Simu Liu: The Life Story Behind Shang-Chi's Star

Simu Liu was born on 19 April 1989 in Harbin, China, and he became Marvel’s first Asian leading man as Shang-Chi, after a career that began in accounting, moved through stunt work and modelling, and found its breakthrough on a Canadian sitcom. He immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was five years old, grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, and studied business at university, working as an accountant before he quit to become an actor. The decision, which his parents opposed, led to years of small roles, commercials, and stunt work, until Kim’s Convenience made him a star in Canada and Shang-Chi made him a star around the world. His memoir, We Were Dreamers, tells the story of his family’s immigration and his own journey, and his public advocacy for Asian representation has made him a prominent voice in Hollywood. Simu Liu’s story is about an immigrant kid who became a superhero, and who is using that platform to change what Hollywood looks like.

Harbin to Mississauga: A Childhood Between Two Worlds

Simu Liu was born in Harbin, a city in northeastern China, where his parents, both engineers, lived before deciding to immigrate to Canada in search of a better life for their son. When Simu was five years old, the family moved to Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, where they settled in a community of immigrants, and where Simu grew up speaking Mandarin at home and English at school. The immigration experience shaped his childhood, because his parents worked long hours in jobs that were below their qualifications, and the family lived modestly, with Simu aware from a young age of the sacrifices his parents had made. He has spoken about the experience of being an immigrant child, about the feeling of being between two cultures, and about the pressure to succeed academically, a pressure that is familiar to many children of immigrants. The Harbin birth and the Mississauga childhood gave him two homes, and the tension between them would shape his memoir and his acting.

Growing up in Mississauga gave Simu a Canadian adolescence, with school, sports, and friends, but it also gave him a sense of being different, because he was a Chinese-Canadian kid in a suburb where Asian faces were not always welcome. He attended St. Francis Xavier Secondary School in Mississauga, where he was a good student, and he was active in sports, particularly basketball, and in student activities. His parents, like many immigrant parents, expected him to work hard at school and to aim for a stable, well-paid profession, and Simu, who was obedient and ambitious, followed their advice, studying hard and earning good grades. The family was close, and the support they gave him was the foundation of his career, even though they did not initially understand his desire to act. The Mississauga years were the foundation, and the immigrant experience, with its sacrifices and its expectations, would become the central theme of his memoir, We Were Dreamers.

By the time Simu finished high school, he had decided to study business at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, where he enrolled in the Richard Ivey School of Business, one of Canada’s most prestigious business schools. The decision was practical, because a business degree promised a stable career, and it was also a concession to his parents, who wanted him to have a profession that would justify their immigration. At university Simu was a serious student, and he also became involved in student life, joining clubs and making friends, but the business degree was not a passion, and he has spoken about the feeling that he was following a path that was not his own. The university years were formative, because they gave him an education and a network, but they also gave him a sense of restlessness, a feeling that the life he was preparing for was not the life he wanted. The business degree would lead to a job in accounting, and the job would lead to a crisis, and the crisis would lead to acting.

University, Accounting and the Job He Hated

After graduating from university, Simu Liu worked as an accountant at Deloitte, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, in Toronto, a job that was prestigious, well-paid, and, for Simu, deeply unsatisfying. He has spoken about the experience of working long hours in an office, of feeling trapped in a career that did not suit him, and of the growing realisation that he was living someone else’s dream. The accounting job lasted for about a year, and during that time Simu began to think seriously about acting, a dream he had harboured since childhood but had never pursued. In 2012 he was laid off from Deloitte, an event that he has described as both frightening and liberating, because it forced him to decide what he really wanted to do. He decided to become an actor, a decision that shocked his parents, who had sacrificed so much for his education, and that began a period of uncertainty, in which Simu had to prove to himself, and to his family, that acting was not a fantasy but a career. The layoff was the turning point, and the accounting years were over.

The decision to act was not an easy one, because Simu had no training, no connections, and no experience, and his parents, who had expected him to be an accountant or an engineer, were disappointed and worried. He began by taking acting classes, auditioning for small roles, and working as a background performer, learning how a film set worked from the ground up. He also worked as a stunt performer, using his athleticism and his martial arts training, which he had begun as a hobby, to perform in action scenes, and the stunt work gave him a physical confidence that would later serve him in Shang-Chi. The early years were hard, with long periods without work, with rejections, and with the financial pressure of living in Toronto without a steady income. Simu has spoken about the difficulty of those years, about the doubt, the loneliness, and the determination that kept him going, and about the support of friends who believed in him. The accounting job had given him a safety net, and acting took it away, but the risk was worth it, because the alternative, a life in an office, was unbearable.

