Lucy Liu’s 9-year-old son, Rockwell, hasn’t seen his mother draw blood in “Charlie’s Angels” or “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and certainly not in “Kill Bill, Vol. 1.”
But the only splash of crimson in her latest film, “Red One,” is the suit of Santa Claus, who has been kidnapped from the North Pole. Liu is one of the Christmas movie’s stars, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, and plays the head of security for the world’s mythological creatures.
“This is the only live-action movie that my son has been able to watch, and he wanted to see it again right afterward,” Liu said on a video call. “I think he forgot that I was actually in it at one point.”
When she isn’t shooting or producing (she will next appear in “Presence,” a Steven Soderbergh thriller slated for release in January), Liu can most often be found in her art studio. She tends to lose track of time there — “the whole point of art,” she said. “You just get lost in that world.”
Liu, who lives in Manhattan, elaborated on why her library card, spur-of-the-moment theatergoing and riding her bicycle are essential to her well-being. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Transcendental Meditation
I put together an art book years ago, and I asked Deepak Chopra if he would write a forward. He did, but he also asked me to come into his office. He wanted to teach me about meditation. And so he gave me a mantra, and it was an important moment for me because I didn’t know that it would make such a big difference.
NY1
Now they have an app and I can have it on my phone. I feel like it’s unfiltered. It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of agenda. It doesn’t feel like it’s over-branded. Every morning, it’s the first thing that happens to me after meditation.
My Library Card
I love the public library. I love going to the library for my son, for myself. I love the smell of a library. I love that when you go to the children’s section, it’s not quiet. And I love reading those children’s books because when I was younger, my parents did not read children’s books to me. So everything is absolutely new for me.
Spontaneous Theater
When I have time, I’ll jump on the subway and meet my friend at the theater and we’ll stand in line and see if they have tickets. I don’t care where I sit. I’ll sit in the mezzanine, I’ll sit in the balcony. I love that shared experience and that you don’t have to plan it weeks or months in advance.
Public Transportation
I was born and raised in Queens, so I took it to go to high school. I don’t know that I appreciated it that much then, but my son and I love taking the bus and the subway. It’s super fast. You can read, listen to music, people-watch. I absorb everything that’s happening. I keep my ears open.
My Freestyle Samsung Projector
You can put this in your bag and connect it to an outlet and project it on a wall or on a sheet or wherever you want. It is so convenient, and it just makes it so much better not to have a television set hanging right in front of you.
Udon at the Gallery
I was hemming and hawing if I should even put this in because I hate to blow up a spot. I mean, it’s already very popular — a really beautiful place called the Gallery. It has this gorgeous udon dish. They put it in what looks like a coffee filter with this broth that has so much umami. There’s a live flame. I think most people think udon is a whole bowl of noodles. No, it’s like eight strands of noodles that they handmade in-house with just the exact right amount of sides, whether it’s kitsune or Wagyu or mushrooms.
Haflinger Slippers
They’re felt, but they have a support, and they’re so comfortable. It is hard to have a different slipper after you wear them. Mine were so worn out that they had holes in them, and a friend said, “You can no longer wear those.” I secretly kept them.
Bicycle
When you’re riding a bicycle, there’s no way to not feel like a child again, just the feeling of the wind and the environment around you. I love being able to stand on the bike and huff and puff up or down the hill. You feel so alive.
My Art Studio
It’s a safe space. You can make a mess and you can leave it and come back to it. I think it’s important to make a mess because sometimes that’s how creative things happen. At my son’s school, if he was doing something creative and had to transition to another project, they would put a work-save card on it and say just don’t touch it. And that’s essentially what a studio is. The whole space is a work-save card.
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