Jessica Lu is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Ming Huang on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

television series ''

Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...

''.

Early life

Jessica Lu was born and raised in

Schaumburg Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübbe ...

,Metz, Nina (May 29, 2018).
My worst moment: Jessica Lu on battling for a parking spot before an audition
. ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. Retrieved 2019-09-29. a northwest suburb of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Her parents are from South Korea, with her father being Chinese and Japanese, and her mother Chinese. They speak English,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, and Korean at home. Her father is a photographer, and her mother, a singer; and since their arrival in the United States, they have run a restaurant together. Lu has been a natural performer since early childhood. At 6 years old, she started dancing, specializing in ballet, tap, and jazz. After seeing

Kristi Yamaguchi Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former figure skater. In ladies' singles, Yamaguchi is the 1992 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1991 and 1992), and the 1992 U.S. champion. In 1992, she became the first ...

and

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time W ...

in the Olympics on television, she pursued figure skating, taking private lessons every morning at 4 am before school. She also had singing, piano, and violin lessons. Growing up in, and having her parents’ restaurant as her stage with a daily rotating audience, Jessica would entertain each table with a theatrical reading, violin playing, a tap dance, or a song. She started modeling and acting, and became a sought after child talent in Chicago by the time she was 10 year old, working on ad campaigns such as

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

, Oshkosh,

Marshall Fields Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...

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, and

Chicago Place Chicago Place is a mixed-use high-rise on the 700 block of North Michigan Avenue (between Huron and Superior) in Chicago along the Magnificent Mile anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue. According to the Chicago Tribune, as of February 2009, the mall po ...

, as well as commercials for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Ford Motors Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobile ...

Orville Redenbacher's Orville Redenbacher's is an American brand of popcorn made originally by Chester Inc. which was owned by Charles F. Bowman and Orville Redenbacher (who starred in nearly all the commercials until his death in 1995). The product was launched to t ...

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, and

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. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Musical Theatre Performance.

Career

Lu moved to Los Angeles, California in 2008. Soon after, she was cast in the role of Ming Huang on the critically acclaimed MTV series ''Awkward''. Other work followed, in both drama and comedy, including roles such as an insufferable hipster opposite Kathy Bates on FX's ''American Horror Story: Hotel'', for which Popsugar listed her as one of “The 25 Best American Horror Story Guest Stars”; an upscale escort opposite Tim Robbins on HBO's ''Here and Now'', with a performance that

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

wrote was “one of the subtlest, best motivated characters”; an adoring admirer opposite

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a S ...

and

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

on CBS's ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

''; and a lovesick teenager with a terminal illness on FOX's ''

Red Band Society ''Red Band Society'' is an American Teen drama, teen Medical drama, medical comedy-drama television series, developed by Margaret Nagle, that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox for the 2014–15 United States network television schedule, 20 ...

''. In 2018, Lu played tech genius CEO Alexis Barrett on NBC's Reverie, starring alongside Sarah Shahi, Dennis Haysbert, Sendhil Ramamurthy and Kathryn Morris. IndieWire called her a “promising scene stealer” in the pilot episode. SYFYWIRE, as well as other fan sites, expressed their appreciation for Lu's performance week after week, and she quickly became a favorite character. TVLine gave her a "Performer of the Week" honorary mention by the last episode of the first season, for her “tender performance”. Jessica co-starred on the CBS television drama ''

God Friended Me ''God Friended Me'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. It stars Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton and Erica Gimpel. The series was ordered on Ma ...

'' as Joy.

Filmography

Theater

* ''Flower Drum Song'' — Lead * ''West Side Story'' — Supporting * ''Ragtime!'' — Supporting/Ensemble

References

External links

* * ''Saving the Human Race'' o
CW Seed
i
Norwegian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Jessica 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Illinois Actresses from Los Angeles American female models American actresses of Chinese descent American stage actresses American television actresses Columbia College Chicago alumni People from Schaumburg, Illinois Female models from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people)