Simu Liu

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, every school day The Cardinal will feature a prominent and historical Asian American or Pacific Islander, living or dead, who has worked toward change, advancement, and/or world peace. Some of them are heroes, and some are unsung heroes, who deserve recognition, and have made a contribution to society.

Jess Ayala, Staff Writer

May 22, 2026

Simu Liu is a Chinese Canadian actor, author, and, at times, stuntman. He was best known for being in the movie Barbie in 2023.

As an author, he wrote a book called We Were Dreamers, which is an imaginative superhero story. He has had many achievements. For instance, in 2022, he was named on Time’s 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Also the first Asian actor to headline a Marvel film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He appeared on the cover of Men’s Health as the first East Asian cover model since 2004. Simu had a very positive impact on the world by championing Asian representation in Hollywood. He would use his acting voice to advocate against anti-Asian hate and support philanthropic causes. This inspired many young Asian generations and seeing their is diversity.

All the success he made, would help support and invest in Asian-owned businesses. He was born in Harbin, China, on April 19, 1989. He moved to Canada at the age of five and was raised in Mississauga, Ontario. In 2011, he graduated and worked as an accountant at Deloitte, but soon after was laid off. After he was laid off, he pursuit his acting and stunt work. He would later be part of the background and extras in films in the year 2013. Once he was older, he attended the University of Toronto schools and he majored in business administration. In the Ivy Business School at Western University. Both Simu’s parents were engineers, and Simu spoke highly about his parents having high expectations for him. He was always confident and outspoken. He was always seen as a hard worker and actively engaged with his fans despite his fame or ego. Simu always keeps himself humble and is grateful for his background, and is never ashamed of who he is.

About the Contributor

Jess Ayala, Staff Writer

Jessenia Ayala is a senior at Hoover High School and is in the AHHC academy. Her favorite movie of all time would be The Pursuit of Happyness. This movie showed her the importance of protecting her dreams and appreciating who and what she has. Although this may not mean a lot to some people, the movie holds a great deal of value that many overlook. She enjoys being around her family, especially her niece Priscella, who’s two years old. Priscella is the reason why Jess wants to pursue child development and one day become a preschool teacher. If you look up the meaning of Jessenia, you’ll see her name means flowers. This led to her having her own flower arrangement business, and it’s been two years since she started. Baking is something Jess does for fun, but it soon also turned into a wonderful success in business. La Cornue is the absolute dream oven she hopes to have in her house. These things are what fill her soul and clear her mind after a hard day. She loves being around people who make her think deeper and see life from angles she never considered. You’ll always see her with her headphones and her coffee because those two alone are what make her, her. Jess is obsessed with nature and always takes a picture, and just puts her music on to sit and admire God’s creation of the world. Over the years, she has learned so much. She thinks they are people who helped her become the person she ended up being, and she’s grateful for them even if they were never meant to be in her life forever.