Kelly Hu

Kelly Ann Hu (Kai Li Hu) (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress. She starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera Sunset Beach and as Michelle Chan on the American television police drama series Nash Bridges. She has starred in numerous films including The Scorpion King as Cassandra, Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) as Sona, X2 (2003) as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike, The Tournament (2009) as Lai Lai Zhen, and White Frog (2012). She appeared as China White / Chen Na Wei in The CW series Arrow.

Hu has had recurring roles as Pearl on The CW series The Vampire Diaries, Hamato Miwa / Karai on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stacy Hirano on the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb, and as Adira in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. She also voices Cheshire and Paula Crock / Huntress in Young Justice.

Early life Kelly Hu was born on February 13, 1968, in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Juanita and Herbert Hu. Her parents divorced during Hu's childhood and her mother married Roy Takara. Her brother Glenn is a lieutenant colonel and human resources officer in the United States Army. She is of Chinese, English, and Native Hawaiian descent. She attended Maemae Elementary School and Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Career 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.

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.

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 Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. She followed this with a minor role in the Jim Morrison bio The Doors. 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.

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 along with 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 and was cancelled after 12 episodes, 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 reprised 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. She was part of HollywoodPoker.com's "Celebrity Poker Night" on May 30, 2006, and in July 2006 placed in the top 200 in the World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament, besting nearly 1,000 other competitors.

In 2009 Hu 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.

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." 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.

Hu 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 (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 Hu appeared in a television commercial for Viagra.

In 2023 Hu joined the cast of East New York''.

Activism Kelly Hu at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver with Obama Delegate Curt Anderson. Hu has supported the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment, and in 2004 she starred in a public service announcement for them titled "The Least Likely" to encourage young Asian Americans to register and vote.

In 2007 Hu was a driver in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, a national fund-raising program supporting children's hospitals throughout the United States. In April 2011 Hu was a celebrity host for Save the Children's "Caring for Japan's Keiki," a benefit for Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. Also in 2011 she hosted a Celebrity Poker Tournament for Best Buddies International, a charity that she has supported for several years. In January 2008 Hu participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by will.i.am called "Yes We Can". She campaigned for Obama in Hawaii in the run-up to the February 19, 2008, Democratic caucuses. In February 2008 Hu also appeared in another viral video in support of Obama, "Sí Se Puede Cambiar", written and performed by Andrés Useche, directed by Eric Byler. She was the emcee of the Asian American Action Fund's annual fundraiser on June 10, 2008. She was present at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Hu has been active in protecting the Hawaiian ecology. She supported Reef Check Hawaii by running and successfully completing the Honolulu Marathon to raise awareness for the organization. She also gave support to the Shark Fin Ban which took effect in Hawaii in July 2010.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1989 Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Eva Watanabe 1991 Dorothy Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Suzie 1993 Surf Ninjas Ro-May 1995 No Way Back Seiko Kobayashi Strange Days Anchor Woman 1996 Star Command Ens. Yukiko Fujisaki Television film 1997 Fakin' da Funk Kwee-Me 2002 Cassandra 2003 Cradle 2 the Grave Sona X2 Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike 2004 Lana Television film 2005 Underclassman Lisa Brooks Mayday Sharon Crandall Television film 2006 Americanese Brenda Nishitani Undoing Vera Devil's Den Caitlin 2007 Shanghai Kiss Micki Yang Succubus: Hell-Bent Detective Pei Direct-to-video Jiyoung 2008 Stiletto Detective Hanover Dead Space: Downfall Shen Voice, direct-to-video Farm House Lilith Dim Sum Funeral Cindy 2009 Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword Miyumi/Miss Mirimoto Voice, direct-to-video 2024Watchmen Chapter IVietnamese Woman, YvonneVoice, direct-to-video

Television Year Title Role Notes Growing Pains Melia Recurring Cast: Season 3 1988 Night Court Krista Episode: "Danny Got His Gun" 1989 Tour of Duty Vietnamese DJ Episode: "Saigon" 21 Jump Street Kim Van Luy Episode: "The Dragon and the Angel" 1990 CBS Schoolbreak Special Emily Episode: "American Eyes" 1992 The Bold and the Beautiful Trish Episode: "Episode #1.1272" & "#1.1275" 1993 Raven Pele Episode: "Heat" 1994 Burke's Law Dawn Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?" Melrose Place Andrea Episode: "Parting Glances" Renegade Kathy Maruyama Episode: "Black Wind" 1995 Maybe This Time Jennifer Episode: "Please Re-Lease Me" 1996 Murder One Natalie Cheng Episode: "Chapter Nineteen" & "Chapter Twenty" Christine Hong Episode: "Cypher" One West Waikiki Dr. Midori Episode: "Battle of the Titans" Pacific Blue Wendy Trang Episode: "The Enemy Within" Mr. & Mrs. Smith Ms. Jones Episode: "The Second Episode" 1997 Sunset Beach Rae Chang Regular Cast 1997–98 Nash Bridges Inspector Michelle Chan Main Cast: Season 3, Recurring Cast: Season 4 1998 Malcolm & Eddie Wendy Episode: "Car Trouble" 1998–2000 Martial Law Main Cast 1999–2002 Hollywood Squares Herself/Panelist Recurring Guest 2001 The Test Herself/Panelist Episode: "The Superstitious Test" 2003 Mad TV Herself Episode: "Episode #8.15" Players Herself Episode: "Football Player$" Boomtown Rachel Durrel Recurring Cast: Season 2 2004 Biography Herself Episode: "The Rock" Threat Matrix Agent Mia Chen Recurring Cast 2005 Love Lounge Herself Episode: "Love for Sale" 2005–06 CSI: NY Detective Kaile Maka Recurring Cast: Season 1–2 2005–18 Robot Chicken Olive Oyl, Timmy Turner, Various voices, Voice, recurring role 2006 Las Vegas Natalie Ko Episode: "Died in Plain Sight" The Book of Daniel Kristine Ho Episode: "Revelations" & "Withdrawal" 2007 Afro Samurai Okiku Voice, episode: "The Dream Reader" 2025 Bat-Fam Rumbler / Ophelia Voice 2019 Mortal Kombat 11 D'Vorah 2022 Guild Wars 2 Captain Mai Trin, Soo-Won 2023 Mortal Kombat 1 Li Mei, Madam Bo 2024 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the MutantsKarai Exclusive from home console version. full performance capture