CBS' "Elementary" star Lucy Liu talked about being an Asian actress in Hollywood and being cast in "Ally McBeal" as she graced the cover of the London-based Schon! Magazine.
"It was not easy at all. It was a long journey," Liu said about starting her Hollywood career as an Asian actress.
Born in New York, Liu is the youngest of the three children of immigrants from Taiwan.
The 45-year-old actress also added, "I did a bunch of regional theatre and odd jobs, just trying to get my foot in the door. For me, it's the issue about being Asian in the business. It's a much more narrow line to cross."
For Liu, she was "really launched" by Fox series "Ally McBeal," which earned her Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series nominations.
"It's all about visibility when you're on a show that popular. It created a very nice résumé that I could play off," Liu said about "Ally McBeal," which aired from 1997 to 2002.
Liu also told the magazine "there's an immediacy to television," which she really loves.
"You do it and you film it and it actually airs. The dynamic of movies now has changed because of the landscape of television and how accessible it is," she said.
Liu's recent television show is "Elementary," which will debut its third season on Oct. 30 on CBS, Ace Showbiz reported.
In the new season, "Bound" star Gina Gershon will be featured as a guest star playing the socialite Elana March whom Liu's role Dr. Joan Watson suspects of managing a drug cartel, TV Guide revealed.
In "Elementary," Liu stars with Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes, Aidan Quinn as Capt. Thomas Gregson, Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell, Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes, Natalie Dormer as Jamie Moriarty, Ato Essandoh as Alfredo Llamosa and Jordan Gelber as Dr. Eugene Haws among others.