Bio
Lucy Liu is an American actress best known for her role in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002), and for appearing in several notable film roles, including Chicago, Kill Bill and the Charlie's Angels films.
For her role as Ling Woo in Ally McBeal she scored a 1999 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series the same year.
She was nominated for another SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2000.
She currently stars as Dr. Joan Watson in the crime drama series Elementary, a contemporary reimagining of the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, since 2012.
Liu also guest-starred on Ugly Betty, Sex & the City and Joey, and has lent her voice to such animated series as The Simpsons, Futurama, King of the Hill and the DreamWorks animation film Kung Fu Panda.
Liu's blossoming film career was thrust into over-drive when she starred with Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore in Columbia Tri-Star's blockbuster hit, Charlie's Angels, and its sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
Her standing was further solidified when she starred opposite Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino's critically acclaimed film for Miramax, Kill Bill: Volume I.
More recently Liu was seen in the comedy Code Name: The Cleaner with co-star Cedric the Entertainer. In smaller release, she was also seen in 3 Needles, a three-paneled look at the worldwide AIDS crisis.
Other film credits include Lucky Number Slevin, opposite Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley; Tony Scott's Domino; opposite Jackie Chan in Universal's hit comedy Shanghai Noon; opposite Mel Gibson in Payback; with Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson in Touchstone Pictures' Play It to the Bone; another role opposite Banderas in the action-thriller Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, and a cameo role in the Oscar-winning Chicago.
Liu made her debut as producer with Freedom's Fury, a documentary on the 1956 Olympic semifinal water polo match between Hungary and Russia. Held in Australia, the match occurred as Russian forces were in Budapest, stamping out a popular revolt.
A native New Yorker, Liu attended NYU and later received a Bachelor of Science degree in Asian languages and cultures from the University of Michigan.
During her senior year at Michigan, she auditioned for a student theatre production of Andre Gregory's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Hoping to be cast in a supporting role, Liu was instead cast as the lead. Her acting career was born.
In 2005 Liu was appointed Ambassador for UNICEF. Her work with UNICEF has taken her to the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan to visit with survivors of the October 8, 2005 earthquake.
To witness the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and communities, Liu traveled to Lesotho in August 2005, and to the Republic of Congo to bring awareness to the tragic consequences of long running civil war on the children of that region.