It hasn’t been long since we heard about the controversial casting of Lucy Liu as ‘Joan Watson’ in Elementary, a modern day retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories that sees the detective move to NYC. The news was met with polarized opinions from fans, but we are now finally hearing from the star herself.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, the Charlie’s Angels star said the following:

“Whether it succeeds or fails, I feel I’m doing something different and exciting. For me it’s about pushing forward. Playing a role that has been historically a male figure and also something that is obviously lore because it is very English-based. I think for someone who is an Asian-American actress playing Watson that’s something I always like to do – push the envelope.”

Liu’s character, Dr. Joan Watson, will be a disgraced surgeon of the NYPD who becomes a sober-counterpart for Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes.

Do you think that the casting of Lucy Liu was “pushing the envelope”, or just a desperate headline grabber?