Lucy Liu

At the age of 19, while traveling on the subway, Liu was discovered by an agent. She did one commercial.[16] As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group,[17] she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally tried out for only a supporting role,[18] Liu was cast in the lead. While in line to audition for the musical Miss Saigon in 1990, she told The New York Times, "There aren't many Asian roles, and it's very difficult to get your foot in the door."[19] In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen.[20]

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. In 1992, she made her big-screen debut in the Hong Kong film Rhythm of Destiny, which starred Danny Lee and Aaron Kwok.[21] In 1993, she appeared in an episode of L.A. Law as a Chinese widow giving her evidence in Mandarin.[22] Liu starred on the sitcom Pearl, which lasted one season. Shortly after the end of Pearl's run in 1997, Liu was cast in a role on Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned a Primetime Emmy Award[23] nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.[18]

Liu speaking at the USAID Human Trafficking Symposium in September 2009

In 2000, Liu starred in Charlie's Angels along with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. In 2001, Liu was the spokeswoman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education.[24] In 2004 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[25] She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.[18] In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm. She appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. While in negotiations for Kill Bill with Tarantino the two joined to help produce the Hungarian sports documentary Freedom's Fury.[26] She won an MTV Award for Best Movie Villain for her part in Kill Bill. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of Joey with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film Chicago and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino. In Lucky Number Slevin, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006, Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman.[27]

Liu had previously presented her artwork under a pseudonym, Yu Ling (which is her Chinese name).[3][28] Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had several gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.[29] She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter.[30] Liu attended the New York Studio School for drawing, painting, and sculpture from 2004 to 2006.[31] In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.[30][32] She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Her painting, "Escape", was incorporated into Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection and was shown during Art Basel Miami 2008, which showed works by contemporary American artists.[31] Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits from the NYC Milk Gallery gallery show to UNICEF.[33] In London, a portion of the proceeds from her book Seventy Two went to UNICEF.[25]

Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility.[34] She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. In 2008, she produced and narrated the short film The Road to Traffik, about the Cambodian author and human rights advocate Somaly Mam. The film was directed by Kerry Girvin and co-produced by photographer Norman Jean Roy. This led to a partnership with producers on the documentary film Redlight.[35][36]

In 2007 Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner; Rise: Blood Hunter, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter[14] (for which she was ranked number 41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires");[37] and Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of Charlie Chan, which had been planned as early as 2000.[18] In 2007 Empire named Liu number 96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".[38] The producers of Dirty Sexy Money created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George (Peter Krause).[39] Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.[18]

In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award–winning play God of Carnage as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer, and Dylan Baker.[40] Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for same-sex marriage, and became a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011.[41] She has teamed up with Heinz to combat the widespread global health threat of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin and mineral malnutrition among infants and children in the developing world.[42]

Liu at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con

In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is an American Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men.[43] She has gained praise for her role as Watson, including three consecutive nominations for the People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actress. She also has played police officer Jessica Tang on Southland, a television show focusing on the lives of police officers and detectives in Los Angeles, as a recurring guest actor during the fourth season.[44] She received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress for this role.[45] Liu's other directorial credits include 6 episodes of Elementary, an episode of Graceland,[46] the episode "Dearly Beloved" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the second-season premiere of Luke Cage.[47]

In August 2011, Liu became a narrator for the musical group The Bullitts.[48][49] In 2013, Liu was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[50] Liu was named Harvard's 2016 Artist of the Year. She was awarded the Harvard Foundation's arts medal at the annual Harvard Foundation Award ceremony, during the Cultural Rhythms Festival in Sanders Theatre. She is also part of the cast in the post-apocalyptic thriller Future World, directed by James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung.[51] Her first national museum exhibition was held at the National Museum of Singapore in early 2019[52] and was titled "Unhomed Belongings."[53]

In April 2021, Liu was cast as the villainess Kalypso in the upcoming superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods.[54] In 2022, she was cast to voice a role in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Strange World,[55] and in Jake Kasdan's upcoming film Red One.[56]