Occupation: Actress, Model
Date of Birth: December 2, 1968
Place of Birth: Queens, NY, USA
Sign:M Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Taurus
Education: Stuyvesant High School, New York City, class of '86; graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., with a degree in Asian languages and cultures
LUCY LIU ISN’T a bee-itch, but she plays one on TV. And she enjoys her portrayal of the deliciously malicious Ling Woo as much as Ally McBeal viewers do. "This role has been liberating for me. I can bring who I am into it," she confessed to Newsweek.
And just who is Ms. Liu? Well, long before she donned Ling's self-designed ensembles and stormed around the law offices of Fish & Cage in stilettos, Lucy Alexis was the sweet, accordion-playing daughter of a Chinese mother and father who relinquished careers in biochemistry and engineering, respectively, to move to New York and become a Macy's clerk and a watch salesman, all for the American dream.
For two decades, Liu focused on education, attending the prestigious Stuyvesant High School and New York University in New York, and then transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. While studying for her degree in Asian languages and cultures, Liu cultivated a reputation as a talented multimedia artist and photographer, exhibiting at galleries on both coasts.
As if being an artistic scholar weren't enviable enough, Liu also studied dance, voice, and drama. During her senior year at U of M, she finally found the time to audition for and get a role in a school production, redefining Alice in Wonderland's typically blond-and-blue-eyed lead.
Having nibbled at theatrics, Liu hungrily pursued a showbiz career after graduation, using money from three jobs, as a secretary, an aerobics instructor, and a hostess at a fine "rib establishment,” to fund acting lessons. Her food industry experience came in handy for her first TV part: "Courtney, a waitress at the Peach Pit" on Beverly Hills, 90210, circa 1991.
Liu's Hollywood debut might have earned her a complimentary Moon Over My Hammy before it resulted in an Emmy; however, following a couple more years of coaching and stage experience, the petite (5-foot-1-inch) actress's resume started to swell with credits on popular shows like Coach, ER, and The X-Files, as well as a place in the ensemble cast of the not-so-popular Rhea Perlman sitcom Pearl.
The indie feature scene welcomed Liu with open arms, providing the opportunity for her to glimpse a hooker's life (Bang) and to work with such up-and-comers as Hope Davis (who starred in Mumford) and Vincent D’Onofrio (of The Cell fame) in the voyeuristic drama Guy. She even spent a month at a Los Angeles strip club to prepare for the part of Cathi Rose in City of Industry (1997), which starred Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff and Famke Janssen. A brief appearance as one of Jerry Maguire's numerous ex-girlfriends marked the first time mainstream moviegoers would see her, but luckily, not the last.
The frequent television stints and steady independent gigs kept Liu afloat until her big break in 1998, when she read for the role of Nelle "Subzero" Porter on David E. Kelley's hit series Ally McBeal. Liu recalled in an interview with Gannett, "There were six women there, including myself, and I was the only woman there of color. And I thought, 'This is a joke … I don't even know why I'm here.'"
Although Liu proved to be too cold for even the frosty Nelle, who was ultimately depicted by Portia de Rossi, she charmed writer-producer Kelley so thoroughly that he whipped up the character Ling Woo and offered Liu a single-episode guest stint. Once Woo was unleashed on the unsuspecting and grateful public, though, there was no getting her back into the cage, and Liu joined the cast permanently.
Liu fiercely protects her character from detractors. "Ling is a strong woman. She's honest. She doesn't mince words," she told Women.com. "But I don't think she's a bitch, she's misunderstood."
Liu's growing celebrity helped attract viewers to the 1999 Mel Gibson flick Payback, which she had completed prior to tapping a keg of Woo on Ally. Her leather-clad dominatrix-for-hire proved to be one of the film's sparse saving graces. Subsequent Liu movies, including the mega-indie The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human and the mega-painful Woody Harrelson-Antonio Banderas pairing Play It to the Bone fared much the same.
A possible salve for these stinging cinematic belly flops was Liu's first Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1999. The following year, she shared in the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and earned an inaugural Ammy Award, which honors Asian-American actors and filmmakers.
The big-screen horizon has begun to brighten, too, with the success of the Jackie Chan action comedy Shanghai Noon, in which Liu portrayed Chinese princess Pei-Pei, who pooh-poohs prearranged marriage.
In fall 2000, she joined the crime-fighting beauty brigade in Charlie's Angels. Liu was the final Angel to be cast, joining Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore in their third month of intensive martial arts training. Of course, Liu already had a lower learning curve than her castmates, having studied Kali-Eskrima-Silat for years. "You know, knife and stick stuff," Liu explained to Women.com.
The Angels production was surrounded by tales of diva-esque behavior and feuds between cast members, especially Liu and Bill Murray. Out on the promotional circuit, though, the stars espoused nothing but sisterly camaraderie, and, seeing as they could all karate chop a naysayer in half, it's best to believe 'em, isn't it?
Despite a Revlon contract and a reputation as one of Hollywood's most flamboyantly sexy femmes, Liu has managed to remain single, telling Details, "I'm extremely independent. It's not in my plan to be married. I can't even live with anyone." And she's not about to let any of those boy-types, nor those Hollywood-types, tell her what to do. "People keep talking to me lately about success, but I can't imagine being sucked up into this Hollywood abyss," she said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Not once have I ever felt I wasn't in control of my own destiny, and at this point, I just can't imagine letting anyone else take control. I learned that from my parents."
Movies:
2000 Charlie’s Angels
2000 Shanghai Noon
1999 Molly
1999 Play It to the Bone
1999 The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human
1999 True Crime
1999 Payback
1991 Love Kills
1997 Flypaper
1997 City of Industry
1997 Gridlock’d
1997 Guy
1996 Jerry Maguire
1995 Bang
TV:
1999-2000 Ally McBeal
1998 Ally McBeal
1997 Riot
1997 Michael Hayes
1997 NYPD Blue
1997 Jonny Quest: The New Adventures
1996-1997 Pearl
1996 The X-Files
1996 Nash Bridges
1995 ER
1995 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
1995 Home Improvement
1994 Coach
1993 LA Law
1991 Beverly Hills, 90210
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
