Cameron Diaz
Diaz at the 2012 premiere of What to Expect When You're Expecting
Born	Cameron Michelle Diaz (1972-08-30) August 30, 1972 (age 39) San Diego, California, United States
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1988–93 (model) 1993–present (actress)

Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona in the Shrek series, and Bad Teacher. Diaz received Golden Globe award nominations for her performances in the movies There's Something About Mary, Being John Malkovich, Vanilla Sky, and Gangs of New York.

Early life[link]

Diaz, the younger of two daughters, was born in San Diego, California. Her mother, Billie (née Early), is an import-export agent, and her father, Emilio Diaz (1949–2008), worked for the California oil company UNOCAL for more than 20 years as a field gauger.^[1][2] Diaz has an older sister, Chimene. Her father's family came from Cuba, before settling in Tampa's Ybor City, and eventually California, where Emilio was born. Her mother is of German and Cherokee descent.^[3][4][5] Diaz was raised in Long Beach, California and attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School.^[6]

Career[link]

Modeling[link]

At age sixteen, she began her career as a fashion model, contracted with modeling agency Elite Model Management. For the next few years, she worked around the world for contracts such as with major companies, modeling for designers such as Calvin Klein and Levi's.^[7] When she was age 17, she was featured on the front cover of the July 1990 issue of Seventeen.^[8]

Acting[link]

Diaz at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio for the movie Gangs of New York.

Tom Cruise and Diaz at the MTV Movie Awards, June 6, 2010

At age 21 Diaz auditioned for The Mask,^[9] based on the recommendation of an agent for Elite, who met the film's producers while they were searching for the female main actress. Having no previous acting experience, she started acting lessons after being cast. The Mask became one of the top ten highest grossing films of 1994.^[10] Diaz's performance as the sultry lounge singer "Tina Carlyle" earned her nominations for several awards^[11] and launched her as a sex symbol.^[12][13]

Preferring to feel her way effectively into the industry, Diaz avoided large studio films for the next three years and took roles in the independent films The Last Supper (1995), Feeling Minnesota (1996), She's the One (1996), and Head Above Water (1996). She was scheduled to feature in the film Mortal Kombat, but had to resign after breaking her hand while training for the role.^[14]

Diaz returned to mainstream films with My Best Friend's Wedding and A Life Less Ordinary, both released in 1997. The following year, she played the title role in the smash hit There's Something About Mary (1998), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the category of Best Actress – Musical or Comedy.^[7] She received critical acclaim for her performance in Being John Malkovich (1999), which earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Golden Globe Award, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards). Between 1998 and 2000, Diaz featured in many movies, such as Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Very Bad Things, Any Given Sunday, and the successful adaptation of Charlie's Angels.^[7] In 2001, she won nominations for Best Supporting Actress for the Golden Globe Awards, the SAG Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards, and the American Film Institute Awards for Vanilla Sky, and also voiced Princess Fiona in the movie Shrek,^[7] for which she earned $10 million.

In 2003, Diaz received another Golden Globe nomination for Martin Scorsese's 2002 epic Gangs of New York, and became the third actress (after Wedding costar Julia Roberts) to earn $20 million for a role, receiving the sum for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Her next movies were In Her Shoes (2005) and The Holiday (2006). She was preparing to work again with The Mask co-star Jim Carrey for the film Fun with Dick and Jane, but resigned to feature in In Her Shoes. Diaz reportedly earned $50 million during the period of a year ending June 2008, for her roles in What Happens in Vegas opposite Ashton Kutcher, and the Shrek sequels.^[15][16][17] In 2009, she starred in My Sister's Keeper and The Box.

In 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked Cameron Diaz as the richest Hispanic female celebrity, ranking number 60 among the wealthiest 100.^[18][19] Also that year, Diaz voiced Princess Fiona for the movie Shrek Forever After, and reunited with her Vanilla Sky co-star Tom Cruise in the action adventure Knight and Day. In 2011, she played "Lenore Case", the journalist in the remake of the 1940s film The Green Hornet, and was the central lead in the hit comedy Bad Teacher. She was listed among CEOWORLD magazine's Top Accomplished Women Entertainers.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Diaz in July 2010

Diaz received "substantial" defamation damages from suing American Media Incorporated, after The National Enquirer had claimed she was cheating on then-paramour Justin Timberlake.^[21] She endorsed Al Gore publicly during 2000. Diaz wore a t-shirt that read "I won't vote for a son of a Bush!" while making publicity visits for Charlie's Angels.^[22] Diaz has also been involved with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the first and largest nonprofit organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has spoken as an advocate for military families.^{[citation needed]} Although she was quoted by a 1997 Time magazine article as saying she was germophobic,^[23] Diaz specifically denied this on the June 26, 2009, edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, saying that a small comment she made 12 years earlier regarding public bathroom doorknobs was distorted out of proportion.^[24] On April 15, 2008, Cameron's father, Emilio Diaz, died at the age of 58 from pneumonia.^[25]

