Saving Face

Background:

“I think being an Asian American actor, you're sort of political whether you like it or not because you represent a group of people who aren't so well represented in the media.” Michelle Krusiec

Taiwan-born, Virginia Beach-raised actress Michelle Krusiec was discovered at age 12 and has displayed her talent in such films as "Nixon" (1995), "Pursuit of Happiness" (2001), "Pumpkin" (2002), "Sweet Home Alabama" (2002), "Daddy Day Care" (2003), "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" (2003), "Duplex" (2003), "Saving Face" (2004), "Cursed" (2005), "Henry Poole Is Here" (2008), and "What Happens in Vegas..." (2008).

On television, the 5' 5" raven-haired rising actress, who started out as a host for Discovery Channel's “Travelers” (1996), co-starred as Sui Blake in the NBC half-hour sitcom "One World" (1998-2001), and played the recurring role of Nancy on FOX's Emmy-nominated dark-comedy sitcom "Titus" (2000-2002). She also has guest-starred in such popular TV shows as "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Popular," "ER," "Monk," "Strong Medicine," "Cold Case," "Without a Trace," "Weeds," and "Grey's Anatomy." She now plays Mei Ling Hwa Darling in the ABC drama series "Dirty Sexy Money," which premiered on September 26, 2007.

Taiwan-Born, Virginia Beach-raised

Childhood and Family:

“I'm still figuring that out. I don't think it's a bad thing. It just keeps me on my toes and maybe slightly, slightly confused.” Michelle Krusiec (on who she really is)

Born to Taiwanese parents on October 2, 1974, Michelle Krusiec was sent to the United States at age 5 to live with her adoptive parents, her Taiwanese aunt and Caucasian American uncle, in Virginia Beach, VA, so her mother could better cope with her two brothers. In Taiwan, she is better known by her Chinese name, Yang Ya-Huei, with Yang being her biological father's surname.

Michelle, who speaks English and Mandarin Chinese as a second language, began formal training at the Virginia Governor's Magnet School for the Arts and graduated with a Theater and English Degree from Virginia Tech University in 1995. Michelle, who has traveled around the world, also completed additional studies on scholarships at Oxford. Her interests include Asian cultures, African dance and world music.

In her spare time, Michelle enjoys taking dance classes in everything from ballet to hip-hop. She is also an "extreme sports" enthusiast who enjoys hang-gliding and snowboarding.

Dirty Sexy Money

Career:

At the age of 12, Michelle Krusiec was spotted by a talent scout in her hometown of Virginia Beach and subsequently entered the modeling and acting worlds. She honed in on her craft at Virginia Tech University, where she received a Theater and English Degree. While studying there, she went to a workshop featuring director Oliver Stone and actually fell asleep during the workshop, but eventually landed a small role as a student in his biographical movie about the former U.S. President, “Nixon” (1995), starring Anthony Hopkins.

After completing additional studies at Oxford, Krusiec served as the host of the Discovery Channel's “Travelers” (1996), which took her to 50 destinations around the globe. When her contract with the show ended, the aspiring actress began building her acting resume and landed a co-starring role as Sui Blake in the NBC half-hour sitcom "One World" (1998-2001), which was canceled after its third season, and a recurring role as Nancy on FOX's Emmy-nominated dark-comedy sitcom "Titus" (2000-2002).

Meanwhile, she was spotted as a guest in the syndicated sci-fi series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," NBC’s drama starring Melina Kanakaredes, "Providence," the WB teenage drama/comedy "Popular," the short-lived UPN SciFi/comedy "Special Unit 2," HBO’s comedy "The Mind of the Married Man," CBS’ FBI drama "Without a Trace," the hit NBC medical drama "ER," USA’s Network's Emmy Award-winning comedy-drama starring Tony Shalhoub, "Monk," Lifetime’s medical drama "Strong Medicine," CBS’ police procedural drama "Cold Case," Showtime's dark comedy "Weeds," ABC's Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning primetime medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," CBS’ police procedural drama "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service," and the canceled FOX drama "Standoff."

On the big screen, Krusiec made her film debut in the sci-fi movie directed by David Douglas and Tim Douglas, "For the Cause" (2000), alongside Dean Cain and Thomas Ian Griffith. She followed it up with roles in John Putch's romantic comedy "Pursuit of Happiness" (2001; starring Frank Whaley, Annabeth Gish, and Amy Jo Johnson), Shawn Chou's short drama "Tomato and Eggs" (2002; alongside Keiko Agena), and Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder's romantic drama comedy starring Christina Ricci, "Pumpkin" (2002).

She was also cast in Andy Tennant's romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, "Sweet Home Alabama" (2002), Steve Carr's family comedy starring Eddie Murphy, "Daddy Day Care" (2003), and Troy Miller's flop teen comedy starring Derek Richardson and Eric Christian Olsen, "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" (2003). Additionally, she voiced the English version of Ayame in the Ninja video game "Tenchu san" (2003).

Krusiec supported Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore in the Danny DeVito-directed dark comedy film "Duplex" (2003) and starred in Carlo Caccavale's 15-minute short drama "Best Actress" (2004). She also scored a leading role in the film "Saving Face" (2004), a romantic drama/comedy directed and written by Alice Wu. Her portrayal of Wilhelmina 'Wil' Pang, a young, brilliant Chinese-American lesbian surgeon, received praise and earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Actress.

Krusiec subsequently added to her resume roles in Wes Craven's horror film starring Christina Ricci, "Cursed" (2005), Bill Guttentag's "Live" (2007; with Eva Mendes and David Krumholtz), and Asif Kapadia's dramatic film "Far North" (2007), in which she co-starred with Michelle Yeoh and Sean Bean. She co-starred with Julie Ann Emery and Jennifer Esposito in the Christmas TV movie "Snow Wonder" (2005) and appeared as herself in the documentaries "F*ck" (2005) and "Nanking" (2007). She was also a presenter and nominee in 2006’s Asian Excellence Awards and later appeared in 2007’s AZN Asian Excellence Awards and 2008’s Asian Excellence Awards.

“Well, I think that the projects that I’ve done so far, I pretty much attacked them with a fair amount of confidence and fervor. And I think that the characters that I’ve encountered, I think that I’ve been cast well for them. But there are certain areas of my acting where I feel I haven’t been challenged enough.” Michelle Krusiec

Recently, moviegoers could catch Krusiec in Mark Pellington's drama comedy starring Luke Wilson, "Henry Poole Is Here," which premiered on January 21, 2008, at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and in Tom Vaughan's romantic comedy movie starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, "What Happens in Vegas...," which had its world premiere at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London, and will be released in the United States on May 9, 2008.

Krusiec now plays Mei Ling Hwa Darling in the ABC drama series "Dirty Sexy Money," which premiered on September 26, 2007.

On her advice to aspiring actors and actresses, Krusiec said, “Do it if it is the only thing you can imagine yourself doing. It is one of the toughest things to pursue and perhaps one of the most rewarding. Knowing yourself will be one of the best tools because you will constantly be challenged, and be sure that you are of strong character and mind.”

Awards:
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