Occupation Actress Height 1.63 m Role Actress | Name Constance Wu Years active 2006–present Nationality American | |
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Full Name Constance Tianming Wu Born March 22, 1982 (age 42) ( 1982-03-22 ) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Alma mater State University of New York at Purchase Nominations TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy Movies and TV shows Fresh Off the Boat, Sound of My Voice, Stephanie Daley, Electric Slide, The Architect Similar People Eddie Huang, Randall Park, Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen Profiles | ||
Constance Wu Explains What "Couture" Means
Constance Tianming Wu (born March 22, 1982) is a Taiwanese-American actress. She began her career in the theater, before her breakthrough role as Jessica Huang in the ABC comedy series Fresh Off the Boat. In 2017, Wu was named one of TIME magazine's 100 People Who Help Shape the World.
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Early life and education
Wu was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a Taiwanese family. She graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School, where she began performing in local theater at Henrico Teen Theater, HATTheatre, Theatre IV, Virginia Shakespeare Festival as well as an NYU program for six months during high school at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Wu's parents emigrated from Taipei City, Taiwan. Wu said that her paternal grandparents were very poor, working as bamboo farmers and did not have the opportunity to get an education, so were unable to read and write. Her father was a biology and genetics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and her mother was a computer programmer.
Wu graduated from State University of New York at Purchase's Conservatory of Theatre Arts with a BFA in Acting in 2005. Wu was influenced by Academy Award winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee.
After college, Wu studied psycholinguistics and almost attended a graduate degree program in speech pathology at Columbia University. She has three sisters, two older and one younger.
Career
In New York, Wu had roles onstage and in independent movies. She made her screen debut with a supporting role in Stephanie Daley (2006). She also had later 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 also had a recurring role as Laudine Lee on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live in 2007. Wu moved to Los Angeles in 2010, where she was cast in Sound of My Voice, which was directed by Brit Marling.
In 2014, after landing a role in one unsuccessful comedy pilot, Wu won the leading 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. The series premiered in 2015, and Wu received critical acclaim for her performance. E! named her a breakout star of the 2014-15 television season. In 2015, she was nominated for Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and a Television Critics Association TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.
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 Asian storytellers.
Wu played a leading role in the 2015 science fiction movie Parallels. In 2017, she appeared in the Hulu anthology series Dimension 404. Also in 2017, Wu was cast as lead in the Warner Bros. film Crazy Rich Asians.
Personal life
Wu lives in Los Angeles. She has a pet rabbit named Lida Rose.