Constance Wu

Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress.

Wu later graduated from State University of New York at Purchase's Conservatory of Theatre Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting in 2005.

Wu has cited Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee as an influence.

After college, Wu studied psycholinguistics and considered pursuing a graduate degree in speech pathology before deciding on acting and moving to Los Angeles.

In New York City, Wu got roles onstage and in independent movies.

She made her screen debut with a supporting role in Stephanie Daley (2006).

She later had supporting roles in Year of the Fish and The Architect.

On television, she appeared in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Torchwood, and Covert Affairs, and had a recurring role as Laudine Lee on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live in 2007.

In an interview, Wu stated that she impulsively moved to Los Angeles from New York in 2010 after a heartbreak.

In Los Angeles, she was cast in Sound of My Voice, directed by Zal Batmanglij.

From 2012 to 2017, Wu starred in the web series EastSiders. She won two Indie Series Awards, both for Best Ensemble - Drama in 2014 and 2016.

She was also nominated for two Indie Series Awards, one for Best Supporting Actress - Drama and the other for Best Guest Actress - Drama in those same years.

In 2014, Wu participated in Sundance Screenwriters' Lab with two emerging Asian-American directors, Yung Chang and Christopher Yogi, in what she felt was a unique opportunity to support fellow Asian storytellers.

In 2014, after landing a role in one unsuccessful comedy pilot, Wu won the lead role in the ABC comedy series Fresh Off the Boat alongside Randall Park.

The series is loosely based on the life of chef and food personality Eddie Huang and his book Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir.

E! named her a breakout star of the 2014-15 television season.

For her role as Jessica Huang, she received four nominations for The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and two Television Critics Association TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.

She starred as Jessica Huang in the ABC television comedy Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020), which was her breakthrough role and earned her four nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

The series premiered in 2015, and Wu received critical acclaim for her performance.

Wu was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017.

She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two TCA Awards.

She has also received four nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, tying with Amy Poehler as the second most nominated actress in the category, behind Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Constance Wu was born in Richmond, Virginia.

Her parents emigrated from Taiwan.

Her father, Fang-Sheng Wu, is a biology and genetics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and her mother is a computer programmer.

Wu said that her paternal grandparents were very poor, working as bamboo farmers, and did not have the opportunity to get an education, so they were unable to read and write.

She is the third of four daughters.

She graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School, in Henrico County, Virginia, where she performed in local theater.

She participated in a six-month program during high school at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

In 2017, she appeared in the Hulu anthology series, Dimension 404, and was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

In February 2017, Wu was cast as the female lead in Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan.

She was further lauded for her role as Rachel Chu in the romantic comedy-drama film Crazy Rich Asians (2018) for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, among others; she became the first actress of Asian descent in over 40 years and the fourth overall to be nominated for the former category.

The film was released in the United States and Canada on August 15, 2018, by Warner Bros., and was the first major Hollywood studio film to feature an all-Asian cast since 1993's The Joy Luck Club. The film was a critical and commercial success, and emerged as the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade, grossing over $238 million.

Wu received critical acclaim for her performance and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, A Satellite Award, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards and two NAACP Image Awards.

She is the first Asian woman in over 40 years to be nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, and the fourth-ever female Asian nominee.

In November 2018, Wu starred in a short animated film Crow: The Legend as Skunk.

She subsequently starred in the crime drama film Hustlers (2019) and the film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022).

That same year, following a series of media controversy and mental health issues, she published her memoir, Making a Scene, to critical success.

In 2019, the actress starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the crime comedy film Hustlers, which follows a group of former strippers in Manhattan who rob wealthy men.

Wu is signed on to reprise her role as Rachel Chu in both sequels to Crazy Rich Asians titled China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, which were originally set for back-to-back filming in 2020, although production on them has not yet begun.