Simu Liu flew out his high school friends for the 'Shang-Chi' premiere

When Simu Liu rolled up to the world premiere of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Los Angeles earlier this month, he was far from alone. In addition to the film’s cast of “bad-ass Asian heroes” including Awkwafina, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Michelle Yeoh, Liu was joined by a group of close friends and family from home (plus Sandra Oh because why not?) who were ready to celebrate.

“I’d flown in nine of my high school friends from Toronto and I’d rented this big house, so they were staying with me,” Liu told Lainey Lui in an interview after the premiere.

“It was literally like I was getting married, in a way. The makeup artist showed up early in the morning and I tried on a suit and walked out in front of everyone, and they oohed and aahed like, Oh my God, you look so good! And my parents were there and were like, We’re ready for you, we can walk you down the aisle!” (Okay, but what was your ‘something blue’? We need to know!)

After getting into an SUV and driving down Hollywood Boulevard with his parents, Liu arrived at the premiere feeling grateful and overwhelmed by the combination of international and hometown support.

“I think it was the feeling of being around my people,” he explained. “Even though there was so much changing around me and so much stimulus and it was so overwhelming on a global scale, I had those people who had known me since long before I was famous or even knew I wanted to be an actor. Those were the people who were by my side.”

From growing up in Erin Mills to starring on Kim’s Convenience and now, living it up in the Marvel Universe, Liu is living his best life — we love to see homegrown talent making it big!

After effusively calling the film, “so Chinese, so Kung-Fu!” Lainey asked Liu about on-screen representation and what it meant to join the Marvel universe.

“It means the absolute world,” Liu said earnestly. “It means that children who look like us will have action figures, will have Halloween costumes, will have superheroes that they can just look at and feel like they can accomplish anything. And I think that’s the value, that’s what a superhero represents, whether you’re a kid or adult, it’s a sense of hope and endless possibility, and I think it’s something that you or I never quite had growing up.”

“It’s an extremely powerful moment and humbling to be a part of it.”

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theatres Sept 3, 2021.

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