Kelly Hu

Kelly Hu

PROFILE

Name: Kelly Ann Hu
Date of Birth: February 13, 1968
Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii
Ethnicity: English, Chinese, Hawaiian
High School: Kamehameha
Siblings: One older brother
Measurements: 5'5 / 34A-24-34
Hobbies: Karate, Swimming, Rollerskating
Residence: Brentwood, CA
Parents: Divorced
Mother's Occupation: Draftsperson for City and County of Honolulu
Father's Occupation: Exotic Bird Feeder

Kelly Hu Gallery

Kelly Ann Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii of Chinese, Hawaiian, and English ancestry. Her interests are karate and ballet. Kelly Hu currently resides in Brentwood, California. Kelly Hu has an older brother, who is a captain in the US Army. She also has a cat named Saju. And Kelly Hu has a boy friend named Ali Moussavi. She attended Kamehameha High School, which is restricted to youngsters of Hawaiian descent. Her first trip to the mainland was at age 16. "I was doing poorly in a US history class," she explains, "partly, I think, because Hawaii is so isolated from the rest of the country. So my mother took me to Philadelphia and Boston to see the Liberty Bell and other famous sites. I ended up getting an A in the course."

Hu embarked on a career in modeling after sharing the experiences of friends who had traveled to Japan on modeling assignments. When it was suggested that a beauty pageant title would increase her promotability, Hu agreed to enter the local Miss Teen USA pageant. Above and beyond her expectations, Hu not only won the local pageant, but was crowned Miss Teen USA in 1985. She was a bit disappointed when she learned her title contract put the brakes on any outside modeling for the full year of her reign. "Ironically, after winning the Miss Teen crown in Miami Beach, I wasn't allowed to model for a year because I was representing the pageant," she relates. "But it was a great experience because it gave me a chance to see more of the US. In New York I saw my first snow. My impulse was to pick it up and eat it but somebody stopped me." The title, she adds, "also gave me enough money to move to Los Angeles after school to pursue an acting career." And not to mention the title also led to numerous modeling assignments, including a four-month stint in Japan. Soon thereafter, Kelly Hu left her native Hawaii for Los Angeles. Shortly after arriving on the mainland, Hu obtained several commercial roles for such well-known products as Vidal Sassoon and Mary Kay Cosmetics. In Milan, Italy, however, she is best known for her role in a series of storyline commercials for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. She notes of the spots' popularity, "As I walk down the streets in Milan, the Italians stop, point and yell 'Hey, Pheel-a-DEL-phia!'". With automatic entry into the Miss USA pageant (a benefit of holding the Miss Teen title), Hu ran as Miss Hawaii in 1993. Of the adult pageant experience versus the teen, Kelly Hu says: "When competing as teens, everybody's just really happy to be there. But for a lot of women in the Miss USA pageant, it's their last chance at breaking into the industry, so they take it much more seriously. It's really vicious."

Soon came film and television acting roles, fulfilling Kelly Hu's childhood dream of becoming a professional actor. Her first role was in the television series Growing Pains. She later appeared in Tour of Duty, Melrose Place, Murder One and nearly 20 other series. Her theatrical motion pictures include The Doors, Surf Ninjas, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and No Way Back. She also starred in Sunset Beach as Dr. Rae Chang, a love interest of Casey Mitchum (Timothy Adams). She now currently stars in Martial Law as Chen Pei Pei with Sammo Hung. Her role on Nash Bridges as Michelle Chan has given her a chance to use Kelly Hu's knowledge of karate. She has learned to ride motorcycles and shoot a gun for the series, and Kelly Hu enjoys working in San Francisco, where it is filmed. Be sure to check her out in The Scorpion King and X2(X-Men 2).