By the mid-2010s Simu was working steadily, if not famously, with small roles in Canadian television, including the series Blood and Water in 2015, in which he played Paul Xie, and with appearances in commercials and in short films. He also worked as a model, appearing in stock photos that later became famous when fans discovered them, including a well-known image of him as a smiling businessman that became a meme. The modelling work was a practical way to earn money, and it gave him exposure, although it was not the career he wanted. He also worked as a background performer in films, including Pacific Rim in 2013, and the experience gave him a physical training that would be essential for Shang-Chi. The years of small roles were a period of learning, in which Simu built a resume, a network, and a reputation as a reliable, hard-working actor, and the breakthrough, when it came, was the result of years of preparation. The accountant had become an actor, and the actor was ready.

Stunt Work, Modelling and the Long Audition Grind

Simu Liu’s breakthrough came in 2016, when he was cast as Jung Kim in Kim’s Convenience, a Canadian sitcom about a Korean-Canadian family who run a convenience store in Toronto. The show, based on a play by Ins Choi, starred Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Appa, the father, and Jean Yoon as Umma, the mother, with Liu as Jung, the estranged son who works at a car rental agency and who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his father. The series premiered on CBC in 2016, and it became a hit in Canada, winning awards and praise for its warm, funny, and authentic portrayal of a Korean-Canadian family. Liu’s Jung was a central character, a young man who is funny, flawed, and trying to find his place, and Liu’s performance, with its humour and its emotional range, made him a star in Canada. The show ran for five seasons, from 2016 to 2021, and it became one of the most beloved Canadian series of the decade, with a global audience on Netflix.

Kim’s Convenience was important not only for Liu but for Canadian television, because it was one of the first series to centre on an Asian-Canadian family, and its success proved that a show about a specific community could speak to a wide audience. The series’ writing, which was warm, funny, and specific, gave Liu a chance to play a character who was not a stereotype but a person, a young Korean-Canadian man dealing with family, work, and love, and his performance was praised for its authenticity. The show’s cast, which included Andrea Bang as Janet, Jung’s sister, and Andrew Phung as Kimchee, Jung’s best friend, became a family, and the series’ final season, in 2021, was an emotional farewell for the cast and for the fans. The show’s cancellation, which was announced abruptly, was controversial, and Liu spoke publicly about the decision, criticising the way the show ended and the lack of Asian voices in its writing room. The controversy showed that Liu was willing to speak out, even about a show that had made him famous, and that willingness would define his later career.

The Kim’s Convenience years were also the years when Liu began to think about representation, about the lack of Asian leading men in Hollywood, and about the responsibility that came with being a visible Asian actor. He has spoken about the experience of growing up without Asian heroes on screen, and about the importance of Kim’s Convenience in giving Asian-Canadian viewers a family that looked like theirs. The show’s success on Netflix, where it found a global audience, made Liu known outside Canada, and it gave him a platform to speak about diversity in casting. The role of Jung Kim was the making of Liu as a television star, and it gave him the fame and the experience to audition for bigger roles, including a Marvel film that would change his life. The sitcom years were the foundation, and the Marvel years were about to begin, with an audition that Liu almost did not take.

Kim’s Convenience: Jung Kim and the Canadian Breakthrough

In 2018 Simu Liu auditioned for the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a film about a Chinese superhero, and the audition process was long, with multiple rounds and screen tests, in which Liu competed against hundreds of other actors. He has spoken about the audition as a nerve-wracking experience, because the role was the first Asian leading role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the pressure to get it right was enormous. In July 2019 Marvel announced at Comic-Con in San Diego that Liu had been cast as Shang-Chi, a moment that made headlines around the world and that made Liu a star overnight. The announcement was a historic one, because Shang-Chi was Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead and a predominantly Asian cast, including Tony Leung as the villain Wenwu and Awkwafina as Katy, Shang-Chi’s best friend. The casting was celebrated by Asian audiences around the world, who saw in Liu a hero who looked like them, and the pressure on the film, and on Liu, was immense.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released in September 2021, after delays caused by the pandemic, and it became a commercial success, grossing more than four hundred million dollars worldwide, and a critical success, with praise for its action sequences, its humour, and its cast. Liu’s performance as Shang-Chi, a young man who left his father’s criminal empire and who must return to confront it, was praised for its physicality, its humour, and its emotional range, and the film’s action sequences, including a fight on a bus in San Francisco and a battle on bamboo scaffolding, showcased Liu’s martial arts training. The film’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, gave Liu a leading role that was both a superhero and a son, and the film’s themes, about family, identity, and belonging, resonated with audiences. The film’s success made Liu a global star, and it established him as Marvel’s first Asian leading man, a historic achievement that changed Hollywood. The accountant from Mississauga was now a superhero.

