Before Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi,’ Simu Liu Was a Prolific Stock Photo Model

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a long time coming as the first Marvel movie to feature an Asian lead and predominantly Asian cast. The film stars Asian cinema icons like Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh but at its center is Canadian actor Simu Liu as the titular superhero. He may be most known as the martial arts master Shang-Chi, but you can trust the internet to unearth people’s awkward past and turn them into memes. 

Now all over social media are photos of a fresh-faced Liu posing in a series of stock photos. The actor is poking fun at himself, too, joining the memefest to celebrate the movie’s success. 

“Me laughing at the people who thought we’d flop,” he tweeted, captioning a stock photo of him pointing at a laptop screen with his fake office colleagues.

Over the years, the actor has been spotted in the most unlikely places, from bus stops to accounting textbooks, company websites, and event posters.

Liu has addressed these awkward photos in the past, even once joking about being the “greatest stock photo model of all time.” Turns out, these were paid gigs he participated in when he was younger. In a tweet, Liu explained that he had “signed away all [his] rights” to the photos in exchange for about $100 and some relief from his credit card debt.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an origin story for the titular Marvel superhero. Liu plays Shang-Chi, who tries to lead an ordinary life in the United States until his supernatural past comes back to haunt him, forcing him to embark on a whirlwind adventure and confront his estranged father.

Theatrically released in various countries last week, it’s a major cultural moment for Hollywood, where Asians are historically underrepresented. For many Asian Americans, it’s a huge win for representation in the blockbuster superhero genre. According to revenue tracking site Box Office Mojo, the film raked in $90 million in the U.S. within four days, smashing the box office record for the usually sleepy Labor Day weekend and charting the second-best opening during the pandemic. 

With the movie’s skyrocketing popularity comes a resurgence of witty stock image memes. 

“Simu Liu and the Legend of the Ten Memes,” reads a comment on Reddit in reference to one of Liu’s photos. 

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten-Ring Binder,” wrote another on Twitter.

Meanwhile, one fan photoshopped Shang-Chi’s suit over Liu in a photo where he was leaning over an office table with his photogenic colleagues, bright smiles plastered on all their faces.

He may now be a Marvel star, but his stock photos will probably remain a lasting, well, memery for both Liu and his fans.

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