Simu Liu is willing to offer accounting advice—just be prepared for an IRS audit. The Last Breath star poked fun at his brief career as an accountant during an appearance on the Today show on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
When host Craig Melvin asked if friends still seek free tax advice from him despite his Hollywood success, Liu couldn’t help but laugh.
“I went to school for accounting and I spent eight months working as [an accountant], and then I got fired,” said Liu, 35, before jokingly adding, “So I’m like, ‘Yeah, if you wanna go to jail for tax fraud, you can absolutely have me do your taxes. I would be happy to. However, they will not be done correctly.'”
While Melvin, 45, pointed out that things have clearly worked out for Liu, he couldn’t resist asking how the Barbie actor managed to lose his accounting job so quickly.
Liu recalled the exact moment: “I answered an ad on Craigslist to be an extra in a Guillermo del Toro movie [Pacific Rim], and I turned my phone off, ’cause I thought no one was gonna look for me.
And then I turned my phone back on at the end of the day and I had like 42 missed calls,” he said. “It was crazy. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna be employed after that.'”
Simu Liu
Liu’s Parents Were “Ecstatic” About His Accounting Career—Until He Got Fired
During a June 2022 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Liu shared that he had worked as an accountant for Deloitte in his 20s and that his parents, Zheng and Zhenning, were thrilled when he landed the job.
But when he was laid off and decided to pivot to acting, he admitted, “That was a tough conversation.”
Liu said he initially avoided telling them, but was ultimately forced to come clean because he had a national commercial debuting the next day that his parents were bound to see.
“And no, it did not go over well,” he told Colbert at the time.
What’s Next for Simu Liu?
Liu will next be seen on the big screen alongside Woody Harrelson in Last Breath, where they play deep-sea divers trying to rescue a trapped colleague.
While discussing the film on Today, Melvin also asked about the future of Liu’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings character.
“Yeah, because I can talk freely about this stuff,” Liu joked, referencing Marvel Studios’ well-known secrecy.
On a more serious note, he reassured fans: “We’re still really excited. It’s still very much in development. It’s still very much in play, but beyond that, someone’s watching me right now.”
Last Breath arrives in theaters on Friday, Feb. 28.
