Simu Liu keynote speaker

Simu Liu made history as the star of the first Asian-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which premiered to critical and commercial acclaim and garnered him the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Action Movie Star. Liu’s ascent to superstardom, during which he very vocally championed greater diversity in film and media, caused him to be named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022.

Raised in Canada as the son of Chinese immigrants, Liu graduated from business school and found himself working at one of the top accounting firms in Toronto. When he was subsequently laid off in 2012, he decided to pursue a career in the arts against all odds.

(His parents were not impressed.)

Liu’s first major role was on the critically acclaimed OMNI crime drama Blood and Water in 2015, for which he received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards. Aside from his performance on screen, Liu participated in the writing room for the show’s second season. He then went on to star in the CBC/Netflix comedy series Kim’s Convenience for five seasons, for which he and the ensemble cast continued to garner nominations and award wins.

Since his breakout moment as a Marvel superhero, Liu was most recently seen opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s record-setting Barbie, in the Lionsgate family movie Arthur the King with Mark Wahlberg, and in Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Atlas opposite Jennifer Lopez. He has written a New York Times-bestselling memoir about his family origins, performed at the Oscars alongside his fellow Kens, and hosted Saturday Night Live.

Next up, Liu will star in Amazon’s action comedy Jackpot from director Paul Feig opposite John Cena, and in the underwater thriller Last Breath opposite Woody Harrelson, set to be released through Focus Features in 2025. He is also set to star in and executive produce an unnamed espionage thriller series for Peacock, alongside James Wan and Atomic Monster.

Liu’s New York Times Bestselling memoir, We Are Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, details his family’s journey from Harbin, China to Hollywood, California, and was released by HarperCollins. Liu immigrated to Canada at the age of five and is fluent in Mandarin.