Lucy Liu 'so embarrassed' to tell C. Thomas Howell she crushed on him as a teenager

Bang Showbiz on Jan 10, 2026

Published in Women

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Lucy Liu was "so embarrassed" to tell C. Thomas Howell she had a crush on him as a teenager.

The 57-year-old actress fell head over heels for the actor when he starred in the 1983 crime-thriller film, The Outsiders, aged 16, and she even had a photo of him on her wall.

In an interview with W Magazine, Lucy was asked who her first "cinematic crush" was, and she revealed: "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. He had a very '80s look, with his hair blown back and his hand in his jeans pocket. "

The Outsiders followed the rivalry between two teenage gangs: the greasers, including brothers Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas), Darrel Curtis (Patrick Swayze) and Sodapop Curtis (Rob Lowe) and their pals, and the privileged Socs (Socials).

In 2012, Lucy "ironically" worked with C. Thomas, 59, in season 4 of the TNT crime drama, Southland - which followed LAPD patrol officers and detectives try to stop crime in the Californian city, while they juggled drama in their personal lives.

But Lucy (Officer Jessica Tang) did not tell C. Thomas (Officer Dewey Dudek) that she fancied him as a youngster.

She admitted: "I never told him that I had a crush on him, because I was so embarrassed. We were playing tough cops."

The Charlie's Angels actress has never been married but was engaged to 50-year-old film director Zach Helm in 2004 - two years after they met at a Hollywood bash and dated.

However, their engagement was called off, and they broke up a few months later.

Lucy has had other high-profile relationships. She dated Jay Kelly star George Clooney, 64, for a few months in 2000.

Her longest romance was with Toy Story 4 actor Will McCormack, 51, and it lasted from 2004 until 2007.

And in 2014, Lucy was romantically linked to businessman Noam Gottesman, 64, but it is not known when they broke up.

Meanwhile, C. Thomas married Commando actress Rae Dawn Chong, 64, in 1989, but they divorced in 1990.

He then got hitched to Sylvie Anderson in 1992, and went on to have daughter Isabelle, 32, and sons Dashiell, 29, and 24 year old Liam.

C. Thomas and Sylvie divorced in 2016.