Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is a Emmy Award nominated
American actress of Chinese ancestry, best known for starring in the
TV series Ally McBeal and the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. Her Chinese
name is Li? Y?l?ng (²).
Liu was born in New York City, and was raised in Queens, New York by
Chinese immigrant parents, and attended New York City's famous
Stuyvesant High School. She attended New York University for one year,
transferred to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and graduated with
a degree in Asian languages and cultures.
Liu is widely considered the most prominent Asian-American actress in
American media. She had small stints in films and TV roles (for
example in X-Files) before landing a break on Ally McBeal. Liu's role
on the series was originally not meant to be a regular, but the
enthusiastic audience response to the actress' feisty Ling Woo secured
Lucy as a prominent cast member. She became more famous with her turn
as Alex in the Charlie's Angels movie, starring alongside more
established modern Hollywood icons Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz.
The sequel to the film, however, opened to poor reviews and box office
receipts. Lucy was also paid sixteen million dollars less for her work
in Charlie's Angels than co-star Cameron Diaz.
Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a
critical and box-office failure that was remarkable only in its
casting of two minorities as the lead roles. Lucy is perhaps most
famous for her role as O-Ren Ishii in director Quentin Tarantino's
Kill Bill films. The first installment of the Kill Bill films, Volume
1, exposed Lucy as a more serious and physically adept actress than
had been evident from her previous roles. She won an MTV Movie Award,
further solidifying her fame with young, hip audiences, for "Best
Movie Villain".
Lucy recently appeared on several episodes of "Joey" with Matt
LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels movies.
She also had a small role opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller
Domino. Liu is currently in talks to recreate the Charlie Chan series
for modern audiences.
Although Liu is not married, rumors in the past have linked her with
George Clooney. Recently, there was news that she is engaged to a New
York playwright, Zach Helm. The engagement has been canceled and she
is currently single.
In 2005, Liu was appointed a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Ambassador.
Filmography
* Domino (2005)
* Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
* Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
* Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
* Chicago (2002)
* Cypher (2002)
* Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
* Futurama (Guest Appearance) (2001)
* Charlie's Angels (2000)
* Shanghai Noon (2000)
* Play It to the Bone (1999)
* The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
* Molly (movie) (1999)
* True Crime (1999)
* Payback (1999)
* Love Kills (1998)
* Flypaper (1997)
* City of Industry (1997)
* Gridlock'd (1997)
* Guy (1996)
* Jerry Maguire (1996)
* Bang (1995)
* Protozoa (1993)