Success on the small screen doesn't necessarily translate to the big screen. But that hasn't been the case for Lucy Liu.

The actress, 37, first came to fame in 1998 as the fiery, funny and brilliant lawyer Ling Woo on the Emmy Award-winning Fox series "Ally McBeal."

"She was colorful and wonderful," Liu says of Ling. "When you do television, it goes into everyone's living room and they feel like they can watch you every week."

The role, initially just a guest-starring appearance, garnered so much attention that the feature world quickly took notice. She played a leather-clad dominatrix in 1999's "Payback" and starred as a kidnapped Chinese princess in the hit comedy "Shanghai Noon." The latter role led to her being cast opposite Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz in the "Charlie's Angels" action-comedy features.

Liu also put her mark on Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" with her quirky performance as the sword-wielding Japanese-Chinese-American O-Ren Ishii, queen of the Tokyo underworld.

Her name even popped up in the lyrics of OutKast's hit song "Hey Ya."

The actress gets to show off her comedic chops in her latest film, the stylish thriller "Lucky Number Slevin." She plays the free-spirited Lindsey, who helps a handsome young man (Josh Hartnett) who has amnesia.

Q. Are you still planning to make a "Charlie Chan" feature?

A. I would be playing his granddaughter. I will be executive-producing it. People do say it takes a long time to have something happen. We have been working on it for about five years.

Q. Didn't you executive-produce a documentary on the aftermath of the earthquake in Pakistan?

A. No. I went there on a field trip for UNICEF. I have been working with UNICEF for a couple of years now, and I have gone on a couple of field trips. This one was something that Oprah (Winfrey) wanted to get involved in as well. So they had people come and document the trip. I went on Oprah after the trip for UNICEF to represent them, and basically told them what I thought and how people can help.

Q. How did you get involved with UNICEF?

A. I always wanted to work with children, and I thought they were a great organization. I basically went to them and asked if I could learn from them — listen and learn — and just be part of it without making a huge announcement about it. Once I felt more comfortable with having gone on field trips and understanding what they do, maybe I could come out in the public and talk about it more.

Q. Though you played Ling Woo on "Ally McBeal" and O-Ren Ishii in "Kill Bill," you are one of the few Asian-American actresses who have successfully been cast in non-Asian roles.

A. People are always going, "You are the most this-and-that Asian-American actress." I just want to be considered an actress. You want to be acknowledged as a writer and an artist. I am not ashamed of who I am. Ethnicity is part of your culture and your blood. For me, I want to be the best person for the job — not the best color for the job. That to me would be the most ideal thing.