Kelly Hu

Kelly Hu
Hu at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, 2008.
Chinese name	胡凱麗 (Traditional)
Chinese name	胡凯丽 (Simplified)
Birth name	Kelly Ann Hu
Born	February 13, 1968 (1968-02-13) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–

Kelly Ann Hu (simplified Chinese: 胡凯丽; traditional Chinese: 胡凱麗; pinyin: Hú Kǎilì; born February 13, 1968) is an American actress and former fashion model. She was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993.

Early life

Kelly Hu as Miss Hawaii Teen USA 1985

Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Juanita, an engineering drafter for Honolulu, and Herbert Hu, a salesman and exotic bird breeder; the two divorced during Hu's childhood. Her brother, Glenn, is a Resource Manager at the United States Army. She is of Hawaiian, Chinese and English descent. She attended Maʻemaʻe Elementary School and Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Hu has held a lifelong interest in singing and dancing and has also been interested in martial arts since her early childhood. Hu's cousin was a successful model in Japan, and Hu decided to follow her example. Kelly Hu won the title of Miss Hawaii Teen USA and competed in the 1985 Miss Teen USA pageant, becoming the Miss Teen USA pageant's third titleholder in history and its first Asian American winner. Hu has mentioned in interviews that her mother had told her America was not ready for an Asian as such a prominent role model. Ironically enough, she discovered after winning that she was prohibited from appearing in non-contest related activities for the year of her reign, this rule soon changed later on the coming years.

Career

Hu at a public event.

Hu modeled in Japan and Italy, and became well known in the latter as the star of a series of television advertisements for Philadelphia brand cream cheese, playing a young Japanese college student named Kaori. Hu moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1987, with a guest starring role as Mike Seaver's Hawaiian love interest on the sitcom Growing Pains. Hu followed this with appearances on various TV series, including Night Court, Tour of Duty, 21 Jump Street, and Melrose Place. Her first movie role was in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Hu also won the title of Miss Hawaii USA in 1993, becoming the first former Miss Teen USA to win a Miss USA state title. In the 1993 Miss USA pageant, held in Wichita, Kansas, Hu entered the top 10 in second place, after winning the preliminary interview competition and placing second and third, respectively, in swimsuit and evening gown. She then made the top 6 ranked second, winning the top 10 evening gown competition and placing second in swimsuit. She was eliminated in 4th place after the judges' questions, just two hundredths of a point from the final three.

In 1995, Hu played an undercover police officer in the movie No Way Back. She was the star in this movie. She was then cast as Dr. Rae Chang on Sunset Beach for six months in 1997. Afterwards, Hu was cast as police officers Michelle Chan in the television series Nash Bridges (1997–1998), Pei Pei "Grace" Chen on Martial Law (1998–2000), and Agent Mia Chen on the last three episodes of the television series Threat Matrix (2004). Her subsequent movie appearances include The Scorpion King (2002), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) and X2 (2003). She provided voice talents for the popular video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords as Visas Marr, the Sith woman who joins the Jedi Exile's party. Hu has been featured twice in Maxim magazine (May 2002 and May 2005).

In January 2007, Hu began appearing in a full time role on the TV series In Case of Emergency. She plays Kelly Lee, a Korean American woman who accidentally reunites with her high school classmates and realizes none of them grew up according to their high school plans.

During the first quarter of 2007, she completed filming the film Stilletto, and after that, Farmhouse.

In April 2009, Hu developed the character JIA for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. In July, she appeared at Comic-Con International in San Diego to sign copies of Secret Identities alongside her collaborator, DC Comics artist Cliff Chiang. In the fall of 2009, she appeared in the film The Tournament as Lai-Lai Zhen. She was the first guest actor to cross over between the television series NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS, playing Lee Wuan Kai in a two-episode arc within both series.

In spring of 2010, Kelly Hu played Pearl, a vampire, on the CW television show Vampire Diaries.

In fall of 2010, Kelly Hu began a recurring role on the CBS television show Hawaii Five-0.

Personal life

Hu resides in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She is single. She is an avid poker fan and has frequently taken part in competitions such as the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour, including the WPT Celebrity Charity match on March 3, 2008. She was part of HollywoodPoker.com's "Celebrity Poker Night" on May 30, 2006, and in July 2006 placed in the top 200 in the World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament, besting nearly 1,000 other competitors.

Activism

Hu has supported the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment and in 2004 starred in a public service announcement for them entitled "The Least Likely" to encourage young Asian Americans to register and vote.

In 2007 Hu was a driver in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race a national fund-raising program supporting children’s hospitals throughout the United States.

In January 2008, Hu participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by will.i.am called "Yes We Can". She campaigned for Obama in Hawaii in the run-up to the February 19, 2008 Democratic caucuses. In February 2008, Hu also appeared in another viral video in support of Obama, "Sí Se Puede Cambiar", written and performed by Andrés Useche, directed by Eric Byler. She was the emcee of the Asian American Action Fund's annual fundraiser on June 10, 2008.