Relationships[link]

From 1990 to December 1994, Diaz cohabited with video producer Carlos de la Torre.^[26][27] In 1995, Diaz dated actor Vincent D'Onofrio during the production of Feeling Minnesota.^[27] Later in 1995, she began a relationship with actor Matt Dillon. The relationship ended in December 1998.^[28] She began dating Jared Leto in 1999 and the couple became engaged in 2000.^[29] In 2003, they ended their four-year relationship.^[30] Diaz dated singer Justin Timberlake from 2003 to 2006.^[28] In October 2004, Diaz and Timberlake were in an altercation with a tabloid photographer outside a hotel. When the photographer and another man tried to photograph them, the couple snatched the camera. Pictures of the incident appeared in Us Weekly. Representatives for the pair claimed that they were acting a scene on a set.^[31] Diaz was in a romantic relationship with New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez from July 2010 to September 2011.^[32]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cameron Diaz

• Cameron Diaz at the Internet Movie Database
• Cameron Diaz at People.com
• Cameron Diaz at Yahoo! Movies

Drew Barrymore
Barrymore at the premiere for He's Just Not That Into You in 2009
Born	Drew Blyth Barrymore (1975-02-22) February 22, 1975 (age 37)[1] Culver City, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, film director, screenwriter, producer, model
Years active	1978–present
Spouse	Jeremy Thomas (1994) Tom Green (2001–2002)
Partner	Will Kopelman (2011–present; engaged)
Parents	John Drew Barrymore Jaid Barrymore
Relatives	Barrymore family John Barrymore Lionel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore
Website
www.drewbarrymore.com

Drew Blyth Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered States in 1980. Afterwards, she starred in her breakout role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She quickly became one of Hollywood's most recognized child actresses, going on to establish herself in mainly comic roles.

Following a turbulent childhood which was marked by drug and alcohol abuse and two stints in rehab,^[1][2] Barrymore wrote the 1990 autobiography, Little Girl Lost. She successfully made the transition from child star to adult actress with a number of films including Poison Ivy, Bad Girls, Boys on the Side, and Everyone Says I Love You. Subsequently, she established herself in romantic comedies such as The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.

In 1995, she and business partner Nancy Juvonen formed the production company Flower Films,^[3] with its first production the 1999 Barrymore film Never Been Kissed. Flower Films has gone on to produce the Barrymore vehicle films Charlie's Angels, 50 First Dates, and Music and Lyrics, as well as the cult film Donnie Darko. Barrymore's more recent projects include He's Just Not That into You, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Everybody's Fine and Going the Distance. A recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Barrymore appeared on the cover of the 2007 People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful issue.

Barrymore was named Ambassador Against Hunger for the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Since then, she has donated over US$1 million to the program. In 2007, she became both CoverGirl's newest model and spokeswoman for the cosmetic and the face for Gucci's newest jewelry line. In 2010, she was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her portrayal of Little Edie in Grey Gardens.

Early life[link]

Barrymore was born in Culver City, California, the daughter of American actor John Drew Barrymore and Jaid Barrymore (née Makó),^[1][4] an aspiring actress. Barrymore's mother was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Brannenburg, West Germany, to Hungarian World War II refugees. Barrymore's father was of mainly English, and Irish, ancestry.^[5] Her parents divorced in 1984, when she was nine years old.^[1] She has one half-brother, John Blyth Barrymore,^[6] also an actor, and two half-sisters, Blyth Dolores Barrymore and (Brahma) Jessica Blyth Barrymore.

Barrymore was born into acting: her great-grandparents Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, Maurice Costello and Mae Costello (née Altschuk)^[7] and her grandparents John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, were all actors;^[7] John Barrymore was arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation.^[1][8] She is the niece of Diana Barrymore and the grandniece of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore and Helene Costello,^[9] the great-great-granddaughter of John Drew and actress Louisa Lane Drew, and the great grandniece of Broadway idol John Drew, Jr. and silent film actor/writer/director Sidney Drew.^[10] She is also the god-daughter of director Steven Spielberg,^[2] and Sophia Loren.^[11]

Her first name, Drew, was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgie Drew Barrymore; her middle name, Blyth, was the original surname of the dynasty founded by her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore.^[2]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

