To most audiences, Simu Liu is a completely unknown quantity, but one who’s set to headline the latest mega budget Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings comes to theaters, and he’s already been lavished with praise for what’s said to be an instant star-making turn.
Ignoring Terrence Howard and Edward Norton, Kevin Feige’s outfit have largely been impeccable when it comes to casting. The MCU took the careers of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland and many more to an entirely different level, with Liu set to be the latest to experience a significant bump in stature and recognition.
Seven years ago the actor was accepting offers to work as a stock photo model for $120 at a time, but now he’s headlining a superhero epic from the most commercially successful multi-film series in the history of cinema. In a new interview, Liu recalled what he was doing when he got the phone call that would change his life forever.
“I remember that call very, very distinctly, though. It was July 16th, 2019, about 6:30 pm, early evening. I had just woken up from a nap, and I was in my underwear, eating shrimp crackers. My dog was napping in my apartment, and I just remember getting a call from an unknown number in Burbank, California. And just hearing Kevin Feige’s beautiful, booming voice on the other end, telling me that my life was going to change forever, was pretty memorable.”
Liu was first revealed to the world as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ main man at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con, and almost instantly went viral when it turned out he’d pitched himself to Marvel as the character a long time before that in a semi-serious tweet. Dreams do come true, then, and the 32 year-old is now set to continue climbing the Hollywood ladder while simultaneously becoming a big part of the MCU’s future.
