Who is Kelly Hu? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Kelly Ann Hu

Age: 56 Years, 56 Year Old Females

Family:

father: Herbert Hu

mother: Juanita Perez

siblings: Glenn Hu

Born Country: United States

Models Actresses

Height: 5'5" (165 cm), 5'5" Females

Ancestry: Chinese Australian

U.S. State: Hawaii

City: Honolulu, Hawaii

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Childhood & Early Life

Kelly Ann Hu was born to Juanita Perez and Herbert Hu on 13 February 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother was a technical drafter and father was a salesman. They were of Hawaiian and Chinese-English ancestry respectively. Her parents got divorced when she was a child. Her only brother Glenn works for the United States Army.

Hu went to Ma’ema’e Elementary school in Honolulu, Hawaii. Later, she finished her high-school from Kamehameha Schools in the same city.

According to her mother, Hu displayed an inclination towards performing arts at a very young age. As a result of her deep passion for music and dance, her mother enrolled her in a dance school at the age of five, where she learned ballet and acrobats.

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Career

Kelly Hu’s journey to stardom began when she won the Miss Hawaii Teen USA beauty pageant. Later in 1985, she competed and won the Miss Teen USA title.

In her early days, Hu modeled for television advertisements. The Philadelphia cream cheese advertisement in which she plays the role of a young Japanese student was one of her earliest modeling assignments.

In 1987, Hu moved to Los Angeles where she got her first acting break in a guest role in the TV series ‘Growing Pains’. This was followed by her appearances in many more TV series, such as ‘21 Jump Street’ and ‘Melrose Place’.

In 1989, she debuted on the big screen with a role in the movie ‘Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan’. In the following years, she made appearances in movies like ‘The Doors’ and ‘Surf Ninjas’.

In 1993, Hu was crowned ‘Miss Hawaii USA’, becoming the first Asian-American winner in the history of the pageant. Later that year, she participated in the 1993 Miss USA contest, but was eliminated in the final round.

Hu bagged the role of an undercover police officer in the 1995 movie ‘No Way Back’, starring alongside Russel Crowe. Subsequently, she was cast as a police officer in various TV series namely, ‘Nash Bridges’ and ‘Martial Law’. In 2004, she appeared in the last few episodes of the series ‘Threat Matrix’ as Agent Lia Chen.

In the 2009 comic anthology ‘Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology’, Hu develop the character of Jia. The comic series told short graphic stories on certain Historical events of America.

In 2010, she appeared in guest roles on series ‘NCIS’, ‘NCIS Los Angles’ and ‘Vampire Diaries’. She had a recurring role in the police procedural TV show ‘Hawaii Five-0’ between 2010 and 2011.

Hu is also a voice artist who has lent her voice to many video games, including ‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II the Sith Lords’ and ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’. In the video game ‘Battlefield Hardline’, the character named Khai Minh Dao has been given the face and voice of Kelly Hu.

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Major Works

The Scorpio King (2002) was one of Kelly Hu’s most popular movies. It was a fantasy thriller, wherein she played the role of Cassandra, a sorcerer who predicts the outcome of battles.

X-Men 2 (2002) was the second movie of the hugely successful X-Men series, in which Hu starred alongside Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. She played the role of a female mutant who is controlled by Stryker and has healing abilities.

In 2003, Hu appeared in ‘Cradle 2 the Grave’, an action thriller movie in which she essayed the character of Sona. In this movie, she starred with Jet Li.

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Awards and Achievements

Kelly Hu is one of the few actresses to have undertaken a substantial number of action roles, and she has won an Action Icon Award (2012) for the same.

She is the first Asian-American to appear on the cover of Maxim Magazine.

Family & Personal Life

Kelly Hu is currently single and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Hu has never been married although she had a few serious relationships. She dated Ahmad Ali Moussaul, an investment banker, for a few years before they parted ways in 1996. She was in a long-term relationship with the record producer and songwriter, Mitch Allan, before they broke up.

In several interviews, Hu has explained that although she loves children, she is childless by choice.

Trivia

Kelly Hu is an avid poker fan and has taken part in many competitions, including the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.

Kelly Hu Biography