (voice)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2021) as herself
- Strange World (2022) as Callisto Mal (voice)
- SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods (2023) as Kalypso
Her tropes include:
- Actor Allusion: Cypher references Kill Bill.
- Actor-Inspired Element: O-Ren in Kill Bill was written to be Japanese. When Quentin Tarantino saw Shanghai Noon he rewrote the character to be part Chinese in order for Lucy to play her.
- Artist Disillusionment: Most recently, towards her Action Girl Dragon Lady filmography.
- The Cameo: She has one in Chicago as Kitty Baxter, an heiress who murders her husband and his lover (nearly stealing Roxie's thunder in the process).
- Celebrity Voice Actor: As Viper in Kung Fu Panda, Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Mei in Mulan II.
- Dawson Casting: She was ten years older than her character Lindsey in Lucky Number Slevin.
- Dragon Lady: A modern day example; especially with her notable roles in Ally McBeal, Charlie's Angels (2000) and Kill Bill. However, in 2021 she became disillusioned by being remembered for playing these roles and now viewed them as an Old Shame.
- Enforced Method Acting: In Lucky Number Slevin 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.
- Fake Mixed Race: For some reason, John Cleese was cast as her character's father in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and there is no indication that she was adopted. (Liu for her part is fully Chinese.)
- Hostility on the Set: Apparently with Bill Murray on Charlie's Angels (2000). It was reported that the argument shut down filming for a day.
- Older Than They Look: She's in her fifties but certainly doesn't look it.
- Playing Against Type: In Lucky Number Slevin as a dorky and geeky scientist.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Vivian in Charlie's Angels (2000) was written to be white. When Lucy was cast as Alex, they changed Vivian to Chinese.
- Star-Making Role: Ally McBeal, which even got her a special news report about how she was the only Asian-American doing anything major on television at the time.
- What Could Have Been:
- Thandiwe Newton was cast as Alex in Charlie's Angels (2000) but had to drop out when Mission: Impossible II 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 Daredevil but lost out to Jennifer Garner.
