DI ZHU
Actress|Classical Pianist
Di Zhu (AEA/SAG-AFTRA) is a bi-lingual Chinese-American actress, pianist and theater producer. She has recently completed a World Premiere Off-Broadway run of John Patrick Shanley’s full-length play The Pushover, where she played the leading role of Pearl Penny Chen to critical acclaim. Additionally, Di has just completed a shoot with director Martin Scorsese in the upcoming film What Happens At Night, in a scene opposite Leonardo DiCaprico.
Di began her classical piano training at the age of seven, and made her debut at 17 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, after winning the Grand Prize in the Rochester Philharmonic League’s Young Artist Auditions. Shortly after, she won the Grand Prize at the Inaugural International New York Piano Competition and was featured in the documentary Speaking With Music (Dir. Lucy Bruel), which played nationally on PBS. At 18, Di was accepted into the Eastman School of Music as a scholarship student where she majored in Piano Performance and Literature.
In the second year of her collegiate studies, Di made the decision to change course in her artistic pursuits and moved to New York City, where she began her journey as an actress. She honed her studies at HB Studio in addition to taking workshops in France and the UK, learning the theater principles of Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier.
However, it was at Theater 86 that she found her artistic home and honed her acting skills. Working alongside critically acclaimed Russian director Aleksey Burago, Di rekindled her love of Russian literature as the company adapted and staged the works of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bunin, Bulgakov, Chekhov and more. Since then, Di has appeared in over 30 productions on New York stage.
Di’s film and TV credits include Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, NBC's The Blindspot, Katy Keene, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, WeCrashed, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (upcoming) and Superfakes (upcoming).
Di is also a dog lover, foodie and has been trying to win an argument with her mother all her life. She looks forward to obtaining that impossible victory one day.