Lucy Liu gained wide fame thanks to the multi-part film “Ally McBeal”, which began broadcasting in the late 90s. World fame fell on the actress after the release of the full-length film Charlie's Angels . Since then, Lucy's filmography has been regularly updated with new projects. She played in such successful films as “Kill Bill” and “Chicago.” One of Liu’s most famous works is considered to be the role of Joan Watson in the American television series “Elementary,” which the actress played for seven years, says Joinfo.ua.
Higher education
Parents tried their best to give their children a quality education, so Lucy studied at a prestigious specialized school, and then became a student at a private New York University. The girl did not graduate from this university, because after a year of study she decided to transfer to the University of Michigan. She studied in the direction of “Chinese language and culture”, while also managing to study dancing, acting and stage speech.
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Born 12/02/1968, Queens, New York, USA.
American actress.
Winner of the MTV channel award (2001, 2004).
Winner of the Actors Guild Award (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003).
The beginning of the way
Lucy Liu, full name Lucy Alexis Liu, was born on December 2, 1968 in Queens, New York, in the family of a civil engineer and biochemist. Lucy has a brother, Alex. Until the age of five, the girl did not speak English at all. Lucy's parents enrolled her in a music school, where she learned to play the accordion. In 1986, Lucy Liu graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant School with almost excellent marks, which gave her the opportunity to enter New York University. But literally a year later, Lucy Liu transferred to the University of Michigan to study at the Faculty of Asian Culture and Languages. In parallel with her studies, Lucy took vocal and acting lessons. Soon she had the chance to play the main role in the production of Alice in Wonderland. After graduating from university, Lucy Liu went on an internship to Hong Kong. The aspiring actress's film debut was the role of a waitress in the TV series Beverly Hills.
Film career
An actress of Chinese origin who conquered the heights of Hollywood, Lucy Liu dreamed of devoting her life to the study of Eastern cultures, but could not resist the magic of cinema. Thanks to this, an exotic beauty appeared in the gallery of world cinema, whose professional range included roles from sheer devils to “real” angels. For six years, Lucy ran to various castings, played girls in episodes and was interrupted by temporary work as a secretary, an aerobics instructor, and a waitress. The aspiring actress's film debut was the role of a waitress in several episodes of Beverly Hills. In the early 1990s, Lucy Liu was invited to participate in the plays “Mahogany Curtain” and “Madama Butterfly”. In 1996, the actress received a role in the serial film “Pearl”. A year later, in 1997, Lucy Liu made her debut in a big movie: she was approved for a cameo role in the film “Jerry Maguire.”
"Ally McBeal"
In the same 1997, a new court series “Ally McBeal” was launched, which immediately gained wild popularity. Lucy, who had not missed almost a single casting, showed up for the audition. Series creator David E. Kelly, smitten by her aplomb, wrote the new role of bitch lawyer Lin Woo specifically for Liu. This role brought Lucy fame and dislike from thousands of American television viewers; for them, Wu is the embodiment of the most evil lawyer in the world. “It was very funny,” said Lucy Liu. “People were so afraid of Lin Wu that when they recognized me on the streets, they shied away in horror and sometimes even ran away.” For her role in this series, Lucy Liu was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category “Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series,” as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award in the category “Best Actress in a Comedy Series.” The actress was successful in her role in the thriller “Crime Zone”, in which she successfully accompanied such celebrities as: Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff, Timothy Hutton, Famke Janssen. The main characters of the film, brothers Roy and Lee Egan, decided to rob a jewelry store in Palm Springs. To do this, they brought in two more: the calculating Jorge Montana and the desperate Skip Kovic.