With President Reagan, 1984

Barrymore's career began when she was auditioned for a dog food commercial at 11 months old.^[2] When she was bitten by her canine co-star, the producers were afraid she would cry, but she merely laughed, and was hired for the job.^[2] She made her film debut in Altered States (1980), in which she had a small part.^[1] A year later, she landed the role of Gertie, the younger sister of Elliott, in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which made her one of the most famous child stars of the time and earned her the Young Artist Award as Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture in 1982.^[2][12] She received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture in 1984 for her role in Irreconcilable Differences, in which she starred as a young girl divorcing her parents.^[2][13] In a review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert states: "Barrymore is the right actress for this role precisely because she approaches it with such grave calm."^[14]

Rebellious era[link]

In the wake of this sudden stardom, Barrymore endured a notoriously troubled childhood. She was already a regular at the famed Studio 54 when she was a little girl, smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time she was 11, smoking marijuana at 12, and snorting cocaine at 13.^[1][2] Her nightlife and constant partying became a popular subject with the media.^[1] She was in rehab at age 13.^[1][2] A suicide attempt at age 14 put her back in rehab, followed by a three-month stay with singer David Crosby and his wife.^[8] The stay was precipitated, Crosby said, because she "needed to be around some people that were committed to sobriety."^[8] Barrymore later described this period of her life in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost. The next year, following a successful juvenile court petition for emancipation, she moved into her own apartment.^[8]

Barrymore with Corey Feldman at the 61st Academy Awards, March 29, 1989

In her late teens, her rebelliousness played itself out on screen and in print. Barrymore forged an image as a manipulative teenage seductress, beginning with the film Poison Ivy (1992), which was a box office failure, but was popular on video and cable.^[1][15] That same year, at the age of 17, she posed nude for the cover of the July issue of Interview magazine with her then-fiancé, actor Jamie Walters, as well as appearing nude in pictures inside the issue.^[16] She also underwent breast reduction surgery in 1992, and has said on the subject:

In 1993, Barrymore earned a second Golden Globe nomination, this time for the film Guncrazy.^[13] Barrymore would go on to pose nude at age 19 for the January 1995 issue of Playboy.^[18][19] Steven Spielberg, who directed her in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial when she was a child and was her godfather, gave her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that read, "Cover yourself up".^[2] Enclosed were copies of her Playboy pictures, with the pictures altered by his art department so that she appeared fully clothed.^[20] During a 1995 appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, Barrymore climbed onto David Letterman's desk and bared her breasts to him, her back to the camera, in celebration of his birthday.^[8] She modeled in a series of Guess? jeans ads during this time.^[21]

Return to prominence[link]

In 1995, Barrymore starred in Boys on the Side opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Mary-Louise Parker,^[22] and had a cameo role in Joel Schumacher's film Batman Forever, in which she portrayed a moll to Tommy Lee Jones' character, Two-Face.^[23][24] The following year, she made a cameo in the successful horror film Scream. Barrymore has continued to be highly bankable, and a top box office draw.^[1][25] She was frequently cast in romantic comedies such as Wishful Thinking (1997), The Wedding Singer (1998),^[26] and Home Fries (1998).^[27] Barrymore's role in the costume drama Ever After (1998) offered a modern take on the classic fairy tale of Cinderella and served as a reminder, according to Roger Ebert, of how well Drew Barrymore "can hold the screen and involve us in her characters".^[28]

Besides a number of appearances in films produced by her company, Flower Films, including Charlie's Angels, Barrymore had a dramatic role in the comedy/drama Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), playing a teenage mother in a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father (based on the real-life story of Beverly D'Onofrio).^[1] In 2002, Barrymore appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, alongside Sam Rockwell and Julia Roberts.^[29]

Flower Films and later work[link]

Barrymore at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival

In 1995, Barrymore formed Flower Films, a production company, with business partner Nancy Juvonen.^[30] The first film produced by the company was 1999's Never Been Kissed.^[31] The second offering from the company was Charlie's Angels (2000), a major box office success in 2000 that helped solidify the standing of both Barrymore and the company.^[2][32] When the production of Richard Kelly's debut film, Donnie Darko, was threatened, Barrymore stepped forward with financing from Flower Films and took the small role of Karen Pomeroy, the title character's English teacher.^[33] Although the film was less than successful at the box office in the wake of 9/11, it reached cult film status after the DVD release, inspiring numerous websites devoted to unraveling the plot twists and meanings.^[33]

