Simu Liu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Simu Liu
刘思慕 劉思慕
Liu in 2024
Born	(1989-04-19) 19 April 1989 (age 36) Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Citizenship	Canada
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario
Occupation	Actor author
Years active	2012–present
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	刘思慕
Traditional Chinese	劉思慕
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Sīmù IPA [li̯ǒu̯ sɹ̩́.mû] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Lau4 Si1 Mou6

Simu Liu (/ˈsiːmuː ˈliːjuː/ see-MOO-_-LEE-yoo; simplified Chinese: 刘思慕; traditional Chinese: 劉思慕; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He is famous for playing Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He also played Jung Kim in the TV show Kim's Convenience from 2016 to 2021. More recently, he was one of the Ken dolls in the popular movie Barbie (2023). Simu Liu has been nominated for several awards, including the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards, for his acting.

In 2022, Liu wrote a book about his life called We Were Dreamers. He was also chosen as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in the "Artists" section.

Early life

Simu Liu was born in Harbin, China, on April 19, 1989. His parents, Zhenning and Zheng Liu, met while studying engineering at university in Beijing. When Simu was young, his father went to the United States for his PhD studies. Simu's mother worked in Beijing, and he was raised by his grandparents in Harbin until he was five years old. He remembers this time as happy.

Later, Simu moved to Canada to join his parents. They worked hard, washing dishes to help pay for their studies, and eventually became successful aerospace engineers. Simu first lived in Kingston, Ontario, where his father was studying at Queen's University. After that, Simu grew up in Mississauga, Ontario.

In his book, We Were Dreamers, Simu wrote about the challenges his parents faced growing up in China. He described how they had very high expectations for him, wanting him to be a top student and an obedient son. He felt a lot of pressure to succeed. When he was five, his parents taught him advanced math and gave him homework like reading about scientists and studying algebra. In Kingston, Simu went to Sydenham Public School. He later attended University of Toronto Schools and studied business at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.

Simu first worked as an accountant at a company called Deloitte. But after nine months, he lost his job in April 2012. This made him think about other careers, and he decided to try acting and stunt work. At first, his parents were not happy about his career change. However, after they talked about it, the family understood each other better and became closer.

Career

Liu in 2016

2012–2018: Early work and TV roles

Simu Liu started his acting career as an extra (someone in the background of a scene) and a stuntman. He appeared in movies like Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and music videos such as Avicii's "I Could Be the One." He also had small roles in TV shows like Nikita (2012) and Beauty and the Beast (2014). He worked as a stuntman in Sick: Survive the Night (2012) and the TV miniseries Heroes Reborn.

In 2015, Simu got his first important role in the crime drama series Blood and Water (2015–2016). He was nominated for his first awards, the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards, for this role in 2017.

Later in 2015, Liu got a main role as Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom Kim's Convenience. This show was based on a play. It became his most well-known TV success. The series won many awards, including Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. Simu starred in the show until it ended in 2021.

In 2016, Simu Liu had a recurring role as Faaron, an ex-CIA analyst, in the NBC series Taken. This show was based on the movie series starring Liam Neeson.

Even with bigger roles, Simu continued to appear as an extra in other TV shows. He was in an episode of the BBC-Space series Orphan Black and the Canadian science fiction series Dark Matter.

In 2017, Liu appeared in the second season of Slasher and the CityTV miniseries Bad Blood.

In 2018, he was in the science fiction TV series The Expanse and Wong Fu Productions' YouTube series Yappie.

2019–present: Recent work and Marvel Cinematic Universe

Liu at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con

In early 2019, Simu Liu was a guest star in the 100th episode of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat. He also appeared as a guest star in an episode of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens.

At Comic-Con 2019, Disney announced that Simu Liu would play the superhero Shang-Chi in the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This movie is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was Marvel's first movie with an Asian lead actor. Simu had actually asked about playing the role on Twitter in December 2018! After some delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie was released in theaters on September 3, 2021. It received great reviews and was very successful. A sequel is planned for the movie.

In September 2021, it was announced that Simu Liu would be the main voice actor for the English version of Bright: Samurai Soul, a Netflix anime movie that came out on October 12. In February 2022, Liu joined the cast of Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie. He also joined the thriller film Hello Stranger, which later became Simulant. Both movies were released in 2023. Barbie was highly praised and broke box office records.

Simu Liu and NBA player Jeremy Lin made guest appearances as funny versions of themselves in Malaysian comedian Ronny Chieng's Netflix short Ronny Chieng Takes Chinatown (2022). In December 2022, Liu was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional. On April 7, 2023, Liu released his first song, called "Don't". He was also a guest "dragon" (investor) in season 19 of the Canadian reality show Dragons' Den.

Accolades

Simu Liu was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and an ACTRA Award in 2017 for his work in Blood and Water. He and his castmates from Kim's Convenience won the ACTRA Award for Outstanding Ensemble in 2017. They were nominated for the same award again in 2018 and 2019. Kim's Convenience also won the award for Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.

For his stage work, Liu was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in 2016. This was for his role with the cast of the play Banana Boys at the Factory Theatre.

In January 2023, he won the Radius Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards. He also won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Host in a Live Entertainment Special for hosting the 2022 Juno Awards.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Pacific Rim	N/A	Extra
2015	Antisocial 2	Male Nurse
2021	Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings	Shaun / Shang-Chi
	Bright: Samurai Soul	Izno (voice)	English dub
	Women Is Losers	Gilbert
2023	One True Loves	Sam
	Simulant	Casey
	Barbie	Rival Ken
2024	Arthur the King	Leo
	Atlas	Harlan Shepherd
	Jackpot!	Louis Lewis
2025	Last Breath	David Yuasa	Post-production
	In Your Dreams	(voice)	In-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	Lah Zhima (voice)	Episode: "The Ninth Jedi": English language dub
	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	Himself (guest)	Episode: 10 September 2021
	Selling Sunset	Himself (guest)	Episode: "A House For A Hero"
	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Simu Liu/Saweetie"
	Marvel Studios: Assembled	Himself	Episode: The Making of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
2022	Celebrity Jeopardy!	Himself (contestant)	2 episodes
	The Simpsons	Adult Hubert Wong (voice)	Episode: "When Nelson Met Lisa"
	Running Wild with Bear Grylls	Himself	Episode: "Simu Liu"
2023	The Other Two	Himself	1 episode
	StoryBots: Answer Time	Socradamus	Episode: "Elements"
2024	Dragons' Den	Himself	Season 19
	Gremlins	Chang	Voice
	Laid	Philippe	1 episode
	What If...?	Shang-Chi	Voice; 2 episodes
2025	Invincible	Multi-Paul / Paul Cha	Voice; in production
	Marvel Zombies	Shang-Chi	Voice; in production
TBA	Seven Wonders	Dr. Nate Grady	In production
	Copenhagen	Alexander Hale	Filming

Music videos

Games

Web Series

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Simu Liu para niños