PASADENA, Calif. -- Lucy Liu is a bright, charming young woman who's as personable as she is attractive. Which comes as quite a surprise to some fans of "Ally McBeal," who expect her to be more like the character she plays, Ling Woo, and have a rather strong reaction when they meet her.
"They run," Liu said. "They run to the other side of the street as soon as they see me."Well, not really. But they do approach her somewhat cautiously, expecting Lucy to be like Ling -- humorless, cold, aggressive and manipulative.
"They're really surprised," Liu said. "They always say afterward, 'Wow, you really are nice!' And I've thought -- what did you expect? Dragon lady or something?"
Dragon lady wouldn't be an inaccurate description of Ling, however. Not only is she unpleasant, but she's litigious. Her lawsuits to date have included suits against everything from a radio shock-jock to the environment.
And Ling is rather tentatively involved with Richard Fish (Greg Germann), the senior partner at Ally's law firm and a man who's more than a bit of a misanthrope himself. It's a working relationship Liu adores.
"When Greg and I do the scenes together, it's just so wonderful. I just love working with him. I mean, he is actually a funny human being. Outside of all that dialogue, he is just hysterical. So you can only imagine when we do those scenes together how much fun it is.
"We do have a natural chemistry. And it's ironic because we also have the same music teacher and we didn't know that at the time. We both play the accordion."
Huh? The accordion? Really?
Really.
It turns out that the accordion was Liu's father's idea.
"I somehow think he was very influenced by the Osmond family," she said. "Except that there were only three of us and he really wanted us to play musical instruments. My sister played the piano, my brother played the guitar and I had the choice between the violin and the accordion."
She gave both instruments a two-week tryout.
"And, honestly, the violin is one of the most difficult instruments," Liu said. "When you're really young, there's no concept of what it's really supposed to sound like. It was horrible. So we moved on to the accordion. I picked it up and started playing it and it was great."
But only for a while. Because she was such a small, thin child, the instrument was hurting her back -- so she had to give it up. She only picked it up again a few years ago.
"I used to play it so well then and why not play now?" she said. "I learned polkas and waltzes and Italian sonatas and stuff."
And, since joining the cast of "Ally McBeal," she's started playing duets with Germann.
"When we have time off, he'll come down to my room or I'll go to his room and we'll play together, because we have the same sheet music," Liu said. "Of course, I'm more advanced than he is.
"He's going to kill me!"
Wonderful is also a word she uses to describe the past few months. Her regular role as Ling on "Ally McBeal" grew out of a failed audition for the role of Nell on the same show.
It was only afterward that she found out what had gone through the mind of "Ally" creator/executive producer/writer David E. Kelly after her audition.
"He said, 'Well, I really liked her reading a lot, but is she frigid. She is so cold. There's nothing about her that's warm. And we eventually want to warm up the Nell character so she's out.
"And so he developed Ling because he didn't think that I could be, like, a friendly, warm person."
The show's casting director told Liu that she was the runner-up for the role of Nell.
"She said, 'You know, that's good because if David really likes you he'll eventually write a role for you or something. And you can be a guest star.'
"I thought, 'Oh, that's nice.' I didn't expect to a call to come in a couple days later saying, 'He wrote a guest star role for you over the weekend.' And it turned out to be this thing."
That one guest-star role turned into a recurring character. And that recurring character has become a regular -- Liu is in the opening credits of "Ally McBeal" this season.
And the character has definitely fulfilled her task of bringing some conflict to the show. Richard may love her, but most of the female characters -- Ally (Calista Flockhart), Georgia (Courteny Thorne-Smith) and Elaine (Jane Krakowski) -- can't stand her.
"I think she brings some sort of friction and an energy that is not as confused as everyone else," Liu said. "Ally -- she's lost in her own thing and she's trying to find her way. I mean, just like everyone else in the world. And that's why the show's so popular because they can relate to her so well.
"And I think Ling comes in with a very particular set of rules and the way that she thinks and the way that she is. And she makes no apologies for it."
(Monday's episode will offer some information about why Ling is the way she is.)
Liu was born in New York City, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. "For the first few years of my life, I didn't speak English at all," she said.
Her mother is a biochemist who had a number of jobs, including working at Macy's. Her father was a civil engineer who had to take jobs like selling watches.
"It wasn't easy," she said. "I mean, I have a great deal of respect for hard work."
And she's accustomed to it.
"When I decided to become an actress, I went out and worked seven days a week," Liu said. "I used to work weekdays as a secretary and during the weekends I was an aerobics instructor and then in the evenings I worked at this rib joint as a hostess. Because I knew that I needed money if I was going to become an actress."
And she has a degree in art, received a grant to study in China and has had her work exhibited in prestigious galleries -- something one doesn't often find in actresses.
"We had a very strong emphasis on education in my family, which I think is great. I mean, granted, I haven't really used my college degree for anything right now, but it's really helped me. You go to a party or you go to a meeting and you have something to talk about.
"And I don't think of myself in any way as a genius or that I have such a high IQ level, but in Hollywood I feel pretty special."
She's also feeling darn happy to be a part of the "Ally McBeal" cast. (Previously, her most high-profile role was as a regular on the short-lived Rhea Perlman sitcom "Pearl.")
"I'm having such a blast. I really am," Liu said. "David Kelley has written me some of the most colorful, interesting, fun stuff."
And playing Ling does have its advantages even off the set.
"I can get away with saying anything because if I was bitchy, then you expected it, honey," she said. "You knew what you were coming here for."
As much as she loves the part, she admits it isn't always and easy role to play.
"I have such a hard time keeping a straight face because the things that she says are so absurd and the reactions from everybody that I'm playing against are always stunned," Liu said. "I mean, a lot of times I have to physically slap my thigh really hard before we start the scene just so I can get through it. It works, but I have a lot of bruising."
And, at this point, she has no idea how long she'll be with the show. "I'm on to the end of the season in May," Liu said. "And we'll see what happens after that."
That's my contract for now.
Not that she seems to be spending a lot of time sitting around worrying about what happens next.
"Who knows what's going to happen? Right now, I'm sitting here and talking to you, and maybe at the end of the season, nothing's going to come out of it," Liu said. "But you try to make the most of it and you try to just enjoy yourself."