- 2 days ago
Director: Gabrielle ReichDirector of Photography: Adam LeeneEditors: Michael Suyeda, Katie WolfordProducer: Chase LewisAssociate Producers: Lea Donenberg, Marisah YazbekAssistant Camera: Hannah LeeGaffer: Rodolfo MartinezAudio: Gloria MarieProduction Assistants: Marquis Wooten, Comfort Abiodun, Hope MillnerProduction Coordinator: Tanía JonesProduction Manager: Kristen HelmickLine Producer: Natasha Soto-AlborsAssistant Editor: Andy MorellPost Production Coordinator: Holly FrewSupervising Editor: Kameron KeyPost Production Supervisor: Alexa DeutschTalent Manager: Phoebe DishnerExecutive Producer: Rahel GebreyesSenior Director, Digital Video: Romy van den BroekeSenior Director, Programming: Linda GittlesonVP, Video Programming: Thespena GuatieriFilmed on Location: Soho House Holloway
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Hi, Vogue. This is Lucy Liu, and this is my life in looks.
00:08All right, let's see what we got here. Oh, okay. This character is Ling Wu from Ally McBeal,
00:14who became quite popular for her, I guess, honesty, her bluntness. So this is late 90s,
00:20and it was like the very narrow eyebrow and the very, like, you know, tight-fitting clothes,
00:26very body conscious, and the clothes were sort of representing her personality, and she was just
00:32sort of all out there. I was brought on to Ally McBeal as a guest star, and I did not know anything
00:38about the show, really, because I was so focused on theater. I was about to take a project that was
00:44a lead role in the, you know, theater production for regional theater, no less, and that was going
00:48to go for three months. And I was like, I'm going to take that job. And my manager was like, you will
00:52not be taking that job. You'll be taking this eight-day job as a guest star. And I was like,
00:56why would I do that when I can work for three months for $10 as opposed to work for eight days
01:01for more? So stupid. I still work with Mary Ellen Mulcahy today. It's been over 30 years, and
01:08she kind of helped me see myself as more of a lead than as someone in the background.
01:14Okay. This dress was actually designed and created by Joseph Perrault, who I worked with on Shanghai Noon.
01:21I was able to do that movie with Jackie Chan, who I idolized. And I was shooting in Calgary,
01:28Canada, and I was nominated for an Emmy. I remember, you know, hearing the news when I was there, and
01:36then Joseph said that he would design the dress for me, which I was blown away by because this guy has
01:42so much artistry, so much history. So I was thrilled, and I didn't even know what that meant because I
01:47didn't even know what designers did. I grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, and we had like a rainbow
01:53down the street in this mini mall. I mean, and that was elegance to me. I invited my mother as my
01:58plus one to this, you know, this Emmy's award, whatever it was. I just didn't comprehend how big
02:04it was. And also this award for best supporting actress was the first award up. So I sat down and
02:10then the whole thing was over already. And I was like, what happened? The show won for Ally McBeal,
02:14and it was just such a huge movement forward because comedy was seen differently. Comedy
02:20was always like 30 minutes, half hour, laugh track. And so this was a longer, dedicated time
02:26that was sort of dramedy. And it was a big deal because there was also a dancing baby.
02:30And you know, now you can do absolutely everything. But back then, the idea of a green screen and a
02:35dancing baby and working with something that wasn't there was huge. So it was a moment in time
02:42that I will never forget. It was really the beginning of my career. This is pre having a
02:48stylist. I mean, it's kind of outrageous that I was running around with practically nothing on. I was
02:53just living my best life, guys. This is a bag that I think either a friend of mine sewed or I bought
03:00off of like Canal Street. I'm not even posing. It's sort of like, I'm so like, I'm slumping.
03:05It's kind of great. I love this moment because it's so real. Clearly, what is it for? Oh, play it
03:09to the bone. Okay. This is kind of an offshoot of my own character that was kind of like out there.
03:14But really my personality was like, this is kind of cool. I'm just going to put it on.
03:19This is from Shanghai Noon. I was playing Princess Pei Pei. I met Joseph Perrault here who designed my
03:25Emmy dress. And you can see the detail and the team that he worked with. It was really
03:29a magnificent time for me to grow myself because I had not really left the country that much.
03:36When I got there, I asked Jackie Chan if he would teach me some stunts. I was like, come on, guys,
03:42teach me some stuff. And his whole team was there. You know, he's like, no, no, no, you don't get to
03:46do anything. I don't want you to get hurt. And they basically tried to teach me to juggle.
03:51I was like, why am I here with your entire stunt team? And you're trying to teach me to juggle,
03:55by the way, unsuccessful. So clearly not coordinated enough. And maybe that was their,
04:00you know, test to see if I could actually handle knives and other things. This character actually
04:04launched me into Kill Bill. When I got the call from Quentin Tarantino, he said, I wrote this role
04:09for you. I'm really excited. I really want you to read the script when it's ready. And he said,
04:12your role is Princess Pei Pei. Like it really moved me and it really connected me with you. And that's why I
04:18wrote this role. So Oren came from, in a strange way, from Princess Pei Pei. So thank you, princess.
