Simu Liu with his girlfriend Allison Hsu at the world premiere of 'Barbie' in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP
In the new movie Barbie, actor Simu Liu can be seen dancing.
In his previous major film, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, the 34-year-old impresses with his martial arts skills.
Besides starring in big movies and showcasing these different abilities, the Chinese-Canadian seems to be talented in other artistic forms as well.
Liu has written think pieces for a couple of US magazines, and last year, he published a memoir called We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story which made it into the New York Times Bestsellers list.
Not to mention, all those witty captions that accompany his posts on his social media accounts.
The guy, named as one of 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2022, established his own production company 4:12 Entertainment and, more recently, was appointed as chief content officer of a food company.
This year, too, he surprised fans when he recorded a piano-driven ballad titled Don’t, which he released as a single.
Seriously, is Liu bad at anything?
“I’m bad at a lot of things,” he tells StarLifestyle with a laugh in an exclusive phone interview from Toronto, Canada.
“I’m a terrible cook. I’m really, really bad at cooking. I’m really bad at staying on schedule ... I definitely have a pretty bad case of ADHD, so it’s always hard to plan anything,” he says laughing.
(From left) Actors Kingsley Ben-Adir, Gosling, Robbie, Liu, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans are the new Kens and Barbie in the film 'Barbie'. Photo: Handout
The friendly star adds that he is having a lot of fun with his current career trajectory, and is grateful to be able to use all these different mediums – film, writing and music – to share stories and, at the same time, elevate his philanthropic causes.
Liu works with Unicef, Canada, and an organisation that focuses on mental health awareness and destigmatising mental health issues.
“I hope to really kind of open up the conversation (on mental health),” says Liu, who was born in Harbin, China, where he was raised by his grandparents until the age of five.
“So yeah, I’ve been fortunate to be gifted with this platform. And I just want to use it to make the world a better place. Also, to tell the stories that I want to tell.”
Liu got his major break as the titular role of the film 'Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings'. Photo: Handout
Despite being involved in all these creative projects, it is amazing to learn that as a child, Liu was pressured to excel in math by his parents who had immigrated to Canada from China.
This led Liu to study business administration at a university in Ontario. Only when he was fired from his job as an accountant in his early 20s did he find the courage to try out acting ... without his parents’ knowledge.
He worked his way up from doing stunt work, to acting as an extra on various American TV shows that were filmed in Canada, to getting a regular gig in the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience in 2016, and finally nabbing the titular role in the 2021 Marvel flick Shang-Chi.
“My parents sent me to an academic school where most students became professionals like doctors, lawyers and engineers.
“Both of my parents were electrical engineers, so they had high expectations for me. However, I was more focused on trying to make friends and be popular and cool,” he says when we ask him what he thought he’d be doing as an adult.
“I honestly never really thought about what I envisioned for myself. I knew I wanted a good job and to earn a lot of money, but I didn’t have a clear understanding of what that really meant. This led me to a business school, but it turned out to be the wrong path for me.
“If I were to offer advice to others in a similar situation, it is that you really have to listen to yourself.
“You really have to take the time to check in with yourself and ask yourself the questions, you know, demand that of yourself, like, know what you want, or if you don’t know what you want, know what you want to try,” says Liu.
According to him, although he had a passion for movies, he never allowed himself to believe that he could be a part of “that world”.
“I think if what’s happened to me can be an inspiring story for anything, it’s this – you really can accomplish anything, but you need to give yourself permission to go for it.”
Liu (left) in the Canadian sitcom 'Kim's Convenience' that got him noticed. Photo: Handout
Liu has been acting for over 12 years now, and he says there were definitely moments early on that were really disheartening, and he felt like giving up.
“I was really discouraged, like the opportunities weren’t coming,” Liu says of those days.
However, in the very next sentence, he says he is lucky to have a great support system around him including friends who are “incredibly encouraging and who believe in me”.
He also recalls the Asian American community in Los Angeles welcoming him into their fold at a time when he was still relatively unknown.
“I just had a show called Kim’s Convenience that was getting a little bit of heat and attention, but nothing else.
“The fact that so many Asian American actors, producers and writers took the time to sit down with me to make friends, to exchange contacts, that really just helped me through that difficult time.
“I’ve said this before, but our community is our superpower.
“We shouldn’t see it as a detriment or a disadvantage. It’s what makes us strong and special, especially when we all come together, and we support each other, we build each other up, rather than tear each other down.”
Barbie is now showing at cinemas nationwide.
