Lucy Liu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfiJP_8MVW8&fmt=18 Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, narrator, and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998--2002) for which she was nominated for both a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, and has also appeared in several hit Hollywood films including Payback, Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda. In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT original series Southland in the recurring role of Jessica Tang for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress. She is currently one of the two series lead actors of the CBS television crime drama Elementary in the role of Joan Watson. In 1989, Liu auditioned 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 part, Liu was cast in the lead role. She told The New York Times in 1990 while queuing up to audition for the musical Miss Saigon: "There aren't many Asian roles, and it's very difficult to get your foot in the door". In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen. Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. She was cast in The X-Files in "Hell Money" and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in "The March to Freedom" before landing 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 an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a high-class BDSM prostitute with links to the Chinese mafia. Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels film with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and was a hit, earning more than $125 million in the United States. Charlie's Angels earned a worldwide total of more than $264 million. The sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opened in June 2003 and was also ranked highly, earning more than $100 million in the U.S. and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. In contrast, Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a critical and box office failure. In 2000 she hosted Saturday Night Live with Jay-Z. Liu starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake." In a 2001 episode of Sex and the City entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing a new client of character Samantha Jones who does public relations. She starred in the Sex and the City-inspired TV show, Cashmere Mafia on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on the animated shows Futurama (as herself and/or robot duplicates thereof in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket") and The Simpsons (on the season 16 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan"). In 2002 Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm (aka Cypher). Soon thereafter, she appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. She won an MTV Award for "Best Movie Villain" for the part. 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 portra...