04:26This is a Versace dress. And it was my first time to the Oscars. Cameron, Drew and I were presenting
04:33best costume. And this dress was beaded and it was also about a thousand pounds. So when I got home,
04:40I had like an indent in my shoulder from the weight of this dress. So this dress was really the first
04:46designer Versace Donatella that I wore. It basically captures everything in this moment. I think I look
04:54slightly stunned. Well, okay guys, this is character Alex Mundy from Charlie's Angels. We are undercover
05:04and we're trying to get Cameron's character to break into this, you know, sealed room. Very kind of
05:12payback, dominatrixie, but also feminine and tough and funny. Most importantly, funny. For this, we did
05:25the preparation that we could. We train five days a week, eight hours a day. No big deal. I remember
05:29being there the first day for training and thinking, I got this. I'm kicking high. I'm kicking sideways.
05:35I mean, I am so flexible. And then the next day I walked in and I didn't really walk. I was like,
05:41basically on my knees crawling in because you know, it's not the first day that it's painful.
05:46It's the second day. And then the third day was even worse. And you know what, before this,
05:50I didn't even have a gym membership. So the irony is that, you know, people started putting me in
05:54all these action movies, but I had never even picked up a barbell. There are so many looks from
05:58that movie. There's that race car track move. I mean, it was like Americana with the stars and the,
06:03you know, red, white, and blue. And I think there was something very elite about Alex, you know,
06:08that was not originally written for someone Asian. So I wanted them to keep the last name Mundi
06:12to show that this was not something that was supposed to be, but here it is. And we're gonna
06:17serve it. Thankfully, this says Golden Globes awards. This is a Versace dress. It's got the beading.
06:24It's got the feathers. That is my manager, Mariella Mulcahy, who I've been working with from the
06:30beginning. She believed in me before I believed in me because my parents were like, what?
06:34My mother is still, you know, she gets it and she appreciates it. And I know that now because
06:41she gave me a, like an old school luggage. I mean, I'm talking about like 1960s and it was filled with
06:48clippings that her friends had written in Chinese and sent to me or from Chinese newspapers. And I
06:54realized that she had been saving all of these articles about me. So I think she gets it now.
07:00Come on guys, sex in the city. I was playing myself. And when they asked me to play me,
07:07I was like, what does that mean? What do people think of me? This whole thing actually revolved
07:11around the Hermes bag. In the rehearsal, I was using this, this fake bag. And then when we actually
07:18shot, like, I'm telling you, like security, people that were dressed in suits, like men in black,
07:25I mean, they showed up, they had a safe where this Hermes bag was that they took out and used.
07:31I was like, what is the big deal with this bag? You know, and they had white gloves on the whole
07:35nine yards. And you know what? It's a big deal. Anyway, she got one or, you know, Samantha got one
07:41and used her name, which is hilarious. Her being me, which is weird. I don't know. I'm really confused.
07:46This moment in time is forever for me. This kimono was not just an ordinary kimono. They created this
07:57kimono for me. Kumiko Ogawa, she was the one who designed this kimono. And this kimono almost wasn't
08:07a kimono. Originally, Quentin wanted me to wear something very different. And he wanted me to wear
08:12this kind of communist gray with the frogs and prokets, like Converse. When I read the script,
08:20which was so beautifully written, and Quentin is really such an artist and a visionary,
08:26I saw something very different. And I just saw there was an elegance about her and a femininity
08:32that I wanted to retain. I said, why don't we take what you are known for, like your pulp fiction,
08:38the black ties and the white shirts and the black suits, like the simplicity of what he did. Why
08:44don't we take that and make that into something? So for the first scene that you see Oren in,
08:48she's in a black kimono with a white underneath the black kimono. And so that was representing
08:54basically pulp fiction. And I said, for the snow garden scene, why don't we reverse it and make it
08:58white on the outside and black on the inside? He was willing to say yes. And it changed the direction
09:04of how Oren was able to be received. This look and the sword and everything,
09:10I actually donated it to the Academy. So if you want to visit it, you can visit it at the Academy.
09:16This beautiful look on Garo. It was at the Met Ball. And here's John Batista Valley, who actually was
09:21the designer at the time. The story behind this dress is that before I got in it, there was an issue
09:26with the zipper. So he actually had to sew me into this dress. And then we had to cut the dress off in
09:33order for me to get out of it. I mean, it's being held up by like this tiny little moment
09:37here on my neck. If that thing split, it would have been like, hello everyone. So this was my
09:41first time at the Met Gala. And then in 2007, I went with Zach Pozen and he created this stunning,
09:47vibrant purple gown that had a train. And I remember wearing this tiara also. And I remember being
09:54there and it was just such a huge fashion moment. And Zach was trying to like pull the dress, you know,
10:00the train out so that he really could see how beautiful it was. This is a John Batista Valley
10:07dress. This is when he was John Batista Valley and only John Batista Valley. He wasn't designing
10:12for anyone else. It was a big deal. I still have this dress actually. You're going to see it again.