In 2003, she reprised her role as Dylan Sanders in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,^[1][32] was nominated for an Emmy Award^[34] for her performance in Olive, the Other Reindeer^[35] and appeared with Ben Stiller in Duplex in 2003. Flower Films produced 50 First Dates with co-star Adam Sandler's Happy Madison company in 2004.^[36][37] Summing up Barrymore's appeal, Roger Ebert, in his review of 50 First Dates, described Barrymore as having a "smiling, coy sincerity," describing the film as "ingratiating and lovable."^[38] 50 First Dates was followed by Fever Pitch (2005), and in 2007, Music and Lyrics and Lucky You.^[39][40] Barrymore's more recent projects include Beverly Hills Chihuahua in 2008, and 2009's He's Just Not That into You, Grey Gardens and Everybody's Fine. Barrymore's directorial debut film Whip It, was released in October 2009. Whip It starred Ellen Page and Marcia Gay Harden and centered on an obsession with beauty pageants and the Austin, Texas, Hurl Scouts roller derby team. Barrymore also co-starred in the film.^[41]

In 2010, Barrymore reunited with former partner Justin Long on the set of Going the Distance, directed by Nanette Burstein. A R-rated romantic comedy about a couple dealing the ups and downs of a long distance relationship while commuting between New York City and San Francisco, the largely improvised film garnered generally mixed reviews by critics,^[42] who summed it as "timelier and a little more honest than most romantic comedies."^[43] Budgeted at US$32 million,^[44] the film became a moderate financial success at a worldwide box office total of US$40 million.^[45]

In 2011, it was announced that Barrymore had been cast alongside John Krasinski in Ken Kwapis's Big Miracle (2012), a romantic drama based on the 1989 book Freeing the Whales, which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales from being trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska.^[46]

On August 2, 2011, Drew directed the music video for a song "Our Deal", for band Best Coast, with features Chloë Moretz, Miranda Cosgrove, Tyler Posey, Donald Glover, Shailene Woodley and Alia Shawkat.^[47]

Other career highlights[link]

In 1999, Barrymore was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award commemorating her outstanding achievements within the film industry as a child actress.^[48] In 2005, she began a recurring role in the animated comedy Family Guy as Brian Griffin's simple-minded girlfriend, Jillian.^[49] She has since appeared in a total of eleven episodes.^{[49][50][51][52]} She was the subject of the 2005 documentary My Date with Drew. In it, an aspiring filmmaker and a fan of Barrymore's, uses his limited resources in an attempt to gain a date with her.^[53] On February 3, 2004, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[54]

Barrymore signing autographs

Barrymore's films have a worldwide box office gross that stands at over US$2.3 billion. According to The Hollywood Reporter's annual Star Salary Top 10, she was tied for eighth place on the top ten list of actresses' salaries, commanding 10 to 12 million dollars per movie for 2006.^[55] On February 3, 2007, Barrymore hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the fifth time,^[32] making her the second female host (after Candice Bergen) in the show's history to do so. She hosted again on October 10, 2009, becoming the first female to host six times. Barrymore still holds the record as the youngest celebrity ever to host the show (1982, at age seven).^[56][57] In March 2012, Barrymore is set to co-host the twelfth season of The Essentials, a film showcase on Turner Classic Movies which spotlights significant classic films.^[58] She will be hosting alongside TCM regular, Robert Osborne.

Barrymore became a CoverGirl Cosmetics' model and spokeswoman in 2007.^[59] Today, Drew Barrymore is still one of the faces for CoverGirl, alongside Queen Latifah and Taylor Swift. The company partnered up with Drew because "she emulates the iconic image of CoverGirl with her fresh, natural beauty and energetic yet authentic spirit" said Esi Eggleston Bracey, Vice President and General Manager of CoverGirl Cosmetics North America. She has brought not only her personality into this endorsement but also her creative side, as she is also a co-creator of the ads.^[60] She was No. 1 in People's annual 100 Most Beautiful People list in 2007.^[61] Also in 2007, she was named the new face for the Gucci jewelry line.^[62][63] Barrymore is signed to IMG Models New York City.