The Shang-Chi role required intense physical preparation, with Liu training for months in martial arts, weightlifting, and stunt work, and the training, which he documented on social media, became part of the film’s publicity, showing a dedicated actor transforming himself into a superhero. The film’s production, which took place in Australia and in San Francisco, was long and demanding, and Liu has spoken about the experience of working on a Marvel film, about the scale of the production, and about the responsibility of representing Asian audiences. The film’s release, during the pandemic, was a risk, but its success proved that audiences wanted to see Shang-Chi, and that Marvel’s bet on an Asian-led film had paid off. The role’s legacy is still being written, with a sequel in development, and Liu’s place in the Marvel universe is secure, although the sequel’s timing remains uncertain. Shang-Chi is the role that defines Liu, and it is the role that made him a star.

Shang-Chi: The Audition, the Training and the Marvel Moment

After Shang-Chi, Simu Liu took on a series of roles that showed his range, including the film Barbie in 2023, in which he played one of the Kens, a rival to Ryan Gosling’s Ken, in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster comedy. The role was a comic one, very different from Shang-Chi, and Liu’s performance, with its humour and its physical comedy, was praised, although the role was supporting. Barbie became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and Liu’s participation in it introduced him to an even wider audience. He also starred in the film Arthur the King in 2024, in which he played Leo, a member of an adventure racing team, alongside Mark Wahlberg, and the film, based on a true story about a man and a stray dog, was a warm, emotional drama. The role showed a different side of Liu, a team player rather than a superhero, and his performance was praised for its warmth and its humour. The post-Marvel years have been busy, with Liu working in film, in television, and in voice work, and establishing himself as a versatile actor rather than only a superhero.

Liu’s post-Marvel career also includes voice work in animation and appearances in television series, as well as a role in the film Atlas in 2024, in which he played a supporting part alongside Jennifer Lopez. The roles have been varied, and they show that Liu is not interested in repeating Shang-Chi, but in building a career that includes comedy, drama, and action. He has also continued to work in Canada, appearing in Canadian productions and speaking about the importance of the Canadian film industry. The years after Shang-Chi have been a period of consolidation, in which Liu has used his fame to choose interesting roles and to build a reputation as a reliable, versatile actor. The superhero years were the breakthrough, but the post-Marvel years are the test, and Liu is passing it, with a filmography that is growing in range and in quality. The accountant who became a superhero is now becoming a movie star.

In 2022 Simu Liu published his memoir, We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, a book that tells the story of his family’s immigration from China to Canada, his childhood in Mississauga, his career in accounting, and his journey to becoming Shang-Chi. The book was a bestseller in Canada and was praised for its honesty, its humour, and its insight into the immigrant experience, and it gave Liu a new platform as an author. The memoir’s title, We Were Dreamers, captures the book’s theme: that his parents dreamed of a better life, and that he dreamed of a different one, and that both dreams were valid. The book’s success showed that Liu’s story resonated beyond film, and that his experience as an immigrant child was shared by many readers. The memoir is now one of the most important parts of his legacy, alongside Shang-Chi, because it tells the story behind the superhero, and it does so with a candour that is rare in celebrity memoirs.

Barbie, Arthur the King and the Post-Marvel Career

Simu Liu has become a prominent advocate for Asian representation in Hollywood, speaking in interviews, on social media, and at events about the need for more Asian leading roles, more Asian writers and directors, and more stories that reflect the diversity of Asian experiences. His advocacy began with Kim’s Convenience, where he criticised the lack of Asian voices in the writing room, and it continued with Shang-Chi, where he spoke about the importance of the film’s Asian cast and crew. He has also spoken about the experience of growing up without Asian heroes, and about the responsibility he feels to be a role model for young Asian viewers. The advocacy has sometimes been controversial, because Liu is outspoken and because he has criticised studios and producers, but it has also made him a respected voice in the conversation about diversity. His public statements are part of his story, because they show an actor who is using his fame to change the industry, not only to succeed in it.

