DURING THE AUDITION PROCESS for Shang-Chi, Liu started doubting his luck: “Wouldn’t they want that first Asian superhero to be somebody who looked the part a little bit more? What I’ve always really appreciated about MCU superheroes versus elsewhere is that they are trying to disrupt the idea of what a superhero can be."
FOUR DAYS AFTER Liu booked the role, he was flown to San Diego Comic-Con. “Angelina Jolie walked in with kids and a five-person team, and she’s looking around, and there’s no empty seats anywhere except at my table. The 8,000 fans were fantastic, but having dinner with Angelina Jolie is the mind-blowing, unfathomable Cinderella story. Her kids love video games, and she was having trouble understanding what the games were. I was like, Hold on a second. This is my time to shine. So I spent, actually, the better part of that night trying to explain League of Legends to Angelina Jolie. I guess you could say one of us was giving the advice.”
EVEN WITH AN arsenal of superhero tricks, Liu has mortal moments. “There was a cute girl on the crew that I was trying to impress during a very elaborate stunt. I winked at her and, when I started running, proceeded to lose my balance, fall, banged my knee, and ended up sprawled out 12 feet in the air.”
AS THE MARVELVERSE continues to expand, Liu sees endless possibilities for Shang-Chi. “My contract doesn’t stipulate what or where I could be summoned. Kevin [Feige]’s built this wonderful ecosystem where it’s almost platform-agnostic—movies, series, streaming, video games. It’s really incredible.”
HE DIDN’T ALWAYS see himself as a role model. “You’re talking to a guy that graduated from business school by the skin of his teeth, only to crash and burn at his first consulting job. What about that C.V. makes me a good representative of Asian Americans and Canadians? But I realized, if I don’t step into the spotlight, and the person next to me doesn’t step in, and the people around me don’t step in, then who will? Who’s going to speak for us when we need somebody out there? I want to be outspoken.”