Lucy Liu

Kali-eskrima before the screen

Lucy Liu was born on 2 December 1968 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City. She studied at New York University, then at the University of Michigan, where she earned a degree in Asian languages and cultures. Before acting she practised kali-eskrima-silat, the Filipino stick and knife art also known as arnis. That background helped in her action roles, shot with Hong Kong fight choreographers.

She started on stage in 1992, then took guest spots on television: L.A. Law, ER, The X-Files. On film she had a brief part in Jerry Maguire (1996), then played Pearl, a dominatrix tied to the Chinese mob, opposite Mel Gibson in Payback (1999). Wider audiences found her in Ally McBeal, where she played lawyer Ling Woo from 1998 to 2002, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination.

Charlie's Angels, then Kill Bill

In 2000 she starred with Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon as Princess Pei Pei, kidnapped and taken to the American West. The same year she became Alex Munday in Charlie's Angels, alongside Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore. The fights were staged by Yuen Cheung-yan, brother of Yuen Woo-ping. She returned in Full Throttle (2003). In Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) she plays Sever, a former intelligence agent turned killer, opposite Antonio Banderas.

Quentin Tarantino then cast her as O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003). An orphan turned assassin and then boss of Tokyo's yakuza clans, she commands the Crazy 88 and duels the Bride (Uma Thurman) with swords in the snowy garden of the House of Blue Leaves. Her backstory is told in Japanese animation. The fights were supervised by Yuen Woo-ping, choreographer of The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The role won her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

Kung Fu Panda and The Man with the Iron Fists

From 2008 to 2016 she voiced Master Viper, one of the Furious Five, in Kung Fu Panda and its two sequels. The character fights in snake style, supple and precise. In 2012 RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan cast her in The Man with the Iron Fists, his tribute to Shaw Brothers kung fu: she plays Madam Blossom, who runs a brothel and its own squad of female fighters.

Behind the camera too

From 2012 to 2019 she played Dr Joan Watson, Sherlock Holmes's partner, in Elementary, and directed several episodes. She also made the short film Meena (2014) and directed episodes of Luke Cage, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and American Born Chinese. On film she was the goddess Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), then shot Steven Soderbergh's Presence and Red One in 2024.

She received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and a lifetime achievement award at the Locarno Film Festival in 2025. In action cinema her name stays tied to O-Ren Ishii and the sword duel in the snow that closes Kill Bill: Volume 1.