1999
After successfully playing the roles, Lucy Liu, despite her Asian appearance, began to be greeted more warmly at castings - however, they offered her the roles primarily of an iron lady, a bitch, and a cold-blooded killer. In 1999, the actress appeared in Reckoning with Mel Gibson as a leather-clad lady waving a whip. Fans of Lucy Liu were looking forward to her new achievements and roles. In the exciting comedy "Molly" Lucy Liu shone surrounded by such cinema masters as: Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, Jill Hennessy, Thomas Jane. The main character experienced the world through the eyes of an innocent baby... all her life. Thrilled and beautiful, Molly McKay may be weak-minded, but she didn't let the world turn her back. In the same year, another film with the participation of Lucy Liu was released - the comedy “Marriage Games of Earthly Inhabitants”, in which the main roles went to David Hyde Pierce, MacKenzie Astin, Carmen Electra, Marcus Redmond. This extravagant comedy presents the most unusual look at the relationship between the sexes...
"Hit the bone"
The drama “Hit the Bone” is a light, non-committal film with a good sense of humor and actors: Antonio Banderas, Woody Harrelson, Lolita Davidovich, Tom Sizemore, Lucy Liu. The film was easy to watch, just right for lightening up! The main characters, Caesar and Vince, are close friends and professional boxers. They showed great promise in the past, but one day they missed their chance.
2000s
Drew Barrymore called out “a third angel is needed” for the filming of the remake of the popular 70s film “Charlie’s Angels.” Lucy Liu came to the casting, but they didn’t take her: the image of a villain was trailing behind her like a shadow. Time passed, but the third angel could not be found. Five weeks later, the actress made another attempt - and this time she got the role of Alex. Lucy Liu's performance as Alex in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels can be considered a real success. She then starred in the action-adventure film Shanghai Noon alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. After a Chinese girl was kidnapped, the Emperor sent three of his most loyal and skilled bodyguards to the Wild West. In 2002, Antonio Banderas, who participated in the project “Ballistics: Ex vs. North,” in the Russian box office “Desperadoes,” suggested Lucy Liu for the role of his opponent, Agent North; by the way, the role was originally written for a man. In the story, the secret agent Sever's child was killed - and she began to take revenge on those responsible, while killing dozens of her enemies. After this, it became clear why Quentin Tarantino invited Lucy Liu to his action film Kill Bill in 2003. Who else but Lucy Liu could cope with the role of the cruel Japanese woman O-ren, who calmly separates the head from the body of anyone who dares to contradict her with a sword?
2007
2007 also left a good mark on Liu’s film biography. The actress managed to star in a number of quite successful films, including “After Watching Detectives,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Vampire.” After these works, film critics agreed that this was a new type of Hollywood star, completely different from the typical movie star. Lucy Liu was an actress of powerful words. That is, as soon as the directors found a verb that defined the character of the heroine, Liu immediately began to act, looked for a background in the role and brilliantly played out what the director had planned. The comedy After Watching Detectives, directed by Paul Sauter, told the story of the life of video store owner Neil, in which a real-life femme fatale naturally appeared. This picture is for film buffs with numerous references to various world films. The acting duet here is Lucy with the unsurpassed Cillian Murphy. The series “Dirty Sexy Money” told viewers the story of a young lawyer, Nick George, who needed to continue his father’s work: work for the powerful New York Darling clan... The drama was filmed by a stellar cast of directors: Andrew Bernstein, Michael Schultz, Michael Grossman and Peter Horton. In addition to Liu, the main roles were played by Peter Krause and Donald Sutherland. According to the plot of the thriller “Vampire,” journalist Sadie Blake found herself in a company of strange people led by a charismatic bishop. Despite his charm, Sadie sensed danger in him. And one day she woke up in the city morgue, finding bite marks on her neck. The bishop's secret was his vampire essence! Sadie decided to stop the bishop and his scary servants. She was helped by Rawlins' investigator, whose daughter also became a victim of vampires... Brilliant Lucy easily went beyond the script of the film, introducing elements of comedy into the dark thriller. The film was directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, and Liu's partners here were the star Robert Forster and the inimitable Cameron Richardson.
"Hide it away"
Lucy Liu's credits included starring in the 2008 drama Hide It Down. The film had an excellent cast for the main roles: Tom Arnold, Armando Acevedo, Holland Hayes and Carl Anthony. The film told the story of Christopher Rocket, obsessed with his work. His relationship with his girlfriend Annie reached a dead end, since such a rhythm of life did not leave him time to maintain his personal life. Three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students were chronicled in the 2011 drama Substitute Teacher. Great theme, and such talented and truthful professional performances of the characters by the actors: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston.