Today Simu Liu lives in Los Angeles, works in film and television, and continues to write and to advocate for representation, with a career that spans from accounting to Marvel, from Mississauga to Hollywood, and with a reputation as a talented, outspoken, and versatile actor. He is a star, a memoirist, and an advocate, and his story, which began in Harbin and moved to Mississauga, is still being written, with a Shang-Chi sequel in development and with new roles in film and television. His fans, who include Asian audiences around the world, remain loyal, and his new work has brought him wider audiences as well. The story that began with a boy from Harbin who became an accountant, then a stunt performer, then a sitcom star, then a superhero, is one of the most remarkable in modern Hollywood, and it continues, with the next chapter likely to include more leading roles, more writing, and more advocacy. Simu Liu’s story is about an immigrant kid who became a superhero, and who is using that platform to change what Hollywood looks like.

Kim’s Convenience, which premiered in 2016, featured Simu Liu as Jung Kim, the estranged son of a Korean-Canadian family who run a convenience store in Toronto. The series ran for five seasons until 2021, became a hit in Canada and on Netflix, and made Liu a star.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, released in 2021, starred Liu as Shang-Chi, Marvel’s first Asian leading man, alongside Tony Leung and Awkwafina. The film grossed more than four hundred million dollars worldwide and was praised for its action and its cast.

My Take:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a film that matters for reasons beyond its quality, although its quality is high, because it is Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead, and its success proved that an Asian-led superhero film could be a global hit. Simu Liu’s performance as Shang-Chi is the film’s centre, and he plays the character with a mix of physicality, humour, and emotional range that makes him believable as both a superhero and a son. The film’s action sequences, particularly the fight on the bus in San Francisco, are among the best in the Marvel universe, because they are choreographed with a precision and a creativity that show Liu’s martial arts training. Tony Leung, as the villain Wenwu, gives one of the best performances in any Marvel film, and Awkwafina, as Katy, provides humour and warmth. Shang-Chi is not a perfect film, but it is an important one, and Liu’s performance is the reason it works.

Kim’s Convenience is a series that deserves more attention than it gets outside Canada, because it is a warm, funny, and authentic portrayal of a Korean-Canadian family, and Liu’s Jung Kim is one of its best characters. Jung is the estranged son, a young man who works at a car rental agency and who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his father, and Liu plays him with a humour and an emotional range that make the character feel real. The show’s writing, which is specific and observant, gives Liu a chance to play a character who is not a stereotype but a person, and his performance is praised for its authenticity. The series’ cast, including Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Appa and Jean Yoon as Umma, is excellent, and the show’s final season, in 2021, was an emotional farewell. Kim’s Convenience is a reminder that a sitcom about a specific community can speak to everyone, and Liu’s Jung is a major part of its appeal.

We Were Dreamers, Liu’s memoir, is a book that deserves to be read, because it tells the story of his family’s immigration and his own journey with an honesty and a humour that are rare in celebrity memoirs. The book’s account of his parents’ sacrifices, of his childhood in Mississauga, of his career in accounting, and of his decision to become an actor, is moving and insightful, and its themes, about identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience, resonate beyond Liu’s own life. The memoir’s title captures its theme: that his parents dreamed of a better life, and that he dreamed of a different one, and that both dreams were valid. The book was a bestseller in Canada, and it gave Liu a new platform as an author, showing that his talents go beyond acting. A reader who wants to understand Liu should read the memoir, because it explains the person behind the superhero, and it does so with a candour that is admirable.

Barbie is a film in which Liu plays a supporting role, but his performance as one of the Kens is a delight, because he plays the character with a humour and a physical comedy that make him stand out even in a crowded cast. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, is a blockbuster comedy about Barbie and Ken, and Liu’s Ken, a rival to Ryan Gosling’s Ken, is a funny, self-aware character who embodies the film’s satire of masculinity. The role was a departure from Shang-Chi, and it showed that Liu could do comedy as well as action, and that he was not interested in being typecast as a superhero. Barbie became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and Liu’s participation in it introduced him to an even wider audience, including viewers who had never seen Shang-Chi. The role is small, but it is memorable, and it is a sign that Liu’s career is growing in range.

