Simu Liu
Simu Liu (born April 19, 1989, Harbin, China) is a Canadian actor, stuntperson, author, and advocate. After spending many years as a moderately successful actor, Liu became a celebrity with the blockbuster Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). He portrayed the titular martial arts superhero and was the first actor of Asian descent to play a lead role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
Liu was born in Harbin, China, and was raised by his grandparents while his parents, both engineers, pursued their education. When Liu was five years old, he left the happy childhood he had with his grandparents and moved to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, to live with his mother and father. He had difficulty adjusting to the culture and to his parents’ high expectations. Liu consequently had a troubled adolescence.
Liu graduated from business school in 2011 and began working as an accountant. He was laid off after a few months and decided to break from the traditional path his parents had urged him to take and pursue a career in acting and stunt work. Liu worked steadily in movies, television shows, short films, and music videos. In 2015 he had a recurring role in the Canadian crime series Blood and Water, and starting in 2016 he had a main role in the critically acclaimed television show Kim’s Convenience (the series ended in 2021). For the rest of the decade, Liu continued to build his acting portfolio, taking small roles in such TV series as Taken (2017), Orphan Black (2017), and Fresh Off the Boat (2019).
In 2021 Liu was chosen to play the titular Marvel comic book hero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The film provides the origin story of Shang-Chi, an immigrant to America who must confront his father, the leader of the Ten Rings criminal organization in China. Critics and audiences praised Liu’s dynamic performance, which included martial arts moves and lighthearted comedy. In the United States, the movie was the second-highest grossing of 2021, surpassed only by Spider-Man: No Way Home, another Marvel movie. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was also notable for its Asian-led cast, which included Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, American comedian and actress Awkwafina, Chinese actress Meng’er Zhang, and British actor Benedict Wong. Liu described the film as “monumental” in its portrayal of “a community that hasn’t traditionally felt seen and felt visible.”
Following the success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Liu was in high demand as an actor. He took voice roles in the animated film Star Wars: Visions (2021) and in a 2022 episode of The Simpsons. In 2023 Liu assumed the role of the romantic leading man in the film One True Loves. Later that year, he appeared in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which starred Margot Robbie in the title role of the iconic doll and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Besides his acting roles, Liu wrote the memoir We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story (2022) and often spoke out against the rise of violence against Asian communities in the United States. He helped promote fundraisers for victims of the 2023 mass shooting during a Lunar New Year Festival in Monterey Park, California.