2012
Lucy Liu's acting career continued, she was in demand and loved by the audience. 2012 brought the actress a role in the action film The Man with the Iron Fists, where her partner was Russell Crowe. The events of the plot took place in ancient feudal China. The film told the story of a black blacksmith who knew how to make weapons and easily supplied them to everyone who had something to pay.
"Elementary"
In the same year, viewers saw another version of the adventures of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in the special New Year's parody “Elementary.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's hero moved from London to New York, exchanging Victorian England for modern America. Quite a good detective series with long-known and beloved characters. However, from the latter, there are only high IQ, logic and names. From the very beginning, the character of Homs was not sympathetic, only his intelligence was sympathetic. The character of Joan Watson, actress Lucy Liu, is a little wooden and unemotional. But despite all this, Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu looked quite organic together. Detective stories are interesting, the pictures are captivating.
Besides
Lucy Liu is a multi-talented person, she is both an actress and director of the film Meena and a producer of the films Freedom Fury and Called the Cleaner. In addition, Lucy Liu took an active part in dubbing animated films: “Mulan 2”, “Kung Fu Panda”, “Afro Samurai: Resurrection”, “Fairies: The Lost Treasure”, “The Adventures of Tinker Bell and Her Friends”. Among other things, Lucy Liu is also a very talented artist. In the early 1980s, her work was exhibited at the Cast Iron Gallery in New York's bohemian Soho neighborhood. In 1993, the young artist even won a grant to study Chinese national art. The result of her creative research was an exhibition of her photographs, ceramics, paintings, collages made of wood and paper, representing episodes from the life of a beautiful Chinese woman. Among Hollywood's elite, Lucy Liu is also known as a fearless athlete. Her sporting interests included rock climbing, skiing and horse riding. Like a true extreme sports enthusiast, Lucy did not give up sports, even after receiving a couple of serious injuries. Both times she fell unsuccessfully: first from a horse, and then from a bicycle. Injuries were not a good enough reason for the actress to deny herself the pleasure of purchasing a motorcycle and taking up snowboarding at the same time!
Personal life
Lucy Liu did not like to talk about her personal life. It is known that the actress is not married. Publications have repeatedly appeared in the press about the affair between Klitschko Jr., who was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Ukraine, with... Lucy Liu. As soon as two “fighters”, albeit in different sports and weight categories, appeared together in a cafe in Los Angeles, rumors immediately began to spread. The famous American comedian Bill Murray, with whom Lucy starred in the film Charlie's Angels, also suffered from gossip. He was accused of having a love affair with a beautiful Chinese woman. To which Liu only cheerfully remarked: “They write that I attacked him. How could I attack him if he is one meter and ninety tall!? I didn’t intend to use kong-fu techniques on him, but he just didn’t give in!” Her engagement to American screenwriter Zach Helm did not end in marriage. And the romance with actor Will McCormack, already not very stormy, slowly faded away. Lucy admitted bitterly: “Men are afraid of me…” However, she immediately corrected herself: “After Ally McBeal, people had the impression that I was a very tough person. No man has asked me out on a date. In Charlie's Angels I was able to show my soft, feminine side. After the film came out, men finally appeared in my life who wanted to date me!”
Interesting Facts
At the age of five, Lucy Liu began learning English; before that she spoke only Chinese. Lucy Liu is a real polyglot, she speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and, of course, Chinese. In the mid-1990s, Lucy Liu played in the plays Madama Butterfly and The Mahogany Curtain. To fill the void of existence, the actress did a lot of yoga and aerobics, enjoyed studying oriental martial arts, and everything worked out great for her. Entertainment Weekly named Lucy Liu one of the sexiest women on television. Lucy Liu, who has played the most brutal villains, prefers a completely different role behind the scenes: in recent years she has been serving as a UN Goodwill Ambassador. Desperate actress Lucy Liu strives to make the most of life: she has become a virtuoso of the accordion, having achieved perfection through training with the famous Buck Gwee Plunderoy. In 2000, Lucy became a face.