The audition story for Shang-Chi is one of the most inspiring in recent Hollywood, because Liu, who was a sitcom actor in Canada, competed against hundreds of actors for the role, and won it through a long, gruelling process of auditions and screen tests. The announcement at Comic-Con in 2019, when Marvel revealed that Liu had been cast, was a historic moment, because it made him Marvel’s first Asian leading man, and the reaction from Asian audiences around the world was immediate and emotional. The story is a reminder that casting is not only about talent but about timing, and that Liu’s years of preparation, in stunt work, in modelling, and in Kim’s Convenience, had prepared him for the moment when it arrived. The audition is also a lesson in perseverance, because Liu almost did not take the audition, and his decision to try, despite the odds, changed his life. The story is worth telling, because it shows that a superhero can come from anywhere, even from an accounting firm in Toronto.

Arthur the King, the 2024 film in which Liu played Leo, is a warm, emotional drama about an adventure racing team and a stray dog, and Liu’s performance, as a team member alongside Mark Wahlberg, shows a different side of him, a team player rather than a superhero. The film, based on a true story, is about endurance, loyalty, and the bond between humans and animals, and Liu’s Leo is a steady, reliable presence, a character who supports the team rather than leading it. The role was a departure from Shang-Chi, and it showed that Liu was willing to take supporting roles in order to work with good material and good actors. The film’s reception was warm, with critics praising its heart and its performances, and Liu’s work in it was noted for its warmth and its humour. Arthur the King is not a major film, but it is a good one, and Liu’s performance is a major part of its appeal.

Liu’s advocacy for Asian representation is an important part of his story, and it deserves respect, because he has used his fame to speak about issues that matter to him, even when it has been uncomfortable. His criticism of Kim’s Convenience, in which he spoke about the lack of Asian voices in the writing room, was brave, because the show had made him famous, and his willingness to criticise it showed that he valued principle over gratitude. His advocacy for Shang-Chi, in which he spoke about the importance of Asian representation, was also important, because the film’s success depended on audiences believing in its authenticity. Liu’s public statements have sometimes been controversial, but they have also made him a respected voice, and his advocacy is part of his legacy, alongside his acting. An actor who uses his platform to change the industry is an actor who understands that fame is a responsibility, not only a reward.

The background and stunt work that Liu did early in his career is a part of his story that is often overlooked, but it is important, because it gave him the physical training that made Shang-Chi possible. His work as a background performer, in films including Pacific Rim, taught him how to move, how to fall, and how to perform action sequences safely, and that training is visible in Shang-Chi’s fight scenes, which are among the best in the Marvel universe. The stunt work also gave him a work ethic, a discipline, and a respect for the crews who make action films, and that respect is visible in the way he speaks about his colleagues. The years of stunt work were not glamorous, but they were essential, because they prepared Liu for the role that would make him famous. A superhero who can do his own stunts is a superhero who has earned the title, and Liu earned it through years of hard, physical work.

My honest assessment is that Simu Liu is a talented actor whose career is still in its early stages, and that his reputation rests on two great roles, Jung Kim and Shang-Chi, supported by a memoir that is genuinely good and by an advocacy that is genuinely important. His strength is his versatility: he can play comedy, drama, and action, and he can do it with a humour and a physicality that are unmistakable. His weakness, if it can be called one, is that he has not yet had a leading role outside Marvel that matches Shang-Chi, and his post-Marvel career is still finding its shape. That is not a criticism; it is a reflection of how early he is in his career. His legacy will be Shang-Chi, Kim’s Convenience, and We Were Dreamers, and the doors he opened for Asian actors in Hollywood. He changed what was possible, and he did it by being himself, loudly and proudly.

If a new viewer wants to approach Liu, the order is straightforward: start with Shang-Chi for the superhero, then watch Kim’s Convenience for Jung Kim, then read We Were Dreamers for the memoir, and then watch Barbie for the comedy. Arthur the King will show the dramatic actor, and the interviews, in which he speaks about representation, will show the advocate. The order matters, because it shows the arc from an immigrant kid in Mississauga to a superhero to a writer and an advocate, and it avoids the temptation to judge him by a single role. Liu’s career is a young one, and it repays patience, because each role adds a layer to the last, and the whole is a portrait of an actor who is still growing. He is one of the most interesting young actors in Hollywood, and his best is still coming.

