| AN INTERVIEW:
Here's the thing about Ling, the abrasive lawyer on "Ally McBeal": People just love to hate her. The show's creator, David E. Kelley, wasn't kidding when he originally described Ling's character as "colder than two weeks in Siberia." She growls. She glares. She makes her entrance to the Wicked Witch of the West theme from "The Wizard of Oz." Heck, she's even served up a co-worker's pet frog for dinner.
Call it ironic, then, that Lucy Liu, the actress who plays Ling, got her start onstage as the sweet-natured lead in a college production of "Alice in Wonderland."
"I'm like the anti-Ling," Liu says. "It's so much fun playing her, but I have this fear that people are going to run away from me in terror on the streets. They think I'm going to bite their heads off or something."
At 5-foot-1, it's hard to imagine the twentysomething actress could do bodily harm to anyone. But don't challenge her to a fight: She grew up in Queens ("I'm a tough New Yawker," she jokes) and she practices the martial art of Kali-Eskrima-Silat. Translation? "You know, knife and stick stuff," she says. "But if it makes you feel any better, I also play the accordion."
Liu caught the acting bug during her senior year at the University of Michigan, when she was cast as the lead in "Alice." After graduation, she supported herself by working three jobs -- secretary, aerobics instructor and rib joint hostess -- while paying for acting lessons and going on auditions.
The hard work paid off, and she went on to land stage roles and bit parts on "ER," "The X-Files" and "NYPD Blue." In 1996, Liu co-starred with Rhea Perlman in the short-lived comedy series "Pearl," playing a sarcastic yet brilliant college student. Then along came "Ally."
Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, the new lawyer on the block. "David (Kelley) thought I was too frigid -- his intention was to soften Nelle up eventually," she says.
But Kelley was so taken with Liu's talent that he wrote her a one-episode guest stint as Nelle's nasty client, the litigious Ling Woo. The character proved such a hit with fans that Liu was signed through the end of last season, and recently was added as a regular cast member.
Since her first appearance on "Ally," Ling has shown her softer side only occasionally -- in one episode, she weeps over a child's death. She has also turned out to be an accomplished attorney who made Law Review, and has been hired on by Richard Fish, the firm's libido-driven leader.
Liu refuses to divulge secrets about "Fish wooing Woo," but hints that her character will slowly begin to lower her defenses. "Ling, for all the bravado, is vulnerable," Liu says. "She doesn't want to get hurt."
And while Ally, Billy and Georgia may bristle on camera, Liu says the show's actors have made her feel more than welcome on the set. "We all have a great time working together," she says. "I have such a difficult time keeping a straight face."
Liu isn't amused by critics who accuse her character of perpetuating the Dragon Lady stereotype of Asian women.
"Ling is a strong woman. She's honest. She doesn't mince words," Liu says. "But I don't think she's a bitch -- she's misunderstood." Liu cites another mean-spirited TV character, Lilith on "Cheers."
"They're both originals. It doesn't matter what their ethnicity is, and to say so is absurd," she says.
Liu also thinks the situation is changing. "It used to be that you had to take on stereotypical roles to keep working -- you know, the exotic types, but I think that things are improving," Liu says. "There are more credible roles out there that are not race-specific, and there are more talented writers creating these roles."
Along with her role on "Ally McBeal," Liu is making waves on the big screen in the recently released Mel Gibson thriller, "Payback." Although the film garnered less than enthusiastic reviews, Liu's turn as a dominatrix attracted attention. "Even if she wasn't dressed in leather and cracking a whip, you'd pay heed," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Travers.
What does she think of her newfound celebrity status? "I don't feel any different, but suddenly everyone wants to talk to me," she says. "I guess it comes with the
territory." |