Moving to Los Angeles
During her student years, the girl became interested in acting. Suddenly the idea of becoming a famous actress comes to her, which Lucy informs her parents about. Mother and father did not interfere with their daughter’s wishes and in 1990 the girl moved to Los Angeles. The first time in the new city was quite difficult for Lew. The girl worked as a waitress and attended numerous castings. Nationality and Asian appearance prevented Lucy from getting any noticeable role, but the aspiring actress did not give up.
General filmography of the star
Every year, the list of Lucy Liu's roles is replenished with new works. “Kill Bill” and the film “Chicago” helped her gain a foothold among the first American stars The actress can often be seen in serial films.
For seven years, she played one of the leading roles in the television series “Elementary,” and then received a significant role in the film “Why Women Kill.” In October of this year, the broadcast of the first season of the series “Why Women Kill” ended. Lucy Liu will also take part in the filming of the next episodes of the project. To date, the actress’s total filmography already consists of 45 full-length films and 28 TV series.
Personal life of Lucy Liu
There is a lot of work!
Recently, the actress has been doing a lot of work dubbing cartoons (including the Kung Fu Panda franchise). And yet, she is still busy filming a series based on the works of Conan Doyle, “Elementary.” It came as a shock to fans of the great detective that the creators of the American show replaced military doctor Watson with a female doctor (played by Liu), who takes care of ex-drug addict Holmes. They live in modern America, and here they reveal the bloody deeds of the villains. But for those who do not consider themselves fans of the British writer, this is a completely watchable rating action.
Unfortunately, Lucy Liu is one of those actresses who carefully guards the secrets of her personal life. She was never married and until recently lived with her older brother and his wife in New York. But in August 2015, a happy event happened: Lucy became a mother. She named her son Rockwell. True, the actress decided that it was too late for her to give birth herself and resorted to the help of a surrogate mother.
Producer and director
As a multi-talented person, Lucy did not want to stop only at acting. In 2006, she produced the documentary Freedom Fury, and a year later she became a producer of the crime comedy Called the Cleaner. Liu also tried her hand as a director. She independently directed several episodes of the film “Elementary” and one episode of the multi-part project “Luke Cage”.
The meaning of the movie "Lucy"
Human potential has been a hot topic for a long time. How does our brain work? Are we making full use of our resources? These questions concern many people. With his film “Lucy,” Luc Besson tried to reveal the secret stored in our brain. Our potential is enormous. A person is capable of reaching dizzying heights in his life. However, often people simply exist, go with the flow. Without goals, interests, hobbies.
Why is our brain only functioning at 10%? What to do with the remaining 90%? The point of the film "Lucy" is to prove to the audience that everyone's possibilities are limitless. Frames and barriers exist only in our heads. We create obstacles for ourselves along the way. We are often afraid to take responsibility for our own actions. People waste their precious time on routine matters, they weave intrigues, and collect gossip. Having the incredible potential of our brain, we don’t even try to develop it.
However, despite our fantastic abilities, we ourselves must manage our inner strength. We must not allow our brain to exist separately from our mind, consciousness, and actions. Man is a powerful being. Everyone needs to learn to live in harmony with themselves and the world around them. We must direct all our abilities only for good. You cannot use force for personal gain.
The director of the film “Lucy” managed to intrigue the viewer. A rich, vibrant action film makes everyone look into their minds and understand what they are capable of. Perhaps, after watching this life-affirming film, a person will think about his existence. If even one of us reconsiders his views on life, finds new abilities in himself, then this film was definitely not made in vain. Often we doubt ourselves. We are afraid that we will not be able to cope with the next task and will not be able to cope with the problems that have piled up. In these cases, it is important to discard all prejudices and simply believe in yourself. No one knows where the potential of the human brain ends. But scientists are sure that fantastic resources are hidden in it. It is important to believe that you are the one endowed with extraordinary abilities. Unleash your potential, trust your inner strength and confidently walk into a bright, meaningful future.