One final point about Liu is that his modelling work, particularly the stock photos that became memes, is a funny, human part of his story, because the images of him as a smiling businessman, which were taken for stock photo libraries, became famous when fans discovered them after Shang-Chi. The photos, which show Liu in a suit, smiling at the camera, are now iconic, and they are a reminder that a career is built from small jobs as well as large ones. Liu has laughed about the photos, and his good humour about them shows a self-awareness that is rare in a movie star. The stock photos are a footnote, but they are a charming one, and they show that Liu’s rise was not a straight line but a winding path through many different kinds of work.

Liu’s relationship with his parents deserves a last word, because it is the emotional centre of his memoir and of his story, and it shows a son who loves his parents even when he disagrees with them. His parents, who sacrificed so much to immigrate to Canada, wanted him to be an accountant, and his decision to become an actor disappointed them, but they came to support him, and their pride in his success is evident in the memoir. The story of an immigrant family, with its sacrifices and its expectations, is a universal one, and Liu tells it with a honesty that is moving. The relationship with his parents is not a footnote; it is the heart of We Were Dreamers, and it is the reason the book matters.

Liu’s memoir, We Were Dreamers, published in May 2022, is the most personal part of his story, because it tells the truth about his family in a way that his interviews had only hinted at. The book describes his parents, who emigrated from Harbin in China to Kingston, Ontario, when Liu was five, and who raised him in Mississauga with a discipline that was strict, loving, and often painful. Liu writes about the arguments with his father, an aerospace engineer, about the pressure to succeed, and about the years when he barely spoke to his parents, and he writes about the reconciliation that followed, when he learned to see his parents as immigrants who had sacrificed everything for him. The memoir also covers his years as an accountant at Deloitte, his layoff in 2012, and his decision to pursue acting, a choice that his parents initially opposed. We Were Dreamers is a thoughtful, honest book, and it is the reason Liu’s story resonates beyond Marvel, because it is an immigrant story, told with humour and with love.

Liu’s role in Barbie, released in 2023 and directed by Greta Gerwig, showed a different side of him, because he played one of the rival Kens, a character who competes with Ryan Gosling’s Ken for Barbie’s attention, and his dance number, in a sequence that became one of the film’s most talked-about scenes, showed a comic timing that Shang-Chi had only hinted at. The film’s success, as one of the highest-grossing films of 2023, brought Liu to a new audience, and his performance, which was funny, confident, and self-aware, earned him praise. Liu has also used his platform to speak about Asian representation, including after the 2021 spa shootings in Atlanta, when he wrote and spoke about anti-Asian violence, and he hosted the 2023 Juno Awards, Canada’s music awards, a role that showed his status as a Canadian cultural figure. The Barbie role and the Juno hosting together show a performer who is becoming a mainstream star, not only a Marvel hero, and whose range is wider than his first big role suggested.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Simu Liu born?

Simu Liu was born on 19 April 1989 in Harbin, China. His family immigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and he grew up in Mississauga, Ontario.

What did Simu Liu do before acting?

Before acting, Simu Liu studied business at the University of Western Ontario and worked as an accountant at Deloitte in Toronto. He was laid off in 2012, which led him to pursue acting full time.

Who did Simu Liu play in Kim’s Convenience?

He played Jung Kim, the estranged son who works at a car rental agency and tries to rebuild his relationship with his father, in Kim’s Convenience, which ran from 2016 to 2021. The Canadian sitcom became a hit in Canada and on Netflix.

Who did Simu Liu play in Shang-Chi?

He played Shang-Chi, Marvel’s first Asian leading man, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, released in 2021. The film grossed more than four hundred million dollars worldwide and co-starred Tony Leung and Awkwafina.

What is Simu Liu’s memoir called?

His memoir is called We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, published in 2022. It tells the story of his family’s immigration from China to Canada, his childhood in Mississauga, and his journey to becoming Shang-Chi.

Was Simu Liu in Barbie?

Yes. Simu Liu played one of the Kens, a rival to Ryan Gosling’s Ken, in Barbie, released in 2023 and directed by Greta Gerwig. The film became one of the highest-grossing films of all time.