Actress Poppy Liu, who was born in China but raised in Minnesota since the age of two, told a reporter that “capitalism is the greatest evil in the world,” despite earning big bucks as an actress in the U.S.A.
Liu, best known for portraying blackjack dealer Kiki in the HBO series Hacks, was approached by a reporter from the women’s activist website Refinery 29, who asked the actress to explain the thing that annoys her the most about capitalism. And Liu did not hold back.
The question came at the premiere of the upcoming film I Love Boosters, directed by activist filmmaker Boots Riley, which follows the misadventures of a gang of shoplifters — The Boosters — who steal a fashion line from a rich fashion mogul to sell at cut-rate prices in an act they call “fashion-forward philanthropy.”
Speaking a mile a minute, the animated actress went on a rant against capitalism.
“Oh, my God, where do I start,” she said, laughing manically. “Capitalism is a system of evil that is oppressing all of us in a hamster race in which the majority of people cannot win.”
“Currency is made up,” she continued. “Credit is made up. Debt is made up. Why do people have student debt?”
“My rant is that capitalism is the greatest evil in the world,” she concluded. “Like, the people that are like, ‘Oh, but like don’t you enjoy the nice things, blah, blah, blah?’ Yes, I do, and also I would be OK with it if it meant that more people in the world can live without oppression, like hello!”
Liu, who converted to Islam in 2024, is also an abortion activist and majored in women’s studies and theater at Colgate University.
She founded the production company Collective Sex, which focuses on projects concerning sex identity and in 2018 premiered a short film entitled Names of Women, which is partly based on her abortion experience.
Liu has also had roles in His & Hers, No Good Deed, The Afterparty, Dead Ringers, Icarly, and Better Call Saul.
Several of the other actors in I Love Boosters had equally anti-capitalist thoughts at the premiere and also responded to Refinery29’s question.
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