Simu Liu

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The native form of this personal name is Liú Sīmù. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Simu Liu
劉思慕
Simu Liu speaking at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2019
Liu at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1989-04-19) 19 April 1989 (age 35)
Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
CitizenshipCanadian[1]
EducationUniversity of Western Ontario (HBA)
Occupations
Years active2011–present
AwardsFull list
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese劉思慕
Simplified Chinese刘思慕

Simu Liu (simplified Chinese: 刘思慕; traditional Chinese: 劉思慕; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor and stuntman best known for portraying Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He also played Jung Kim in the award-winning CBC Television sitcom Kim's Convenience[2] and received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards for his work in Blood and Water.[3]

Early life and education

Liu was born in Harbin, China in 1989 and immigrated to Canada at the age of five after being raised by his grandparents for the first four years of his life. He was raised in Erin Mills, an area of Mississauga, Ontario, and is an only child.[4] He attended University of Toronto Schools for high school and studied business administration at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, graduating with honours in 2011.

Liu initially worked as an accountant at Deloitte but was dissatisfied with his career and was eventually laid off. He began to explore other career options and decided to pursue a career as an actor and stuntman.[5][6]

Career

2011–2014: Early years

Liu got his start in acting working as an extra and stuntman, appearing in movies and music videos such as Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim[5] and Avicii's I Could Be The One[7]. His other early onscreen credits include Nikita (2012) and Beauty and the Beast (2014). He appeared as a stuntman in Sick: Survive the Night (2012) and the TV miniseries Heroes Reborn.

2015–2018: Blood and Water and Kim's Convenience

In 2015, Liu was cast in his first significant recurring role, appearing as a series regular in seven episodes of the Omni Television crime drama series Blood and Water (2015–2016). He would later receive his first award nominations for this role at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards in 2017.[8]

Liu in 2016

Later in 2015, Liu was cast in his first main role as Jung Kim in CBC's popular sitcom Kim's Convenience,[9] the TV adaptation of a popular play of the same name. It remains his most notable television success to date, with the series being nominated for and winning multiple awards internationally, including "Best Comedy Series" at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards and "Most Popular Foreign Drama" at the 2019 Seoul International Drama Awards.

In 2016, Liu was cast in a recurring role as the ex-CIA analyst Faaron, loosely modeled on real-life ex-analyst Rodney Faraon, in the NBC prequel series Taken based on the film franchise starring Liam Neeson.[10]

Even as he was cast in main and recurring roles, Liu continued to appear as an extra on several television shows, appearing in an episode of the hit BBC-Space series Orphan Black as well as in the Canadian science fiction series Dark Matter.[11][12]

In 2017, Liu joined the cast of the second season of Slasher as well as the CityTV miniseries Bad Blood, both as recurring characters.[13]

In 2018, he appeared in the science fiction television series The Expanse and Wong Fu Productions' YouTube series Yappie.[14][15]

2019–present: Mainstream success

Liu on The Beaverton, 2019.

In early 2019, Liu guest starred in the 100th episode of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat as a noodle vendor named Willie.[16] He also guest starred in an episode of the TV series Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens as Garbage Boy.[17]

At Comic-Con 2019, it was announced that Liu was cast as the titular superhero Shang-Chi in the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Marvel's first film with an Asian-led cast.[18][19] Liu had previously asked about playing the role on Twitter in December 2018 when the movie was revealed to be in development.[20] Following several production and release date delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released in theaters on 3 September 2021 to overwhelmingly positive reception.[21][better source needed]

In September 2021, it was revealed that Liu will lead the English-language voice cast of Bright: Samurai Soul, a Netflix anime film scheduled to premiere on October 12.[22]

Other work

In 2014, Liu was paid 100 dollars to model for a set of stock photos for FatCamera, with the photos later appearing in subway stations, advertisements, storefronts, pamphlets, and textbook covers, as well as being the subject of widespread media coverage upon Liu's mainstream acting breakthrough in 2021.[23]

Alongside his acting and stunt career, Liu is also a filmmaker, producer, and writer. Liu's first work in this area was Open Gym, a short film he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in that debuted at the 2013 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. He would go on to direct, produce and write several other shorts, including Crimson Defender vs. The Slightly Racist Family (2015).

