Kelly Hu

Modelling

Hu modeled in Japan and Italy and became well known in the latter as the star of a series of television advertisements for Philadelphia brand cream cheese, playing a young Japanese college student named Kaori.^{[citation needed]}

Hu won the title of Miss Hawaii USA in 1993, becoming the first former Miss Teen USA to win a Miss USA state title. In the 1993 Miss USA pageant, held in Wichita, Kansas, Hu entered the top ten in second place, after winning the preliminary interview competition and placing second in swimsuit and third in evening gown. She then made the top six, ranked second, winning the top-ten evening gown competition and placing second in swimsuit. She was eliminated in fourth place after the judges' questions, just 2/100 of a point from the final three.^{[citation needed]}

Transition to acting

Hu moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1987, with a guest-starring role as Mike Seaver's Hawaiian love interest on the sitcom Growing Pains. Hu followed this with appearances on various television series, including Night Court, Tour of Duty, 21 Jump Street, and Melrose Place. Her first film role was in "Surf Ninjas" in 1993, then Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. In 1995 Hu starred as an undercover police officer in the film No Way Back. Hu was cast as Dr. Rae Chang on Sunset Beach for six months in 1997. Afterwards she was cast as police officers Michelle Chan in the television series Nash Bridges and Pei Pei "Grace" Chen on Martial Law. Her subsequent film appearances include The Scorpion King (2002) and Cradle 2 the Grave (2003). In X2 (2003) she appeared as Yuriko Oyama/Deathstrike, William Stryker's controlled partner.^[6]

Hu was featured in the May 2002 issue of Maxim magazine. She would be featured again in the May 2005 issue.

She was Agent Mia Chen in the last three episodes of the television series Threat Matrix in 2004. She also starred in 2005's Underclassman alongside Nick Cannon and in 2006's Americanese, Undoing, and Devil's Den. During the first quarter of 2007 she completed work on the film Stilletto, followed by Farm House.

In January 2007 Hu began appearing in a full-time role on the television series In Case of Emergency. She played Kelly Lee, a Korean American woman who accidentally reunites with her high school classmates and realizes none of them grew up according to their high school plans. The show did not have a successful run, being cancelled after 12 episodes and leaving its season finale un-aired. She then appeared in the films The Air I Breathe and Shanghai Kiss. This was also the year Hu worked as the recurring voice for Stacy Hirano in the animated series Phineas and Ferb until 2014. The series originally ended in 2015, but it was later revived in 2023 and released in 2025. In 2020 she would reprise her role in the animated film Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe and in the show's revival.

Hu is an avid poker fan and has frequently taken part in competitions such as the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour, including the WPT Celebrity Charity match on March 3, 2008.^[7] She was part of HollywoodPoker.com's "Celebrity Poker Night" on May 30, 2006,^[8] and in July 2006 placed in the top 200 in the World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament, besting nearly 1,000 other competitors.^[9]

In 2009 she appeared in the film The Tournament as Lai-Lai Zhen. In April 2009 Hu developed the character JIA for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. She was the first guest actor to cross over between the television series NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS, playing Lee Wuan Kai in a two-episode arc within both shows. In 2010 and 2011 Hu guest-starred as a vampire named Pearl on the CW television series The Vampire Diaries.^[10]

In 2010 Hu began a recurring role on the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series) Hu was cast in the role of Karai in the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She commented: "It wouldn't quite be the first time I played a ninja, I think. Yeah, I don't know why people think I'm dangerous, but for some reason, I keep getting these roles for the ninja, assassin, bodyguard, bad-girl type."^[11] In 2012 she was cast as China White/Chen Na Wei in The CW series Arrow. In 2013 she joined the cast of the series Warehouse 13 as Abigail Cho, the new owner of the Warehouse-connected B&B.

She provided voice talents in video games including Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords as Visas Marr, the Sith woman who joins the Jedi Exile's party, and Batman: Arkham Origins as Lady Shiva, among the eight assassins hired by Black Mask to kill Batman^[12] (a role she reprised in the 2021 animated film Batman: Soul of the Dragon). In a personal first, she lent both her face and voice to Battlefield Hardline's in-game character Khai Minh Dao, who partnered alongside the protagonist in roughly half of the game levels.

In May 2015 she appeared in a television commercial for Viagra.^[13]

In 2023 Hu joined the cast of East New York.^[14]

Film

Television

Music videos

Documentary

Video games