C. Thomas Howell meant a great deal to Lucy Liu long before she got to work with him.
Howell and Liu were recurring guest stars in Southland, which ran for five seasons from 2009 to 2013. The Elementary star got to act with her first crush in season 4 of the show.
In a new interview with W Magazine, the Charlie’s Angels actress shared that Howell was her first “cinematic crush” before they starred in the show.
“C. Thomas Howell in The Outsiders. I was able to afford one of those teen magazines. I Scotch-taped it up to my wood-panel wall,” Liu, 57, told the publication. “He had a very ’80s look, with his hair blown back and his hand in his jeans pocket.”
“I never told him that I had a crush on him because I was so embarrassed. We were playing tough cops,” she admitted.
Howell was one of the stars of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film The Outsiders, which also starred Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, and Patrick Swayze.
Decades after the thriller hit theaters, Howell joined Southland as Officer Dewey Dudek, while Liu played Officer Jessica Tang.
Lucy Liu is currently promoting her latest film Rosemead, in which she plays mom to a teenager with violent tendencies.