Jessica Lu is an American actress, model, and spokesperson. She is best known for her portrayal of Ming Huang on the MTV television series Awkward.
Jessica Lu was born in Schaumburg, Illinois and is of Chinese descent. She has a younger brother, Andy. As a child, she attended Hanover Highlands Elementary School located in Hanover Park, Illinois, Robert Frost Junior High in Schaumburg, Illinois, and James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Jessica grew up in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, where she spent her childhood and high school days developing her love of theater and the performing arts. She went on to attend Columbia College Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, where she starred as the lead role in the musical Flower Drum Song, before graduating with an honors degree in Musical Theatre Performance.
As a student at Columbia College Chicago, Lu starred as the lead role in the musical, Flower Drum Song. She also played supporting roles in the musicals West Side Story and Ragtime. Jessica Lu starred as the down-to-earth Ming Huang on the critically acclaimed MTV series Awkward. Lu has also appeared in the TV series Law & Order: LA, CSI, and 90210. In 2009, Lu performed in the film short, The Kari Files, and the full-length feature film Fame. She portrayed Whitney in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth in 2010. In 2013, Lu played in Joey Graceffa's YouTube series Storytellers. In 2015 she starred on the side of Scott Glenn, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Kristen Hager in the thriller film The Barber. Lu has modeled in print ads for Got Milk?, OshKosh B'Gosh, Claire's, Parisian, Lands' End, Chicago Place, and Carson Pirie Scott. Her modeling career also includes commercial work for Kaiser Permanente, Samsung, McDonald's, Ford Motors, and Orville Redenbacher's.
Lu is an advocate for Love Is Louder Than the Pressure to Be Perfect, which addresses the issues of bullying, depression and discrimination as well as the Trevor Project, an organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for the LGBTQ community.
