[5] In 2022, Liu authored the memoir We Were Dreamers,[6] and was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world (in the "Artists" section).

His father, Zhenning, went to the United States to study for a PhD whilst his mother worked in Beijing, and Liu was raised until age 5 by his grandparents in Harbin "in a small apartment, without running water for much of the day," in circumstances he recalled as "idyllic and happy.

"[8][9] Liu later emigrated to rejoin his parents in Canada, who supplemented their scholarships with dish-washing jobs and eventually became successful aerospace engineers.

[10][8] In his memoir, We Were Dreamers, Liu wrote of the deprivation and trauma his parents had experienced growing up in China's Cultural Revolution,[8] and their subsequent "tiger parenting" style, saying he felt they "wanted to rid [his] life of joy or happiness", and recalling "the weight of what he describes as impossible expectations, to be the star child, the studious academic, the obedient son", being "belittled and physically punished" for perceived failings.

[11] Liu's parents "hothoused him in maths at the age of five and set 'homework' that included reading biographies of scientists and studying algebra".

[16] Liu got his start in acting working as an extra and stuntman, appearing in movies and music videos such as Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim[14] and Avicii's "I Could Be the One.

In 2016, Liu was cast in a recurring role as the ex-CIA analyst Faaron, loosely modeled on real-life ex-analyst Rodney Faraon, in the NBC prequel series Taken based on the film franchise starring Liam Neeson.

[20] Even as he was cast in main and recurring roles, Liu continued to appear as an extra on several television shows, appearing in an episode of the hit BBC-Space series Orphan Black as well as in the Canadian science fiction series Dark Matter.

[citation needed] In 2017, Liu appeared in the second season of Slasher as well as the CityTV miniseries Bad Blood, both as recurring characters.

[24] In early 2019, Liu guest-starred in the 100th episode of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat as a noodle vendor named Willie.

[32] In September 2021, it was revealed that Liu will lead the English-language voice cast of Bright: Samurai Soul, a Netflix anime film which premiered on 12 October.

"[44] Later that month, Liu stated on Twitter that he was working to bring the film adaptation to fruition, after having expressed interest in the project in the past.

[45] IGN reported in February 2025 that pre-production on the film had started and confirmed that Liu would produce as well as replacing Donnie Yen and star as Wei Shen.

[5] In 2017, Liu worked with Wong Fu Productions on their short Meeting Mommy (2017), which he wrote and produced with Tina Jung.

[56][57][58] In May 2021, Liu became the first East Asian man to cover Men's Health magazine in over a decade since Jet Li in 2010.

[59] In November 2021, Liu became the fourth actor of Chinese descent to host Saturday Night Live.

[66] On stage, Liu was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in the Outstanding Ensemble category alongside his castmates in the 2016 Factory Theatre remount of the play Banana Boys.