Simu Liu (simplified Chinese: 刘思慕; traditional Chinese: 劉思慕; born April 19, 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 and received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards for his work in Blood and Water.
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. 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.
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 and Avicii's I Could Be The One. 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.
Later in 2015, Liu was cast in his first main role as Jung Kim in CBC's popular sitcom Kim's Convenience, 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.
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.
In 2017, Liu joined the cast of the second season of Slasher as well as the CityTV miniseries Bad Blood, both as recurring characters.
In 2018, he appeared in the science fiction television series The Expanse and Wong Fu Productions' YouTube series Yappie.
2019–present: Mainstream success[]
In early 2019, Liu guest starred in the 100th episode of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat as a noodle vendor named Willie. He also guest starred in an episode of the TV series Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens as Garbage Boy.
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. Liu had previously asked about playing the role on Twitter in December 2018 when the movie was revealed to be in development. 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.[better source needed]
Liu lead the English-language voice cast of Bright: Samurai Soul, a Netflix anime film that was released on October 12, 2021.
Filmography[]
Anime Dubbing[]
Anime Shorts[]
- Star Wars Visions (2021) - Zhima (The Ninth Jedi)
Anime Films[]
- Bright: Samurai Soul (2021) - Izno