At the young age of 19, Lucy Liu was riding the New York subway when she was approached by a talent agent. Thanks to this chance meeting, she soon appeared in a commercial that would inspire her to begin her career in acting and, after starring in some theater productions, she would make her big screen appearance in 1992 in Rhythm of Destiny, a Hong Kong film starring the one and only Danny Lee.

Throughout her career, Lucy Liu has starred in many films, some being some of the most iconic of their generation, such as Kill Bill: Volume 1. Her resume is broad and filled to the brim with quality performances, receiving many awards throughout her time as an actress and has even dabbled in directing with her recent project, American Born Chinese. She's a huge inspiration for Asian-Americans everywhere with her domination of the industry through her incredible films.

10 'Payback' (1999)

Directed by Brian Helgeland

An ex-U.S. Marine and master thief named Porter (Mel Gibson) is left to die after he was betrayed by his own wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) and his best friend Val (Gregg Henry) in a successful heist for $70,000. Now, he's healed, and it's time for him to seek revenge. This escapade leads to him capturing Val and going after the crime organization called the Outfit.

During his mission to finally capture Val, Porter finds him with a dominatrix named Pearl, played by Lucy Liu herself. Pearl would work with Val to inform a local Triad he stole $140,000 from, that Porter was responsible and would continue to work with Val to make life harder for Porter. Liu manages to bring an incredible mix of humor and intensity to the role, as Pearl can switch from shooting out quips to holding a gun to Porter's face with the intention of killing on a dime. She manages to blend the humor with that intensity to bring a wonderful performance to her supporting role.

Payback can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.

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9 'Stage Mother' (2020)

Directed by Thom Fitzgerald

When a conservative church choir director from Texas named Jacki Weaver (Maybelline Metcalf) inherits a drag club in San Francisco after the owner, her son, dies. To make matters worse, her son had been alienated after he came out as gay to his family. So, when worlds collide, conflicts arise and chaos ensues.

Weaver decides to dedicate her time to make the club a success in her son's name, to save it from going bankrupt. She moves in with her late-son's best friend, Lucy Liu's Sienna, a single mother. Sienna is a total mess and struggling to make ends meet. Her character is a large source of comedic relief in the film. Liu's performance is quite comedic in Stage Mother, but her comedic acting is a lot more subtle than typical. Liu's execution of the role shows that her character is completely serious about the things she does and isn't trying to be funny, making Liu's performance a unique mix of comedic and dramatic at once.

Stage Mother can be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.

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8 'Charlie's Angels' (2000)

Directed by McG

Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore) and Alex (Liu) live in sunny Los Angeles and work for a secretive private detective agency. When a soon-to-be billionaire, Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), is captured, his advanced voice recognition software is at risk of falling into the wrong hands. The girls must come together to rescue Knox to protect the world from the potential consequences of someone using his software for the wrong reasons.

Starring as one of three protagonists, Liu found a mass amount of popularity and praise from Charlie's Angels. Along with the two other women starring in the film, Liu found a plethora of praise in her ability to perform high-octane action while also bringing in her comedic abilities to keep things lighthearted. Liu's chemistry with Diaz and Barrymore was a huge factor in making the three detectives lovable and engaging to watch in what was noted as a somewhat basic plot. Liu and her co-stars were the brightest lights in the collective.

Charlie's Angels can be streamed on Apple TV in the U.S.

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7 'Tinker Bell' (2008)

Directed by Bradley Raymond

When the magical fairy known around the world as Tinker Bell (Mae Whitman) is born, she is transported to the mystical world of Pixie Hollow. She soon discovers that she belongs with the "tinkers", a classification of fairies whose job is to do and fix things around Pixie Hollow. When she is told that she will not join the rest of the fairies on their trip to the mainland, she becomes upset and must discover who she is and what her place is in the world.

Liu is known around Pixie Hollow as the fairy called Silvermist. Silvermist is a water fairy that is audacious and humorous. She is one of the primary protagonists of the film and tries to help Tinker Bell learn how to use water abilities when Tinker Bell decides she no longer wants to be a tinker fairy. 2008 was the year Liu really began diving into voice acting after only doing it once in 2004's Mulan II. For being one of her first ever voice acting roles, Liu does a wonderful job at bringing the sass to Silvermist without it sounding too over the top.

Tinker Bell can be streamed on Disney+ in the U.S.

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6 'Shanghai Noon' (2000)

Directed by: Tom Dey