LAPD Angel: Lucy Liu sheds her glamour girl image for the gritty police series Southland
By Ann Pride
Last updated at 7:32 PM on 17th December 2011
She's known for playing a beautiful crime fighter in the Charlie's Angels movies.
But now Lucy Liu is shedding her glamour girl image and toughening up for a new role on the gritty TNT series Southland.
Lucy was spotted getting into character as a tough as nails police officer yesterday in Los Angeles.
Tough girl: Lucy Liu sheds her glamour girl image as she drives around a police cruiser yesterday in Los Angeles
Dressed in a crisp Los Angeles Police Department uniform, the 42-year-old actress drove an LAPD cruiser with co-star Michael Cudlitz riding in the passenger side.
The series, about a group of police officers battling their own personal demons while fighting crime in some of Los Angeles' roughest neighbourhoods, stars former The O.C. actor Ben McKenzie and Independence Day's Regina King.
Lucy is the latest star to join the series, although she says her previous tough girl roles in Charlies Angels and Kill Bill were nothing like playing a cop on Southland.
Battling the mean streets: Lucy drove a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser through some of the city's most crime-infested neighbourhoods
To the rescue: Lucy and her partner, actor Michael Cudlitz, prepared to battle the bad guys in a rough neighbourhood
Suited up: Lucy was spotted wearing an LAPD uniform last month in Los Angeles
That's more like it: Lucy glammed up for a fashion event in New York in June
'I don't think my martial-arts training is going to save me in this environment,' the actress recently told Arizona-based entertainment website The National Ledger.
After spending a day cruising through the crime-infested South Central part of L.A., Liu admitted it was an experience she will never forget.
'It was scary because you see children running around in these neighbourhoods.
'There's an unpredictable atmosphere, where you don't know if something is going to happen.
'It gives you an immediate feeling of wanting to protect all these children and the other people in the neighbourhood who aren't involved in criminal activities, aren't involved in gangs.
'And you just sense the fact that there's less opportunity there than in Century City or Beverly Hills, and it's just such a shame,' Liu said.
Crime fighters: Southland, which is a nickname for the greater Los Angeles area, features a cast of veteran actors
Season four of Southland premiers on TNT on January 17.
The critically acclaimed series has previously won an Emmy Award, an NAACP Image Award and it is currently nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
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