Poppy Liu

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.

Liu attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and majored in women's studies and theater. She graduated in 2013.

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.

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

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

Liu is a doula and offers free services to women of color and transgender people. Liu is queer and non-binary, and uses she/her and they/them pronouns. She had an abortion in 2015, which inspired a short film she created. Liu gave birth to her first child in December 2022.

Liu converted to Islam in August 2024.

Film

Television