Simu Liu Tells Story Behind Stock Model Pictures That Have Gone Viral

Simu Liu might be making history as the first Asian actor to lead a Marvel superhero film with the release of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, but everyone's got to start somewhere, right?

Well, that 'somewhere' for the 32-year-old was stock photographs that are now going viral.

On 6 September, Liu shared the humourous picture of him pointing at something on a laptop (which we bet is a blank screen) with two other models alongside the message: "Me laughing at the people who thought we'd flop."

In response, iStock - the company that owns the rights to the pictures - commented: "We always believed in you, @simuliu. And if being a super hero doesn't work out, our door is always open."

Simu quickly responded, asking: "Is the door open to share in the hundreds of thousands of $$ you made off those photos cause I was paid a hundred bucks."

PA

Now, he's spoken to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and he said: "If you're like a nice model, you get paid thousands of dollars, you walk the runway, there's lot of international prestige and all that stuff.

"If you're a stock model, you get paid typically, like, a base rate. For for me I did a one-day shoot," repeating the words 'one day shoot' as though he now can't believe how little he was paid, he went on to reveal: "For 100 bucks."

He went on to add: "And they own the rights to the photos that they take, in perpetuity, which is very, very important - it means that the rights never run out. Which means that they could sell these photos and make millions and millions of dollars off of them."

Pointing to himself, he continued: "And the talent would not see a single penny. So that's what happened to me."

All in the name of taking the p**s out of yourself, Liu even shared a selection of the pictures onto his Instagram story but made sure to warn others that might be thinking of doing some of these pictures.

He wrote: "I did one stock photoshoot for 100 bucks cash in 2014... and I have ended up on HUNDREDS of ads and storefronts and pamphlets and textbook covers.

"Moral of the story: Think twice before doing a stock photoshoot because they own the photos FOREVER."

Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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