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Jessica Lu
Jessica Lu in 2014
Born	Schaumburg, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia College Chicago
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2009–present

Jessica Lu is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Ming Huang on theMTV television seriesAwkward.

Jessica Lu was born and raised inSchaumburg,^[1] a northwest suburb ofChicago, Illinois. Her parents are from South Korea, with her father being Chinese and Japanese, and her mother Chinese. They speak English,Mandarin and Korean at home. Her father is a photographer, and her mother, a singer. After arriving in the United States, they established a restaurant in Chicago.

Lu has been a natural performer since early childhood. At 6 years old, she started dancing, specializing in ballet, tap, and jazz. After watchingKristi Yamaguchi andMichelle Kwan compete in the1992 Olympics, she pursued figure skating and took private lessons at 4am every morning before school. She also had singing, piano, and violin lessons. With her parents’ restaurant as her stage with a daily rotating audience, Jessica would entertain each table with a theatrical reading, violin playing, a tap dance, or a song.

After starting modeling and acting, she became a sought after child talent in Chicago. By the time she was 10 years old, she had worked on ad campaigns such asCalvin Klein,Oshkosh,Marshall Field's,Got Milk?, andChicago Place, as well as commercials forMcDonald's,Ford Motors,Orville Redenbacher's,Samsung, andKaiser Permanente.

Lu graduated with honors fromColumbia College Chicago^[1] with a degree in Musical Theater Performance.

Lu moved to Los Angeles, California in 2008. Soon after, she was cast in the role of Ming Huang on the critically acclaimed MTV seriesAwkward. Other work followed, in both drama and comedy, including roles such as an insufferable hipster opposite Kathy Bates on FX'sAmerican Horror Story: Hotel, for which Popsugar listed her as one of “The 25 Best American Horror Story Guest Stars”; an upscale escort opposite Tim Robbins on HBO'sHere and Now, with a performance thatThe A.V. Club wrote was “one of the subtlest, best motivated characters”; an adoring admirer oppositeAshton Kutcher andJon Cryer on CBS'sTwo and a Half Men; and a lovesick teenager with a terminal illness on FOX'sRed Band Society.

In 2018, Lu played tech genius CEO Alexis Barrett on NBC's Reverie,^[1] starring alongside Sarah Shahi, Dennis Haysbert, Sendhil Ramamurthy and Kathryn Morris. IndieWire called her a “promising scene stealer” in the pilot episode. SYFYWIRE, as well as other fan sites, expressed their appreciation for Lu's performance week after week, and she quickly became a favorite character. TVLine gave her a "Performer of the Week" honorary mention by the last episode of the first season, for her “tender performance”. Jessica co-starred on the CBS television dramaGod Friended Me as Joy.

• Flower Drum Song — Lead
• West Side Story — Supporting
• Ragtime! — Supporting/Ensemble

• Jessica Lu atIMDb
• Saving the Human Race onCW Seed; inNorwegian

• 21st-century American actresses
• Living people
• Actresses from Cook County, Illinois
• Actresses from Los Angeles
• American female models
• American actresses of Chinese descent
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• Columbia College Chicago alumni
• People from Schaumburg, Illinois
• Female models from Illinois

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from April 2013
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• Year of birth missing (living people)