Ms Hu has been active to protect the Hawaiian ecology. She supported Reef Check Hawaii by running in and successfully completing the Honolulu Marathon to raise awareness for the organization. She also gave support to the Shark Fin Ban which took effect in Hawaii July 2010. This made it illegal to possess, sell, or distribute shark fins in Hawaii.

In April 2011 Hu was a celebrity host for Save the Children's "Caring for Japan's Keiki" a benefit for Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. Also in 2011 she hosted a Celebrity Poker Tournament in support for Best Buddies International, a charity to which she has given support for several years

Filmography

Film roles

• Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – Eva Watanabe
• American Eyes (1990) – Emily
• The Doors (1991) – Dorothy
• Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) – Suzie
• Surf Ninjas (1993) – Ro-May
• No Way Back (1995) – Seiko Kobayashi
• Strange Days (1995) – Anchor Woman
• Star Command (1996) – Ens. Yukiko Fujisaki
• Fakin' da Funk (1997) – Kwee-Me
• The Scorpion King (2002) – Cassandra
• Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) – Sona
• X2 (2003) – Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike
• The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004) – Lana
• Underclassman (2005) – Lisa Brooks
• Americanese (2006) – Brenda Nishitani
• Undoing (2006) – Vera
• Devil's Den (2006) – Caitlin
• The Air I Breathe (2007) – Jiyoung
• Shanghai Kiss (2007) – Micki Yang
• Succubus: Hell Bent (2007) – Detective Pei
• Farmhouse (2008) – Lilith
• Stiletto (2008) – Detective Hanover
• Dead Space: Downfall (2008) – Shen (voice)
• Dim Sum Funeral (2008) – Cindy
• The Tournament (2009) – Lai Lai Zhen
• Almost Perfect (2011) – Vanessa ("Van")
• What Women Want (2011) – Girl in Lotto Commercial

Television roles

• Growing Pains (1987–1988) – Melia (3 episodes)
• Sunset Beach (1997) – Rae Chang (63 episodes)
• Nash Bridges (1997–1998) – Insp. Michelle Chan (23 episodes)
• Martial Law (1998–2000) – Chen Pei Pei (Grace Chen) (44 episodes)
• Boomtown (2003) - Rachel Durrel (2 episodes)
• Threat Matrix (2004) – Agent Mia Chen (3 episodes)
• Mayday (2005) – Sharon Crandall (TV movie)
• CSI: NY (2005–2006) – Detective Kaile Maka (4 episodes)
• In Case of Emergency (2007) – Kelly Lee (13 episodes)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2008) – Kelly Sun (1 episode)
• Army Wives (2008–2009) – Major Jordana Davis (4 episodes)
• In Plain Sight (2009) – Ahn Li (1 episode)
• NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) – Lee Wuan Kai (1 episode)
• NCIS (2009) – Lee Wuan Kai (1 episode)
• Dark Shadows – Dr. Julia Hoffman (Unaired)
• The Vampire Diaries (2010–2011) – Pearl (8 episodes)
• Hawaii Five-0(2010–2011) – Laura Hills (3 episodes)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2011) - Angie Salinger (1 episode)

Voice roles

• Robot Chicken (2005–2007) – Additional Voices (5 episodes)
• Afro Samurai (2007) – Okiku
• Phineas and Ferb (2007-present) – Stacy Hirano (51 episodes)
• The Spectacular Spider-Man (2009) – Sha Shan Nguyen (5 episodes)
• Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (2009) – Miyumi/Miss Mirimoto
• Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) – Ms. Li, Female assassin
• Young Justice (2011) – Cheshire, Paula Crock (3 episodes)
• Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011) – Laira

Video game roles

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords (2004) – Visas Marr
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) – Suki Toyama
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: Uprising (2009) – Suki Toyama AI
• Ninja Blade (2009) – Ryoko Kurokawa
• Terminator Salvation (2009) – Wells
• Afro Samurai (2009) – Okiku, Osachi

Other

• The Least Likely PSA (2004)

External links

• Official website
• Kelly Hu at the Internet Movie Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Heather Hays	Miss Hawaii USA 1993	Succeeded by Nadine Tanega
Preceded by Malia Yamamura	Miss Hawaii Teen USA 1985	Succeeded by Michelle Hardin
Media offices
Preceded by Marcia Strassman and Angela Visser	Miss Teen USA color commentator (with Leeza Gibbons) 1990–1991	Succeeded by Leeza Gibbons and Bridgette Wilson
Preceded by Leeza Gibbons and Bridgette Wilson	Miss Teen USA color commentator (with Arthel Neville) 1993	Succeeded by Daisy Fuentes and Jamie Solinger