Southern California - California - USA | 1983-02-14

A native of Southern California, Julia Ling first expressed her creative side at age 3 when she drew pictures of her parents drinking tea. By age 6, her artwork had been featured in local magazines, festivals and newspapers, including the Pasadena Star News, which gave her a front-page spread. Also at age 6, Ling wrote and narrated a creative story that won her the "Best Storyteller Award" by the Chinese World Newspaper. By age 9, Ling was performing award-winning solo dances throughout California, and her umbrella dances had aired on national television. In high school, Ling was student body president and president of German Club, Amnesty International, Literature Society and Junior Statesmen Debate Team. She competed in dance, varsity tennis and swimming. In 1997, Congressman David Dreier recognized Ling for her community service at the local hospital. At age 16, she was selected as a state finalist in the Miss America Pageant and after nine years of playing the piano, graduated from the Royal Board of Music. She graduated high school second in her class with a 4.0 GPA and perfect SAT scores. Pursuing a career in medicine, Ling majored in biomedical chemical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was Treasurer of Chemical Engineering Society, Vice President of the Engineering Society of UCLA and honorary member of the Society of Women Engineers. She left it all to pursue her love of performing. In 2003, Julia Ling made her network television debut on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar. Over the next two years, she starred in over 20 independent short films and returned to prime time television in roles on House (FOX) and ER (NBC) in 2006. She guest starred in the recurring role of Kim Tao on the critically acclaimed Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip (NBC). Her next major guest starring role was on the television drama ER, playing the recurring character of Mae Lee Park, a surgical intern. She also guest starred in The O.C., and Grey's Anatomy. Most notably known for her work on prime time television, Ling starred as the popular Anna Wu on NBC's CHUCK. After voicing and filming the live action character "Izumi" for the video game, Command and Conquer (EA), Ling toured the world for autograph signing and charity fundraising. In the 2007 Jackie Chan Disciples martial arts competition, Ling was selected as one of the top four finalists to compete in the International Top 100. Her performance also won her "Best Acting Award". In 2011, Ling joined the cast of FOX sitcom, I Hate My Teenage Daughter and voiced a sketch for Conan O'Brien. Most recently, she worked on a movie performing opposite Academy Award winner Adrien Brody. The movie will premiere in theaters June, 2012.