Simu Liu

Simu Liu is a Canadian actor born on April 19, 1989, in Harbin, China, who appeared on Broadway in the 2024 production of Mary, Mary. He was raised in Mississauga, Ontario, after emigrating from China to rejoin his parents, who had settled in Canada and eventually became aerospace engineers. Before reaching Mississauga, Liu first lived in Kingston, Ontario, where his father completed doctoral studies at Queen's University.

Liu spent his earliest years in Harbin being raised by his grandparents in a small apartment while his parents pursued academic opportunities abroad. His father, Zhenning, traveled to the United States to study for a PhD, while his mother remained in Beijing. Liu's 2022 memoir, We Were Dreamers, addressed the hardships his parents endured during China's Cultural Revolution and the demanding parenting style they adopted, which he described as involving impossible expectations, physical punishment, and intensive academic preparation beginning at age five. Liu attended Sydenham Public School in Kingston, then University of Toronto Schools, and later studied business administration at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. He initially worked as an accountant at Deloitte before being laid off in April 2012 after nine months, at which point he began pursuing acting and stunt work.

His early screen credits included work as an extra and stuntman in productions such as Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and the television series Nikita and Beauty and the Beast. In 2015, he was cast as Paul Xie in the Omni Television crime drama Blood and Water, a recurring role that earned him nominations at both the ACTRA Awards and the Canadian Screen Awards in 2017. That same year, he was cast as Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom Kim's Convenience, a role he held from the show's premiere in 2016 until its conclusion in 2021. The series received multiple awards internationally, including Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. Liu also appeared in the NBC series Taken in 2016, as well as in Slasher, Bad Blood, The Expanse, and other television productions throughout that period.

Liu's profile rose significantly when Disney announced at Comic-Con 2019 that he would star as Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel's first film with an Asian-led cast. Released on September 3, 2021, the film received positive critical reception and achieved commercial success. Liu reprised the role in season three of the Disney+ series What If...? in 2024 and the miniseries Marvel Zombies in 2025, and is set to return as Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. In 2023, he appeared as one of the Ken dolls in Greta Gerwig's Barbie, a film that broke box office records and received widespread acclaim.

In 2022, the same year he published We Were Dreamers, Liu was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. He has also worked as a filmmaker, writer, and producer, with credits including the short film Open Gym, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, and which debuted at the 2013 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. In January 2025, Liu announced he was working to develop a live-action adaptation of Sleeping Dogs, with reports indicating the film had entered pre-production with Liu set to star and produce.

Liu is scheduled to make his Broadway debut from February to April 2026 in Oh, Mary!, taking over the role of Mary's Teacher from Cheyenne Jackson at the Lyceum Theatre.