Simu Liu Says Girlfriend Allison Hsu Has 'Absolutely Changed My Life' (Exclusive) (original) (raw)

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Simu Liu is singing his praise for girlfriend Allison Hsu.

While chatting exclusively with PEOPLE about his partnership with Cadillac to celebrate the new ESCALADE IQ — the brand’s first, all-electric full-size SUV — the actor, 34, also gushed about Hsu, 27, whom he was first linked to in late 2022.

"I think she really just has taught me the value in so many things. She's absolutely changed my life, so I'm very, very grateful to have her," Liu says at the Cadillac Dealership in New York City.

"She's really taught me that you have to fight for the time with the people that you love, she's really taught me that you need to be intentional and tend to each and every one of the relationships that matter to you," he continues of Hsu.

Then noting that "life, work and the hectic chaos of all of these different schedules and different people's agendas moving you around applies a lot of pressure on you," Liu adds, "It really is up to everyone to choose how to spend their time when they can, and to be intentional about just fighting for the ones that they love."

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The Barbie star also tells PEOPLE that his girlfriend, who works as a marketing director, "among many, many other things," has also introduced him to Taylor Swift's music.

Recounting how he and Hsu saw Swift, 33, during her Eras Tour stop in Seattle last month, Liu admits, "I would say I was a fairly casual Taylor fan, a casual Swiftie going in, but [my girlfriend] is so diehard, so to be able to experience it through her eyes and in the way that she describes each of Taylor's different eras, and the music that's attributed to the songs and what she was going through, I mean, that just added so many layers."

"I just feel like it really brought me into this world," he continues. "[And] I know, just the scale ofit too, is ... like she's doing a Super Bowl every night. She's doing the equivalent of a Super Bowl, playing to a Super Bowl audience, and she's doing it night after night after night, in cities all across the country and traveling. And it's like, football teams only do that once a year."

As for a favorite Swift track, Liu says he and Hsu are currently rocking out to her Midnights album. "What's really been playing lately is 'Karma' and 'Great War.' Those two are just so, so good. And 'Anti-Hero,' obviously," he explains.

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Now, through his partnership with Cadillac, Liu teases that he will "pitch" the idea of listening to Swift's discography with Hsu on a road trip in a new ESCALADE IQ before the summer ends.

Through his partnership, Liu stars in a new commercial for the iconic car brand, which focuses on his "renaissance" and highlights how he shifted from his accountant career over a decade ago to become the major movie star he is today.

"I thought it was really neat that they approached me with the knowledge of my story and how my decision to pursue acting after being laid off as an accountant was very much a moment of personal renaissance for me, where I had kind of spent a lot of the early years of my life headed towards this particular destination, or down this particular trajectory, and then all of a sudden found myself not wanting to do that anymore and wanting to explore completely different avenue and just unlock myself creatively and artistically," he tells PEOPLE.

Noting how "Cadillac is such an iconic brand, and the Escalade itself too is such an iconic mainstay in luxury SUVs," Liu says that the vehicle now being offered with an all-electric model is a big deal as well.

"I think having an EV option with Escalade, with just such a powerful brand behind it, with such a proven track record of luxury, I think it's a really easy decision, and it's an easy yes to say let's transition into 2023, 2024 and beyond, and let's make better decisions for the environment," he explains.