Kelly is a fourth-generation American with Chinese, Hawaiian and English ancestory. Her father, Herbert, was a salesman and her mother, Juanita, worked many odd jobs to help support the family. She has one older brother, Glenn. Before she began her career as an actress, Kelly Hu was 1985 Miss Teen USA and later represented her native state of Hawaii in the Miss USA Pageant. She then modeled in Japan and Italy for several months before deciding to relocate to L.A. and try her hand at show business. She got her break on tv's "Growing Pains" in 1987 and never looked back.

Her additional television credits include a co-starring role in the series "Nash Bridges", on CBS, and guest-starring roles in "Tour of Duty", "Melrose Place", "Murder One" and nearly 20 other series. Her theatrical motion picture credits include The Doors, Surf Ninjas, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and No Way Back. Her most recent and prominant film credit is in The Scorpion King, alongside The Rock.

Hu has a brown belt in karate, having been introduced to martial arts as a young girl by her brother, a captain in the U.S. Army. She stopped short of her black belt when she took her role on Nash Bridges, but then later resumed training when she moved onto the show "Martial Law". An entrepreneur, Kelly also co-owns a small fast food chain, Basic Bites.

- IMDB