Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress.
Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her ethnic background is a mixture of
Chinese, Hawaiian, and English.
Hu has had a lifelong interest in singing and dancing. She has also
been interested in martial arts since her early childhood, when her
older brother would arrange for her to fight neighborhood boys. Hu's
cousin was a successful model in Japan and Hu decided to follow her
example. To gain publicity, she entered Miss Teen USA contest in 1985.
Hu has mentioned in interviews that her mother had told her America
was not ready for an Asian as such a prominent role model. However, Hu
became the first Asian American to win the title anyway. Ironically
she found out after winning that she was prohibited from appearing in
non-contest related activities for the year of her reign.
Hu worked in Japan and Italy, the later in which she became well-known
as the star of a series of ads for Philadelphia brand cream cheese. Hu
moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1987 with a guest
starring role on the sitcom Growing Pains. Hu followed this with
appearances on series such as Night Court, Tour of Duty , 21 Jump
Street, and Melrose Place and her first movie role in Friday the 13th
Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Hu also won the title of Miss Hawaii
USA in 1993 and was a finalist at the 1993 Miss USA pageant held in
Wichita, Kansas.
In 1995, Hu played an undercover police officer in the movie No Way
Back. While the movie was not a major success it opened a new career
direction for Hu in action adventure roles. She was then cast as Dr.
Rae Chang on Sunset Beach for six months in 1997. Afterwards, Hu was
cast as police officers Michelle Chan in the television series Nash
Bridges (1997-1998) and Chen Pei Pei on Martial Law (1998-2000). Her
subsequent movie appearances include The Scorpion King (2002), Cradle
2 the Grave (2003) and X2 (2003). She provided voice talents for the
popular video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith
Lords as Visas Marr, the Sith woman who joins the Exile's party.
Hu resides in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California where she is co-owner
of a restaurant Basic Bites.
Filmography
* American Knees (2006) .... Brenda Nishitani
* The Shanghai Kid (2006) .... Micki
* Expats (2005) .... Vanilla Manilla
* Undoing (2005) .... Vera
* Mayday (2005) (TV) .... Sharon Crandall
* Underclassman (2005) .... Lisa Brooks
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (2004) (VG) (voice) ....
Visas
* The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004) (TV) .... Lana
* X2 (2003) .... Yuriko Oyama (aka Lady Deathstrike)
* Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) .... Sona
* The Scorpion King (2002) .... Cassandra
* Martial Law (1998/I) TV Series .... Chen Pei Pei (Grace Chen)
(1998-2000)
* Nash Bridge (1996) TV Series .... Insp. Michelle Chan (1997-1998)
* Sunset Beach (1997) TV Series .... Rae Chang (1997)
* Fakin' Da Funk (1997)
* Star Command (1996) (TV) .... Ens. Yukiko Fujisaki
* Strange Days (1995) .... Anchor Woman
* No Way Back (1995) .... Seiko Kobayashi
* Surf Ninjas (1993) .... Ro-May
* Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) .... Suzie
* The Doors (1991) .... Dorothy
* American Eyes (1991) (TV)
* Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) .... Eva