In 2016, Liu participated in the writing room for Blood and Water, during which he helped break the story for the show and wrote an episode for its second season.[3]

In 2017 Liu worked with Wong Fu Productions on their short Meeting Mommy (2017), which he wrote and produced with Tina Jung. It was released in February 2018 on the Wong Fu Productions YouTube channel, amassing over 250,000 views in its first week.[24]

In December 2017, Liu wrote an online piece for Maclean's magazine detailing his experiences growing up in an immigrant family. The article was later published in the magazine's January 2018 issue.[25] He is currently writing a memoir, "We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story", which is set to be published by HarperCollins on May 3, 2022.[26]

In 2018, he founded his own film production company, 4:12 Entertainment, and began developing long-form film projects under it.[27][28]

Accolades

Liu was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and an ACTRA Award in 2017 for his work in Blood and Water.[3] He, along with his Kim's Convenience castmates, won the ACTRA Award for Outstanding Ensemble in 2017. Liu and his castmates were subsequently nominated for the same award in 2018 and 2019. Kim's Convenience also went on to win the award for Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.[29]

On stage, Liu was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in the Outstanding Ensemble category alongside his castmates in the 2016 Factory Theatre remount of the play Banana Boys.[30]

Liu was named one of Hello!'s 50 Most Beautiful Canadians and 25 Hottest Bachelors in 2017 and 2018.[31][32][33]

In May 2021, Liu became the first East Asian man to cover Men's Health magazine in over a decade since Jet Li in 2010.[34]

Filmography

Film

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Director Notes
2013 Pacific Rim Extra Guillermo del Toro
2021 Women Is Losers Gilbert Lissette Feliciano
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Shang-Chi Destin Daniel Cretton
Bright: Samurai Soul Izno Kyōhei Ishiguro Voice role, English dub
TBA Arthur The King † Simon Cellan Jones Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Nikita Hong Kong Police Constable Episode: "3.0"
2013 Warehouse 13 Bartender Episode: "Secret Services"
Played Gunman Episode: "Made – Daniel"
Mayday Narita Air Traffic Controller Episode: "The Final Push"
2014 Beauty and the Beast EMT Episode: "Both Sides Now"
2015 Blood and Water Paul Xie Main role
Make It Pop! Randy Episode: "Rumors and Roommates"
2016 Taken Faaron Recurring role; season 1
2016–2021 Kim's Convenience Jung Kim Main role
2017 Orphan Black Mr. Mitchell Episode: "Clutch of Greed"
Dark Matter Technician Episode: "Nowhere To Go"
Slasher: Guilty Party Luke 2 episodes
Bad Blood Guy 3 episodes
2018 The Expanse Lt. Paolo Mayer Episode: "Dandelion Sky"
Yappie Tom Main role
2019 Fresh Off the Boat Willie Episode: "Under the Taipei Sun"
2020 Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens Garbage Boy Episode: "Grandma & Chill"
2021 Corner Gas Animated Gerald Mesmerizer (voice) Episode: "The Fresh Prints of Bell Heir"
Star Wars: Visions Zhima (voice) Short film: The Ninth Jedi: English language dub[35]
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest Episode: September

Music videos

Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref.
2012 "I Could Be The One" Avicii & Nicky Romero Office Worker [7]
2021 "Run It" DJ Snake ft. Rick Ross & Rich Brian Himself [36]

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref
2017 Blood and Water ACTRA Awards Outstanding Performance – Male Nominated [37]
Canadian Screen Award Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Program or Series Nominated [38]
Kim's Convenience ACTRA Awards 2017 Outstanding Performance – Ensemble Won [39]
2018 ACTRA Awards 2018 Outstanding Performance – Ensemble Nominated [40]

