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It may feel like just about every Hollywood name, big or small, is getting a chance to put on a superhero costume and be bombarded with CGI bad guys, but Lucy Liu said that until now, she didn't think there was a place for her in the superhero pantheon (she stars in DC's new flick, Shazam! Fury of the Gods). In a new interview, she explains that because of her Chinese heritage and the fact that her parents were immigrants, she didn't feel a real connection to the narratives that accompany many of those superhero flicks — but she did have the opportunity to read the comics and immerse herself in those fantasies growing up.
She mentions that there's something so intrinsically American about comics — just look at Captain America — but she also explains that many of those stories revolve around things that happened before she was born, so there was a level of disconnect there in addition to the fact that culturally, she couldn't really relate.
"I think for me it just seemed like it was unattainable at that time, just being a part of that Americana and that it was kind of like Bazooka gum — it's just something that existed that was before my time," she told People. "And because my parents were from China and they both immigrated to New York separately and met there, it just didn't seem like there was ever going to be a connection with me and what was given in the world."
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"That's what was available: comics. That's it," she said of the kind of entertainment available when she was younger (pre-internet, pre-TikTok, and yes, pre-Charlie's Angels). "And so now that I get to be a part of that, it's very exciting because there's something very nostalgic about it."
Liu also opened up about her son and how right now, he's too young to be aware that his mother is starring in a superhero movie, though there's plenty of time for him to get there.
"My son doesn't really know that much about superhero movies yet," she adds. "He's 7 and he's very aware of things like Harry Potter, things that have magic in them, but we haven't really gotten into that whole Superman, Spider-Man thing. And I think this will be something that he'll be able to discover when he's a little bit older … He's going to grow into it a little bit. So, we'll see — ask me in a few years!"
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