Actor, author, and activist Simu Liu will make his debut as the title character this summer in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring alongside Awkwafina, Tony Leung, and Michelle Yeoh, Liu makes history as the star of the first Asian-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For the past five seasons, Liu starred in the CBC/Netflix comedy series Kim’s Convenience, which won the ACTRA Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in 2017 and was also nominated for the same award in 2018. Kim’s Convenience also went on to win the award for Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.

His first major role was on the critically acclaimed OMNI crime drama Blood and Water, the first trilingual series (English, Mandarin, and Cantonese) produced by Canadian television, for which he received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards. Aside from his performance on screen, Liu participated in the writing room for the series by contributing in the show’s second season as a story editor and as the main writer for one episode.

Liu most recently completed production on the adventure feature Arthur the King, directed by Simon Cellan Jones. The film from Entertainment One and Tucker Tooley Entertainment is based on the 2017 book: Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord.

His other film and television credits include Lissette Feliciano’s Women Is Losers, ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, NBC’s Taken, and Amazon’s The Expanse.

Born in Harbin, China, Liu immigrated to Canada at the age of five and is fluent in Mandarin. He is currently developing long-form projects under his 4:12 Entertainment banner, through which he has previously directed, produced, and optioned content for film and digital.