References

  1. ^ Simu Liu [@SimuLiu] (20 January 2017). "I'm a Canadian citizen. I'm good" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Kim's Convenience – CBC Media Centre". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Simu Liu – Academy.ca". Academy.ca. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  4. ^ Clay, Chris (27 October 2016). "Mississauga-raised actor stars in Kim's Convenience, lands role in NBC's Taken". Mississauga News. Mississauga ON. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b "KollabCast Episode 144 – Simu's Convenience w/ Simu Liu". Kollaboration. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  6. ^ Lee, Traci G. (31 August 2018). "'Kim's Convenience' actor Simu Liu on being an accountant, his big break, and 'Crazy Rich Asians' momentum". NBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Avicii vs Nicky Romero – I Could Be The One (Nicktim)". Retrieved 28 May 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Simu Liu | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program | Canadian Screen Awards". Academy.ca. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Kim's Convenience: A TV first that doesn't buckle under the pressure – Macleans.ca". Maclean's. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  10. ^ Clay, Chris (27 October 2016). "Mississauga-raised actor stars in Kim's Convenience, lands role in NBC's Taken | Mississauga.com". Mississauga.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  11. ^ Orphan Black (TV Series 2013–2017) - IMDb, retrieved 17 September 2021
  12. ^ Dark Matter (TV Series 2015–2017) - IMDb, retrieved 17 September 2021
  13. ^ "Shaftesbury | Slasher wraps production on Season 2". shaftesbury.ca. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. ^ The Expanse (TV Series 2015– ) - IMDb, retrieved 17 September 2021
  15. ^ Yappie (TV Mini Series 2018) - IMDb, retrieved 17 September 2021
  16. ^ "'Fresh Off the Boat': 'Kim's Convenience's' Simu Liu Drops by 100th". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  17. ^ Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb, retrieved 17 September 2021
  18. ^ Sandra Gonzalez. "Marvel's latest leading man Simu Liu will soon be a 'household name'". CNN. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  19. ^ Smith, Neil (22 July 2019). "Marvel Phase 4: A new era for diversity in Hollywood?". BBC.
  20. ^ Worgaftik, Gabe (22 July 2019). "Shang-Chi star Simu Liu asked Marvel about playing Shang-Chi on Twitter 8 months ago". AV Club.
  21. ^ "Is This Our First Look At Tony Leung's Mandarin In 'Shang-Chi'?". Heroic Hollywood. 2 April 2021
  22. ^ "'Bright: Samurai Soul' Trailer, Premiere Date: Simu Liu Cast In Netflix Anime Film Based On David Ayer's 'Bright'".
  23. ^ Trinh, Brittney. "I Just Found Out Simu Liu Modeled For Stock Images Before He Became Famous, And I'm Sobbing Because These Are Amazing". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  24. ^ Wong Fu Productions (28 February 2018), Meeting Mommy, retrieved 4 March 2018
  25. ^ "A Chinese-Canadian to his parents: 'Privately, I yearned for your love' – Macleans.ca". Maclean's. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  26. ^ Ahsan, Sadaf (10 June 2021). "Simu Liu offers sneak peek at upcoming memoir". Etalk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  27. ^ Chew, Cohan (23 May 2019). "INTERVIEW: Kim's Convenience star Simu Liu answers YOUR questions". Resonate. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  28. ^ Kollaboration SF Community Spotlight: Simu Liu, retrieved 17 January 2020
  29. ^ Vlessing, Etan. "Canadian Screen Awards: 'Alias Grace,' 'Maudie,' 'Anne With an E' Dominate". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  30. ^ "2016 DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS NOMINEES" (PDF). Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  31. ^ "Canada's Most Beautiful 2017: See who made the list!". Hello! Canada. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  32. ^ "Canada's 25 Hottest Bachelors of 2017". Hello! Canada. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  33. ^ "Canada's Most Beautiful 2018: See who made the list!". Hello! Canada. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  34. ^ Wasserman, Ben. "Marvel Star Simu Liu Is the First East-Asian to Cover Men's Health in Over a Decade". CBR. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts". StarWars.com. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  36. ^ "DJ Snake, Rich Brian, And Rick Ross Drop 'Run It' Video Starring Simu Liu". Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  37. ^ Davis, Erin (28 February 2017). "Move Over, Oscars: Canada's Finest Talent Inspired at the ACTRA Awards". Toronto Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  38. ^ "Kim's Convenience star Simu Liu thanks his immigrant parents for his Canadian life". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  39. ^ "Simu Liu, new Marvel superhero & Kim's Convenience star, writing a memoir". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  40. ^ "The 16th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto Nominees". newswire.ca. Retrieved 20 September 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simu Liu.
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