Born: December 02, 1968 Best known to television audiences as Ling Woo, the raging force of political incorrectness on Ally McBeal, Lucy Alexis Liu has managed to cross over to the big screen in such features as Payback and Play It to the Bone. Born to Chinese parents in Jackson Heights, NY, on December 2, 1968, Liu grew up speaking both English and Mandarin. After graduating from Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School, she earned a degree in Asian languages and cultures from the University of Michigan, where she also studied acting, dance, and voice. Liu's first professional job was playing a waitress on Beverly_Hills_90210, something that led to more substantial work on various TV shows, including a regular part on the TV series Pearl. Liu's biggest breakthrough came in 1998, when she was cast as Ling Woo on Ally McBeal. She had originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, which ultimately went to Australian actress Portia DeRossi. David_E._Kelley, the show's producer, was so impressed with Liu's audition, however, that he created the role of Ling Woo specifically for her. The character was initially supposed to be included on only a few episodes but proved so popular with the show's audience that Liu was made into a regular cast member.Unsurprisingly, the actress' increased exposure led to greater opportunities on the screen and after playing supporting roles in such films as Payback and Molly (both 1999), she moved on to more substantial work in Play It to the Bone and the Jackie_Chan martial-arts period comedy Shanghai_Noon, which cast her as a princess who has been kidnapped from her emperor father. In 2000, she also was cast in perhaps her most high-profile role to date, when she was chosen alongside Drew_Barrymore and Cameron_Diaz as one of the titular crime fighters in Charlie's_Angels:_The_Movie.With the exception of a small role as an inmate in the Oscar-winning film Chicago, 2002 brought little recognition for Liu -- Cypher, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, and Party_Monster with former Home_Alone star Macaulay_Culkin went virtually unseen by the general public.2003's Charlie's_Angels:_Full_Throttle placed Liu firmly back inside the spotlight, though she was somewhat overshadowed by the toothy blonde glint that is Cameron_Diaz.Luckily for Liu, she was given the chance to shine quite independently when Quentin_Tarantino cast her as the deadly O-Ren Ishii, AKA Cottonmouth, in Kill_Bill_Vol._1 (2003).Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi