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Lucy Liu Credit – Victor Demarchelier\u2014AUGUST<\/em><\/p>\n Lucy Liu is responsible for some indelible onscreen moments. Like when she swiftly beheads a man who dares to question her character in Kill Bill<\/em><\/a> or (quite literally) whips some sense into a group of businessmen in Charlie\u2019s Angels<\/a>.<\/em> Or when, playing herself on Sex and the City,<\/em> she takes down Samantha Jones after Sam tries to use her name to score a Birkin bag.<\/p>\n For more than 30 years in an industry with a long history of playing into stereotypes, Liu has pushed the boundaries of Hollywood\u2019s imagination when it comes to portrayals of Asian identity<\/a> onscreen. She became an icon while steadily expanding her range as both an actor and a producer. Liu might turn up anywhere. In the 2010s Sherlock Holmes adaptation Elementary<\/a>,<\/em> she played Watson; in the hit Netflix rom-com Set It Up,<\/em> a demanding boss. And for Steven Soderbergh\u2019s 2024 feature Presence,<\/em> she was the matriarch of a family living in a possibly haunted house. But last year marked a new turn, with the release of a project Liu had worked on for almost a decade. Rosemead<\/a>,<\/em> a somber but poignant film based on real events, follows Liu\u2019s Irene, a widowed Taiwanese American mother in Southern California facing a terminal cancer diagnosis while trying to manage her son Joe\u2019s (Lawrence Shou) worsening schizophrenia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The film, which Liu also produced, portrays Irene\u2019s loosening grip, which is exacerbated by her isolation from a community that offers judgment and superstition rather than support. As Joe\u2019s condition declines and her own death looms closer, Irene makes a tragic decision, believing it\u2019s for the good of her family.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really broke my heart to know that this woman felt so desperate,\u201d Liu says. \u201cThis feeling is fairly universal, not just for our community, but in so many other cultures that feel like if they\u2019re not where they should be, that is something they can\u2019t talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n In a season filled with movies about how motherhood can push a person to the brink (like Die My Love<\/a> <\/em>and If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You<\/a><\/em>), Rosemead<\/em> stands out for Liu\u2019s sensitive portrayal, and for spotlighting a part of Asian American life that is widely felt but rarely seen onscreen.<\/p>\n Liu says bringing Irene and Joe\u2019s story to life is one step toward making more people feel acknowledged in their struggles. \u201cMore stories are out there, and they should have the ability to be received and to be seen,\u201d she says. Making Rosemead<\/em> was the \u201cbeginning of understanding how much more we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Pulling together any film project can involve challenges that might delay production for years or, often, derail it. What moved Liu to stick with Rosemead<\/em> was a determination to honor the family<\/a> at its center and ensure the story was shared widely. \u201cA certain amount of activism has to occur in order to get our stories told,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Liu, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, found echoes of her own story in Irene and Joe\u2019s relationship: filled with love, but shrouded in secrets kept in the name of protection. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m very familiar with in my own family,\u201d Liu says. \u201cThere is so much that I don\u2019t know, and the unknowing creates a sense of restlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n Irene\u2019s isolation becomes extreme, causing her to believe her options for help have run out. Liu says the character has stayed on her mind and likely will remain there for a long time.<\/p>\n The performance has been billed by critics as \u201ccareer-redefining\u201d for Liu. It might be more accurate to say that Liu herself is\u2014and has always been\u2014a defining force in Hollywood. She\u2019ll be onscreen again this year in more than one anticipated work, including a cameo in the upcoming Devil Wears Prada<\/a><\/em> sequel and a role in the A24\/Peacock drama series Superfakes.<\/em> Of the former, Liu can say little ahead of the movie\u2019s release, though she notes it was fun to be part of the fashion-centric project. In Superfakes<\/a>,<\/em> she plays a mother and counterfeit dealer in Chinatown whose dreams of a better life draw her toward New York\u2019s underground crime network\u2014another story about a family trying their best to forge ahead in the world. \u201cIt\u2019s a different kind of a struggle,\u201d she says of the show. \u201cThat this is even being produced\u2014it\u2019s encouraging that this feels like the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n