Shirt a Phobia

Sample Page

Poppy Liu (Chinese: 柳波; pinyin: Liǔ Bō) is a Chinese-born American actress known for her[a] roles in Sunnyside,[1] Hacks,[2] iCarly,[3] and Dead Ringers.[4]

Early life and education

Liu was born in Xi’an, China. Her family moved to Minnesota when she was two while her father earned a second PhD. The family moved back to China when Liu was 14, where she attended an international school in Shanghai. During high school, she became interested in performing, and participated in Chinese dance, ballet, and theater.[5][6]

Liu attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and majored in women’s studies and theater. She graduated in 2013.[7]

Career

After graduation, Liu founded the production company Collective Sex, with a focus eliminating stigma around sex and identity. In 2018, she premiered her short film Names of Women in New York City; it also toured across the country at college campuses and reproductive health organizations. The film was made with an all-female crew and is based on Liu’s abortion story.[7][8]

In 2019, Liu had a starring role in the sitcom Sunnyside.[1] Liu has also had roles on New Amsterdam, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Better Call Saul.[9] She has a recurring role as a blackjack dealer in the 2021 HBO Max sitcom Hacks,[2] and a recurring role as Double Dutch on the 2021 Paramount+ sitcom iCarly.[10]

Liu starred as Greta Leung, assistant to the main characters the Mantle twins, in the 2023 Amazon Prime Video miniseries Dead Ringers.[11] The series won a Peabody Award.[4]

Personal life

Liu is a doula and offers free services to women of color and transgender people. Liu is queer and non-binary, and uses they/them and she/her pronouns.[12][13] She had an abortion in 2015,[14] which inspired a short film she created.[12]

Liu converted to Islam in August 2024.[15]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Summon Mannequin Short
2019 Separation Celebration Aldus Short
Safe Among Stars Jia Short
2020 Flourish Lazer Short
To Do Steph Short
Certified Black Genius Maisa Short
2024 The Tiger’s Apprentice Snake (voice)
Space Cadet Nadine Cai
2025 Dog Man Butler (voice)
2026 I Love Boosters Jianhu
TBA What the F*ck Is My Password? TBA Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2018 New Amsterdam Amy Chiang Episode: “Three Dots”
2018–19 Mercy Mistress Mistress Yin Main cast
2019 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Hannah Berkowitz Episode: “Dearly Beloved”
2019 Sunnyside Mei Lin Main cast
2020–22 Better Call Saul Jo Recurring cast: Season 5, Guest: Season 6
2021–22 iCarly Double Dutch Recurring cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2
2021–26 Hacks Kiki Recurring cast: Season 1-2, Guest: Season 3-5
2022 Dollface Lotus Dragon Bebe Episode: “Boss Lady”
Tales of the Walking Dead Amy Episode: “Amy/Dr. Everett”
2022 Wedding Season Mitzi Yeung Episodes: 6,7,8
2023 History of the World, Part II Ehri Khan Episode: “VII”
Dead Ringers Greta Leung Main cast
American Born Chinese Princess Iron Fan Recurring cast
The Afterparty Grace Zhu Main cast: Season 2
2024 No Good Deed Sarah Main cast[16]
2026 His & Hers Helen Wang Recurring cast

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2021 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Hacks Nominated [17]

Notes

  1. ^ Liu uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses she/her for consistency.

References

  1. ^ a b Henderson, Taylor (2019-10-29). “Sunnyside’s Joel Kim Booster & Poppy Liu Are Queering Up Comedy”. Pride.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  2. ^ a b Kang, Inkoo (2021-05-12). “HBO Max’s ‘Hacks’: TV Review”. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  3. ^ Thapa, Shaurya (2022-04-11). “iCarly: 10 Movies & TV Shows Where You’ve Seen the Cast”. ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  4. ^ a b “Dead Ringers”. The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  5. ^ “About”. Poppy Liu. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  6. ^ Song, Sandra (2021-08-10). “More Poppy Liu, Please”. PAPER. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  7. ^ a b Hutton, Lauren (2019-05-16). “Collective Healing”. Colgate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  8. ^ Names of Women | short film, 2019-01-18, retrieved 2022-06-12
  9. ^ “LGBTQ Actors of Color to Lead Panel on Diversity And Inclusion in Film”. The Advocate. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  10. ^ Garrison, Anna (2022-04-07). “What Happened on Season 1 of the ‘iCarly’ Revival? Catch up on What You Missed Before Season 2”. Distractify. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  11. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (2023-04-23). “Dead Ringers: Poppy Liu Explains the Surprising Secrets of the Prime Video Remake”. Consequence. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  12. ^ a b Shatto, Rachel (2021-12-08). “How Nonbinary ‘Hacks’ Star Poppy Liu’s Star Rose in 2021”. Advocate. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  13. ^ Artavia, David (2019-07-14). “Poppy Liu is Queer and Asian — Get Used to It!”. The Advocate. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  14. ^ Liu, Poppy [@poppyrepublic]; (2022-06-24). “TLDR; I’m having a baby. I’ve also previously had an abortion. Fuck SCOTUS. We’re gonna take care of each other no matter what” – via Instagram.
  15. ^ “paging all Slutty Chinese Muslims…”. Instagram. March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  16. ^ Grobar, Matt (2023-12-15). “Netflix’s ‘No Good Deed’ Adds Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Teyonah Parris, Abbi Jacobson & Poppy Liu”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  17. ^ “27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominees & Recipients”. SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved 2025-10-05.