Lucy Liu became famous for her role as the growling Ling Woo on Ally McBeal and solidified her stardom with her action-packed roles in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1′ and the ‘Charlie’s Angels’ films. After making several more movies, including ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ she returned to television in 2008 to star in the short-lived Cashmere Mafia before joining the fun but almost as short-lived Dirty Sexy Money. Earlier this year, she made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play, ‘God of Carnage.’ Now it’s back to television once again as she stars in the upcoming Lifetime romantic comedy miniseries MARRY ME, airing December 12 and 13.
In Marry Me, Lucy plays Rae Ann Carter, an aspiring artist turned social worker who dreams of fairy tale romance. When her two year relationship with Adam (Bobby Cannavale) falls apart, Rae is swept off her feet by Luke (Steven Pasquale) who quickly asks her to marry him. Just when Rae thinks she has it all figured out, Harry (Enrique Murciano) enters the picture, completely smitten with Rae, and Adam returns, wanting a second chance. Suddenly Rae has three men to choose from, which is what I call a Christmas fairy tale.
Daemon’s TV was there when Lucy answered questions about what makes Rae such an interesting character, what romantic comedies have in common with action films, and her male three co-stars.
On why Lucy initially wanted to play Rae
Lucy had never done a romantic comedy before. She wryly noted, “Other roles I’ve done with romance have still been connected to criminal plots.” She thought this could be a new challenge for her
Additionally, Rae was not originally envisioned as an Asian-American, so Lucy was intrigued. She explained, “It was originally written for someone who’s Southern and blonde and had an accent. I’m always attracted to things that are not intentionally for somebody who is Asian, and I always ask them if they can keep the name the same as it was as well. You feel like you’re at least breaking boundaries or you’ve done something outside of the realm of what people think of someone who is Asian-American.”
On Rae
For Lucy, the most important thing is that Rae feels like a real person, and she credits writer Barbara Hall (Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy) with giving her so much dimension. “Rae’s not a perfect person in any way,” Lucy said. “She’s filled with flaws and has made tons of mistakes. She was trying to balance everything and she was trying to please people and she kind of overwhelmed herself and she was actually lost. Rae had tons of nooks and crannies and I had fun exploring the different places she could go to.”
Trying to please other people ends up being Rae’s biggest stumbling block in terms of being happy because she more does what she thinks she should be doing instead of what she wants to do. Lucy explained, “I think her biggest challenge turns out to be her not knowing what she really wants. She’s so confused and she’s struggling so much she keeps stumbling over herself. I think the moral of the story is not so much who she ends up with but how she understands who she is in order to find what’s going to make her happy. No one is going to be able to do that for her except herself.”
On what was most challenging and fun about playing Rae
Lucy is well-versed in action films, but she was surprised by how physically grueling a romantic comedy was. She lost eight pounds making the film and said, “It’s almost as physical as action except you’re not prepared. They don’t really train you for that. There’s a lot of running around, there’s a lot of hiking. When I read the script, I didn’t see that in my mind.”
Lucy learned that all that action brings a great energy to the scenes, especially as she acted opposite the three different actors. She described one scene as especially memorable. “I ended up squatting and walking across an entire restaurant in high heels and also down the stairs, something that I didn’t really expect that I would be doing but really worked for the scene.”
Lucy is a big fan of rapid-fire dialogue, something she remembers fondly about shooting ‘Lucky Number Slevin,’ and she said that Marry Me features a lot of that. She explained, “I really love the scenes where we were able to do back and forth banter–’His Girl Friday’ sort of thing. Barbara Hall wasn’t afraid of language and using words. It wasn’t just antics. It seemed there were real things and there was some mental sparring that I really enjoyed.”
On the three men vying for Rae and the actors playing them
Rae is genuinely confused about which man she wants to be with because, as Lucy explained, “Each guy has a different thing that they’re proposing to her that keeps her juggling and on her toes.”
Adam (Bobby Cannavale): Lucy called him “someone Rae met in school. They were both artists–he was dreamy and Rae’s perfect guy. They were going to live happily ever after in their his and her artist studios.”
Luke (Steven Pasquale): According to Lucy, “He’s successful and secure, incredibly loving and very much there for her. He’s incredibly nice, but Rae sees that but she’s a little afraid of it. She’s so caught up in the idea of the fairy tale that she kind of misses the boat.
Harry (Enrique Murciano): Lucy said Harry was Prince Charming straight out of the fairy tale. “He had money, was a world traveller, was dashing and adventurous.”
While they all look good on paper, men are never quite as they seem, so we’ll have to wait for Marry Me to see how these guys really measure up and which one is best for Rae.
One thing Lucy was sure about was that she loved the three actors playing Rae’s would be husbands. “The three of them are fantastic and they’re completely different people,” She raved. “Enrique is quieter but has internal passion. He’s very suave and a gentleman. Bobby loves to be a ham, be very broad and not afraid to try things. He does it so well because it doesn’t have a limit. Steven has the ability to do it all. He’s so collaborative and an incredibly hard worker and he brings an incredible ease to the set. All of them together were such a joy to be with on the set.”
On why people will enjoy Marry Me
Lucy’s favorite part of watching a romantic comedy is getting involved with the characters. She talked about the film ‘It’s Complicated’ and how she got caught up with wanting so much for Meryl Streep’s character and she hopes people feel the same way about Marry Me. “You take the audience with you on the ride so they can’t decide who they want Rae to be with, either,” Lucy laughed. “At the end of it, everyone will probably have a different choice that they might have made instead of the one Rae ends up making. It’s really just taking someone on the adventure.”
Marry Me airs on Lifetime Sunday and Monday, December 12 and 13 at 9pm eastern/8pm central both nights. You can watch a preview and see Marry Me pictures here.
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