Lucy Liu first appeared in the Episode: "Pass, Not Pass" of the American teen drama television series ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ in 1991. The following year, she made her big-screen debut in the Hong Kong drama film, ‘Rhythm of Destiny’ where she played the role of ‘Donna.’ Liu continued to star in films like ‘Bang’ (1995), ‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996), ‘Gridlock'd’ (1997), ‘City of Industry’ (1997), and ‘Love Kills’ (1998). In 1998, she joined the cast of the American legal comedy-drama television series ‘Ally McBeal’ created by David E. Kelley. She portrayed Ling Woo and remained a part of the series until it went off-air in 2002. In 1999, she starred as ‘Pearl’ in the American neo-noir action thriller film ‘Payback’ directed by Brian Helgeland. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and grossed over $161.6 million on a $90 million budget. That same year, she also appeared in the Clint Eastwood-directed American mystery thriller film ‘True Crime.’ Despite opening to a favorable critical reception, the film failed at the box office.
In 2000, she played the role of ‘Princess Pei Pei’ in the martial arts western action comedy film ‘Shanghai Noon’ directed by Tom Dey. The film garnered praise from critics and grossed over $99.3 million on a $55 million budget. That same year, she also starred as ‘Alex Munday’ in the American action comedy film ‘Charlie's Angels’ directed by McG. Despite opening to a mixed reception, the film did well at the box office and grossed over $264.1 million on a budget of $93 million. Liu also received the ‘Blockbuster Entertainment Award’ and ‘MTV Movie Award’ for her performance in the film. She was next seen in films like ‘Hotel’ (2001), ‘Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever’ (2002), ‘Cypher’ (2002), and ‘Chicago’ (2002). In 2003, she reprised her role as ‘Alex Munday’ in ‘Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,’ the sequel to 2000's ‘Charlie's Angels.’ The film opened to a mixed reception and grossed over $259.2 million on a $120 million budget. That same year, she also became a recipient of the ‘MTV Movie Award’ for her performance as ‘O-Ren Ishii’ in the Quentin Tarantino-directed American martial arts film ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1.’ The film was a critical and commercial success.
She next starred in films like ‘Mulan II’ (2004), ‘3 Needles’ (2005), ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006), ‘Code Name: The Cleaner’ (2007), ‘Rise: Blood Hunter’ (2007), ‘Kung Fu Panda’ (2008), ‘Tinker Bell’ (2008), ‘Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure’ (2009), ‘Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue’ (2010), ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ (2011), ‘Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You’ (2011), ‘Secret of the Wings’ (2012), ‘The Pirate Fairy’ (2014), ‘Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast’ (2014), ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ (2016), ‘Future World’ (2018), and ‘Stage Mother’ (2020). She was last seen in the 2021 mockumentary ‘Death to 2021’ directed by Jack Clough and Josh Ruben. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics.