10:16I'm going to wear it again. You guys watch out because it is so elegant and it's classic and it is
10:21beautiful. And this was for Kung Fu Panda. And I was voicing Viper and this was in London. And I just
10:26remember it was just a huge opening. My son has seen this movie, but when he did see it,
10:32he didn't really connect the dots necessarily, you know, but he does go around saying, you know,
10:37my mom was Viper and Kung Fu Panda. Guys, all I can say is Carolina Herrera put pockets in this dress.
10:46Thank you, Carolina, because I never know what to do with my hands. And I think there's that weird pose
10:51where you put your hands on your thing. It's just so awkward. It was the Golden Globes and I have no
10:56idea what I was doing there, but I was there with this dress and that's the memory.
11:03This is Vivian Westwood and I'm here at the Tonys. Vivian Westwood was a designer that I just
11:09admired so much. I thought that her work was always sort of idiosyncratic because it wasn't
11:14about symmetry. I remember really trying to match this hair with the dress and I wanted like a faux
11:20hawk. This is my idea of a faux hawk guys. So it was like kind of a female tuxedo, this dress,
11:26you know, that was the kind of the idea behind it. I received the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
11:33I was the second Asian American woman in 60 years to receive it. This is the only thing that I brought
11:39my son to because I didn't want to expose him to all the craziness. My mother was there too. So it was
11:44a really special moment. My dear friends Demi Moore and Rhea Perlman came and spoke for me and to
11:50think that I am there after the journey that I've been on, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
11:55that was to me the moment that I think that I felt like I've actually accomplished something.
12:01The 80s is the best. This is from Why Women Kill. Janie Bryant was the costume designer who is just
12:09brilliant. All of the things that she pulled were vintage. So very layered, very shoulder padded
12:14and very itchy. Thanks dust mites. You know, Simone, there was just no controlling her. There
12:20was no such thing as over accessorizing with her. And I think her personality was very much like that.
12:24The nails, you know, I had never really worked with nails before and I never had nails myself
12:29because I never really like took care of my hands because I'm always painting or doing something.
12:32And I decided to wear like pantyhose because the 80s was all about that. And I thought, am I going to
12:37like have these nails and put these pantyhose on at the same time? Like you guys have to choose which
12:42one you want me to do, but I actually ended up doing both. I was forced to, and I'm so glad I was.
12:48This is when I was walking outside of some press event and this Tory Burch jacket I have and it's,
12:54it just works with everything. I think the key to good street style is just being comfortable,
12:59but also knowing when you want to cover, you know, what's underneath. So you don't want to
13:04reveal the surprise underneath. Also sunglasses are like kind of always cool.
13:08This was for the Toronto Film Festival. This was a movie that I worked on with Steven Soderbergh,
13:15who is, I idolize and presence. So Manfredonia is this dress. I remember putting a belt on it
13:24to sort of cinch the waist to, you know, kind of make the body look a little taller and longer.
13:29And it really photographed like incredibly as well.
13:31We are in Germany and this is a premiere for Red One. And this is Zuhair Murad, which is, I mean,
13:40look at this work. We built my entire suitcase around this dress because of the, I guess, these
13:45loops. We thought that we'd have to prop up the loops and put all these things through it, but
13:50it laid flat and they just popped right out when I wore it. And it's, it's incredible. And I think it's
13:56one of those movies that are going to be like Home Alone where the kids watch it over and over. I know that I'm
14:01going to, because I'm kind of a kid. This was for the Academy Gala. And this was a moment that I will
14:09never forget. I went with my dear friend Demi and we walked down this carpet together because it's
14:14really intimidating getting on a red carpet by yourself. And so she was like, let's go together. And I was
14:20like, yes. And actually this dress is sort of like Marie Antoinette-esque. It had pockets. It was very,
14:26very lightweight and just the color was beautiful. And this necklace is Margo McKinney and we called
14:32them last minute on the day and they showed up and boom, it was on my neck and it like completed
14:38the outfit. The whole thing worked and it was wonderful. This is the poster for Rosemead. In my
14:45entire career, 30 plus years, this is the first time I'm playing a lead. So it's very meaningful to me.
14:51I speak the language, you know, Mandarin Chinese in it. And I also, I was able to link so much of
14:57my culture with it. And it was probably the most special project that I've ever worked on. For me,
15:02my career has been built on playing a human being. And so all of the roles that I've ever played are to
15:08me, roles that come from something organic in me. And I think when the labeling is gone and it's not
15:15like she's an Asian American actress, when that day comes, I'll know that I have succeeded in
15:19actually accomplishing something miraculous, which is to break out of those stereotypes and labels and
15:25just to be an artist purely for being an artist. I am going to do a closed-eyed drawing and then I'm
15:32going to sign it. Just imagine something and then sort of feel it. Like sometimes when you see something,
15:38it actually makes it worse because you're like thinking about it too much. It's flowers in a vase.
15:48This is the problem when I start to do something, I have to really finish it.
15:53For you, I'm totally overwhelmed. I could cry. Thank you. Thank you for this moment.
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