Kelly Hu Talks ‘Arrow’ Role, And The Future For Villain China White

Kelly Hu talked about her role as villain China White on the CW’s Arrow in a recent interview, revealing that she’ll be a recurring character (instead of a one-off) and that the writers have established a past connection between White and Oliver.

“Well, China White in the comic book is a character from the island [where Oliver was stranded], though they don’t really touch upon that in this first episode, ” Hu revealed. “So far I’ve shot three [episodes] and her background is a bit fuzzy, so that might be in the future. But you do know that she’s working with the Chinese mobsters.”

Hu’s White is involved in Triad business, and is described as a stone-cold businesswoman, according to SheKnows. One of the things that Hu likes most about the role is that it allows her to use her real-life karate skills.

“I’m already a black belt in karate, and I’ve studied weapons… The fight choreography, I have to say, is pretty brutal… And I get to speak Chinese in this as well. I’ve been studying a bit of that, so when this came up I was like, ‘Oh I can actually do this.'”

Hu also revealed to TVLine that although White doesn’t seem to have much going on right away, the writers have deeper plans for her:

“In the first episode, she comes out as the sort of right-hand man of the Chinese Triad, as sort of the assassin. It doesn’t seem like I say a whole lot in these first episodes, but later on you’ll see that there’s a bit more going on with her!”

Kelly Hu is no stranger to playing a comic book character, having portrayed the villain Deathstrike in 2003’s X2: X-Men United. Are you a fan of Kelly Hu? Are you a fan of the CW’s Arrow? Sound off!