Vivian Wu ( Wu Junmei; ; born February 5, 1966) is a Chinese and American actress.Chen Nan

''China Daily'', 27 April 2007. Starring in a variety of North American and Chinese productions, her big break came in 1987, when she appeared in the biographical film ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

''. She later went to starring in films '' Iron & Silk'' (1990), '' The Guyver'' (1991), '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993), ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (subtitled ''Turtles in Time'' in some home media releases) is a 1993 superhero film based on the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Written and directed ...

'' (1993), '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993), and most notably playing the leading roles in ''

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Fujiwara no Teishi, Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The wor ...

'' (1996) and '' The Soong Sisters'' (1997). In 2020, she starred as Dr. Lu Wang in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

science fiction drama series '' Away'', while in 2023, she portrayed Vivian Zhu in the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

murder mystery comedy series '' The Afterparty''.

Early life

Wu Junmei was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China. Wu is the daughter of Zhu Manfang, one of the leading actresses in China during the 1940s and 1950s. She attended Shanghai Shixi High School and began acting at the age of 16 in

Shanghai Film Studio The Shanghai Film Studio (), one of the three biggest film studios in China, is the film division of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation in Shanghai, China. It is responsible for the production of Chinese films and TV programs. History Shangh ...

.Feng Yi
''Vivian Wu: The Shanghainese beauty takes to the silver screen once more''
CNN, 20 June 2011. In 1987, she attended the Hawaii Pacific University, studying tourism.

Career

In 1985, Wu was given an audition for the role of Wenxiu in

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...

's 1987 film ''

''. Six months later, she was chosen for the role, making her big screen debut. Wu went on to star in the drama film '' Shadow of China'' (1989), directed and co-written by Mitsuo Yanagimachi, followed by the action comedy '' Iron & Silk'' (1990). The following year, she appeared in the poorly received superhero comedy film '' The Guyver'' with

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...

. She was chosen by ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' as one of The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1990. Wu gained some critical acclaim after appearing in '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993), directed by

Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong-American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollyw ...

, and playing the leading role in the erotic drama film ''

'' (1996). Wu also played Mitsu in the 1993 film ''

''. She portrayed the historical figure of Soong Mei-ling in the films '' The Soong Sisters'' (1997) and '' The Founding of a Republic'' (2009), as well as the 2011 television series ''Departed Heroes''. As May-Lin Eng in '' Eve and the Fire Horse'' (2005), Wu received a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nomination. Beside films, Wu has worked in television, making guest appearances in shows such as '' The Untouchables'', ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', '' Tales from the Crypt'', '' Highlander: The Series'', '' JAG'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', '' F/X: The Series'', '' ER'', and ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate w ...

''. She was one of the original four judges of Hunan TV's ''World's Got Talent''. Wu also starred in the

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Supreme Warrior'' (1994) and appeared in the video game ''

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb ''Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and OS X. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is an ...

'' as Mei Ying. In 2020, Wu made her return to Hollywood productions after nearly 25 years with a starring role as Chinese astronaut Lu Wang in the

science fiction drama '' Away'' opposite Hilary Swank.

Personal life

Wu married Cuban-born American director and producer Oscar Luis Costo in 1994. She later became a United States citizen.

Filmography

Film

* ''

'' (1987) * '' Iron & Silk'' (1990) * '' Shadow of China'' (1990) * '' The Guyver'' (1991) * '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993) * ''

'' (1993) as Mitsu * '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993) * '' Vanishing Son'' (TV) (1994) * ''Woman Rose'' (1996) * ''

'' (1996) * '' The Soong Sisters'' (1997) * '' A Bright Shining Lie'' (1998) (TV Film) * ''The Legend of Pig Eye'' (1998) * ''Blindness'' (1998) * '' 8½ Women'' (1999) * '' Dinner Rush'' (2000) * ''Roses Are Red'' (2000) * ''Red Skies'' (2002) * ''

Encrypt In cryptography, encryption (more specifically, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plai ...

'' (2003) * '' Beauty Remains'' (2005) * '' Kinamand'' (2005) * '' Eve and the Fire Horse'' (2005) * '' Shanghai Red'' (2006) * '' Desires of the Heart'' (2008) * '' The Founding of a Republic'' (2009) * ''Shanghai Blue'' (2010) * '' Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'' (2011) * ''The Story of a Piano'' (2011) * ''Departed Heroes'' (2011) * ''To Forgive'' (2012) * ''Judge Zhan'' (2012) * ''

The Palace ''The Palace'' is a British drama television series that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of t ...

'' (2013) * '' Feed Me'' (2013) * '' Who is Undercover'' (2014) * '' Perfect Couple'' (2014) * '' The Queens'' (2015) * '' Go Lala Go 2'' (2015) * '' Everybody's Fine'' (2016) * '' Youth Dinner'' (2017) * '' The Chinese Widow'' (2017) * ''Father and Son'' (2017) * ''Cry Me a Sad River'' (2018) * ''

Knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

'' (2019) * '' Dead Pigs'' (2019)

TV series

* ''

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

'' - " Siren" (1998) * '' Dwelling Narrowness'' (2009) * '' Strange World'' (1999 - 2000) * '' Highlander: The Series'' (1994) May-ling Shen * '' Secret Agent Man'' (2000) "Uncle SAM" Ling #1 * '' JAG '' “Deja Vu” (1995) Angelique Sonsiri * '' Tales from the Crypt'' "Comes the Dawn" (1995) Jeri Drumbeater * '' Murder She Wrote'' "Kendo Killing" (4 Jan 1996) Miko Ishida * '' The First Half of My Life'' (2017) * ''

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace ''Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace'' () is a 2018 Chinese television series based on the novel ''Inner Palace: The Legend of Ruyi'' by Liu Lianzi. Starring Zhou Xun and Wallace Huo, it chronicles the marital relationship between the Qianlong Emp ...

'' (2018) * ''Qin Dynasty Epic'' (2019) * '' Away'' (2020) * '' Station 19'' (2021) * '' Irma Vep'' (2022) * '' The Afterparty'' (2023) * A Better Life (2025)

Video games

* '' Supreme Warrior'' (1995) as Yu Ching * ''

'' (2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Vivian 1966 births Living people Actresses from Shanghai Chinese expatriates in the United States Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century Chinese actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses