thick thighs, things that
you don’t necessarily see
in these action movies.”
This December, Ackie will
be seen as new character
Jannah, a fighter in the
Resistance, in J.J. Abrams’
The Rise of Skywalker, and
she just made her return
in the second season of
Netflix dramedy The End of
the F***ing World.
PERSON I’VE BEEN MOST
STARSTRUCK BY “Jamie
Foxx. Saw him at D23, he
nodded at me twice and I
freaked the hell out.”
Liu Yifei / 32
Liu was in the middle of a
self-imposed four-month
work hiatus when she got
a call from her Chinese
manager about audition-
ing for legendary warrior
Hua Mulan. Twenty-four
hours later, she was in
Los Angeles doing push-
ups and lunges with a
physical fitness trainer,
part of an hours-long
tryout for the lead in the
new Disney live-action film.
Liu laughs, “It was three
[tough] things together
— jet lag, auditioning and
then working out.” Though
Liu, who cites Roman
Holiday and Gone With
the Wind as favorite films,
is a well-known star in
her native China, and has
been working there since
she was 15, March’s Mulan
will mark her first major
Hollywood production.
PERSON I’M DYING TO WORK
WITH Darren Aronofsky
“She’s got this cool
backstory that
you find out during
the film,” says
Naomi Ackie (center)
of her Star Wars
character. She was
photographed with
Josh Whitehouse and
Liu Yifei on Oct. 12
at Quixote Studios in
West Hollywood.