Lucy Liu's Biography

Lucy Alexis Liu was born on 2 December 1968 in New York.

Lucy Liu gained a degree in Asian languages and cultures from the University of Michigan, where she also studied acting, dance, and voice.

Lucy Liu gained various parts in television before landing her breakthrough in 1998, when she was cast as Ling Woo on Ally McBeal. Originally Liu had been auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter. David E. Kelley, however, decided to create the role of Ling Woo especially for Liu.

For her work as Ling Woo, she was nominated for an Emmy (as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series) in 1999.

Although the part was originally going to be just for a few episodes, Lucy Liu stayed on until the end of Ally McBeal in 2002.

Lucy Liu has starred in films both whilst working on Ally McBeal and after it, including Play It to the Bone, Shanghai Noon, and, alongside Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, in Charlie's Angels: The Movie.

In the BBC's interview with director Vincenzo Natali, he was asked: "Lucy Liu has developed a reputation for being difficult. How did you find directing her?" and replied:

"I was terrified of working with Lucy. I'd heard all the stories, like her punching Bill Murray while working on "Charlie's Angels". And the truth is, she's the sweetest, smartest, most unpretentious lady I've ever worked with. Most actors want as much dialogue as possible, but Lucy actually pared her lines down. She was there to make the movie as good as possible, not just to raise her profile. Both she and Jeremy did a great job, and directing them wasn't different from any of the other actors I've worked with. They're just normal people. As normal as actors can be, anyway."

Liu also appeared as Rita Foster, a femme fatale in Cypher (2003), and as the deadly O-Ren Ishii, AKA Cottonmouth, in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1.

Other films featuring Lucy Liu are Domino, Lucky Number Slevin, and Code Name: The Cleaner.

In May 2005, Liu ruled out a further 'Charlie's Angels' film. Talking of her role as Alex Munday, Lucy Liu said: "It was fluff. I have moved on ..."

Lucy Liu has other talents apart from acting. She can play the accordion, and back in 1993, she had a collection of multimedia art pieces exhibited at the Cast Iron Gallery in SoHo.

She also managed to seduce Fry in Season 3 of Futurama where she voiced the virtual woman, Liubot in the episode I Dated a Robot.

In December 2010, Zap2It reported that Lucy Liu had been cast as Rae Ann Carter, a social worker who feels that it's time to settle down, in Lifetime's two-part miniseries Marry Me.

In 2012, Lucy Liu was cast as Joan Watson in Elementary, the acclaimed TV series, based on the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.