| BIOGRAPHY
Best known to television audiences as Ling Woo, the raging force
of political incorrectness on Ally McBeal, Lucy Alexis Liu has
managed to cross over to the big screen in such features as Payback
and Play It to the Bone.
Born to Chinese parents in Jackson Heights, NY, on December 2,
1968, Liu grew up speaking both English and Mandarin. After graduating
from Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School, she earned a degree in
Asian languages and cultures from the University of Michigan,
where she also studied acting, dance, and voice. Liu's first professional
job was playing a waitress on Beverly Hills 90210, something that
led to more substantial work on various TV shows, including a
regular part on the TV series Pearl.
Liu's biggest breakthrough came in 1998, when she was cast as
Ling Woo on Ally McBeal. She had originally auditioned for the
role of Nelle Porter, which ultimately went to Australian actress
Portia DeRossi. David E. Kelley, the show's producer, was so impressed
with Liu's audition, however, that he created the role of Ling
Woo specifically for her. The character was initially supposed
to be included on only a few episodes, but proved so popular with
the show's audience that Liu was made into a regular cast member.
Unsurprisingly, the actress' increased exposure led to greater
opportunities on the screen and after playing supporting roles
in such films as Payback and Molly (both 1999), she moved on to
more substantial work in Play It to the Bone and the Jackie Chan
martial arts period comedy Shanghai Noon, which cast her as a
princess who has been kidnapped from her emperor father. In 2000,
she also was cast in perhaps her most high-profile role to date,
when she was chosen alongside Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz
as one of the titular crime fighters in Charlie's Angels: The
Movie.
With the exception of a small role as an inmate in the Oscar-winning
film Chicago, 2002 brought little recognition for Liu -- Cypher,
Ballistics: Ecks vs. Sever, and Party Monsters with former Home
Alone star Macaulay Culkin went virtually unseen by the general
public. 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle placed Liu firmly
back inside the spotlight, though she was somewhat overshadowed
by the toothy blonde glint that is Cameron Diaz. Luckily for Liu,
she was given the chance to shine quite independently when Quentin
Tarantino cast her as the deadly O-Ren Ishii, AKA Cottonmouth,
in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003).
|
FILMOGRAPHY
• Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
• Hotel (2003)
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
• Party Monster (2003)
• Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever (2002)
• Chicago (2002)
• Charlie's Angels (2000)
• Play It to the Bone (2000)
• Shanghai Noon (2000)
• Love Kills (1999)
• The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999)
• Molly (1999)
• Payback (1999)
• City of Industry (1997)
• Flypaper (1997) |