In May 2007, Barrymore was named Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme^[64][65] and later donated $1 million to the cause.^[32][66] In September 2010, Barrymore was confirmed to play the role of Ganga in the Indian Bollywood film The Lifestyle – In Generation Next to be directed by Santosh Kumar Jain, to be released in 2012. ^[67] Several articles and interviews reported Barrymore's taste for photography. As a guest photographer for a magazine series called "They Shoot New York," she appeared on the cover holding a Pentax K1000 film camera.^[68] She hopes to expose her work in a gallery one day, as she documented the last decade of her life with a Pentax camera.^[69]

Personal life[link]

Barrymore at the Music and Lyrics London premiere, 2007

In 1991, at the age of 16, Barrymore became engaged to Leland Hayward, grandson of Hollywood producer Leland Hayward.^[70] After a few months, this engagement was called off.^[71] Barrymore was engaged to and lived with musician/actor Jamie Walters in 1992–93.^[72]

Barrymore is the godmother of Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

She was married to British bartender turned Los Angeles bar owner Jeremy Thomas on March 20, 1994, and filed for divorce less than two months later.^[1][8] Barrymore married Canadian comedian Tom Green in July 2001.^[1] Green filed for divorce in December 2001.^[73] The divorce was finalized on October 15, 2002.^[73][74]

In 2002, Barrymore began dating The Strokes' drummer Fabrizio Moretti, soon after they met at a concert.^[1][32] Their five year relationship ended on January 10, 2007.^[32][75] She dated actor Justin Long,^[76] but they confirmed their split in July 2008.^[77] The couple reunited in 2009 and co-starred in the 2010 film Going the Distance. The two then reportedly split again in 2010.^[78] In early 2011, Barrymore began dating art consultant Will Kopelman, the son of former Chanel CEO Arie Kopelman.^[79] The couple announced their engagement in January 2012.^[80][81]

In 2004, she was quoted as saying, "A woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful. Being with a woman is like exploring your own body, but through someone else. When I was younger I used to go with lots of women. Totally. I love it".^[82] In March 2007, former magazine editor Jane Pratt claimed on her Sirius Satellite Radio show that she had a romance with Barrymore in the mid-1990s.^[83]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Aronson, Virginia. Drew Barrymore. Chelsea House, 1999. ISBN 0-7910-5306-7
• Bankston, John. Drew Barrymore. Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-7910-6772-6
• Barrymore, Drew. Little Girl Lost. Pocket Star Books, 1990. ISBN 0-671-68923-1
• Ellis, Lucy. Drew Barrymore: The Biography. Aurum Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84513-032-4
• Hill, Anne E. Drew Barrymore. Lucent Books, 2001. ISBN 1-56006-831-0

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drew Barrymore

• Official website
• Drew Barrymore at the Internet Movie Database
• Drew Barrymore at AllRovi
• Drew Barrymore at Yahoo! Movies
• Drew Barrymore at People.com
• Works by or about Drew Barrymore in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Drew Barrymore Video with Johnny Carson

Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu at the 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 premiere
Born	Lucy Liu (1968-12-02) December 2, 1968 (age 43) Queens, New York, United States
Alma mater	University of Michigan (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress, producer, singer
Years active	1989–present
Partner	Will McCormack (2004–present)

Lucy Alexis Liu (Chinese: 劉玉玲; pinyin: Liú Yùlíng; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, singer 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), and has also appeared in several 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.

Personal life[link]

Liu was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted her middle name "Alexis".^[1] She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, who was a civil engineer.^[2] Both of Liu's parents were immigrants from Taiwan of Chinese descent. Her grandparents were born and raised in China.^[3] She has an older brother, John,^[4][5][6][7] and an older sister, Jenny.^[8] Liu has stated that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin Chinese at home and began studying English when she was five years old.^[9]

Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145). She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986.^[10] She enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian Languages and Cultures. In Michigan, Liu worked as a waitress.^[11]

In 2004, Liu was engaged to Zach Helm, whom she had met the year before. She called off the engagement and immediately began a relationship with Will McCormack.^[12] She lives with her brother John and his wife in New York.^[13]

Career[link]

1989–1999[link]

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 only tried out for a supporting part,^[14] Liu was cast in the lead role.

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^[15] nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.^[14] In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a young woman who works for the Chinese mafia.

2000–2006[link]

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 sixteen 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 portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Taiwanese woman.^[16]

2007–present[link]

In 2007, Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner, Rise, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter^[9] (for which she was ranked #41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"),^[17] 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.^[14] The film is still being worked on for a release in 2012 or 2013

In 2007, Empire named Liu #96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".^[18] 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 (played by Peter Krause).^[19] Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.^[14]

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.^[20] In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is a American Sherlock Holmes adaption, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men.^[21] She is also doing the TNT TV show Southland playing Police Officer Jessica Tang.

Activism[link]

Liu speaking at the USAID Human Trafficking Symposium in September 2009

Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.^[22] She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter.^[13] In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13][23] She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13]

In 2001, Liu was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.^[14] She also hosted an MTV documentary for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007, produced to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia.^{[citation needed]} Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility.^{[citation needed]} Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and she became a spokesperson in 2009.^[24]

Liu is also a singer for the musical group The Bullitts.

Filmography[link]

Television[link]