Lucy Alexis Liu (born Lucy Liu; December 2, 1968) is an American actress, model, artist, and occasional film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002) for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a female Actor in a Comedy Series. Her film work includes starring as one of the heroines in Charlie's Angels, playing one of the enemies of The Bride in Kill Bill, and appearances in Payback, Chicago, and animated hit Kung Fu Panda. In 2012, Liu joined the cast of TNT series Southland in the recurring role of Jessica Tang, for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress. In 2008, she starred in her own television show, ABC comedy-drama, Cashmere Mafia, which ended after one abbreviated season. The show was one of only a few American television shows to have an Asian American series lead. She is currently co-starring in Sherlock Holmes-inspired crime drama Elementary, playing Joan Watson.