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Zhang Ziyi

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Template:Chinese-name Template:Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor

Zhang Ziyi (Chinese: 章子怡, pinyin: Zhāng Zǐyí, born February 9, 1979, in Beijing) is one of the best-known Chinese film actresses, with a string of Chinese and international hits to her name. She has also be called as one of the four most promising young film actresses (四小花旦) in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun.[1] She has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Chen Kaige, Seijun Suzuki and Rob Marshall.

Early life

Born in Beijing, China, Zhang joined the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 11. When Zhang's parents suggested she go to the dance academy, she was skeptical. While at the boarding school, she noticed how catty the other girls were while competing for status amongst the teachers. Zhang disliked the attitude so much that, on one occasion, she ran away from the school.[2]

Zhang entered China's prestigious Central Academy of Drama (regarded as the top acting college in China) at the age of 15.

Career

At the age of 19, Zhang was offered her first role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.

Zhang further rose to fame due to her role as the headstrong Jen (Chinese version: Xia Long) in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won the Independent Spirit's Best Supporting Actress Award and the Toronto Film Critics' Best Supporting Actress Award. Zhang's first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2, but because she didn't speak English at the time, Jackie Chan had to interpret everything the director said to her. In the movie, her character's name, "Hu Li," is translated from Mandarin Chinese to "Fox".

Zhang then appeared in Hero, with her early mentor Yimou, which was a huge success in the English-speaking world and an Oscar and a Golden Globe contender. Her next film was the avant-garde drama Purple Butterfly by Lou Ye, which competed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Zhang went back to the martial arts genre with House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏), which earned her a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In 2046, directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring many of the best-known Chinese actors and actresses, Zhang was the female lead and won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Best Actress Award and the Hong Kong Film Academy's Best Actress Award.

Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang starred in Princess Raccoon, directed by Japanese legend Seijun Suzuki, who was honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, Zhang landed the lead role of Sayuri in the film adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. For the film, she reunited with her 2046 co-star Gong Li and with her Crouching Tiger co-star Michelle Yeoh. For the role, Zhang received a 2006 Golden Globe Award nomination, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and a BAFTA nomination.

Zhang has also been known to sing, and was featured on the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack with her own musical rendition of the ancient Chinese poem, Jia Rén Qu (佳人曲, The Beauty Song). The song was also featured in two scenes in the film.

On June 27, 2005, it was announced that Zhang had accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), placing her among the ranks of those able to vote on the Academy Awards.[3]

In May 2006, Zhang became the youngest member to sit on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival.

In the fall of 2006, Zhang played Empress Wan in The Banquet (Yè Yàn 夜宴), a film set in the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang provided the voice of Karai in the TMNT movie that was released on March 23, 2007. She later starred in Forever Enthralled (2008) (previously titled Mei Lanfang) and will appear in The Horsemen (2009) with Dennis Quaid.

Zhang will sing for the first time in a duet with Leon Lai for the movie Forever Enthralled.[4]

Ambassadorship

Zhang is the face of Maybelline, Garnier and Shangri-la Hotel and Resort Group. She is also a Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics and a spokesperson for "Care for Children," a foster-home program in China.

Personal life

Soon after Zhang's debut in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, rumors arose regarding a possible affair between the actress and the older director. Zhang Yimou was previously involved in an extramarital affair with actress Gong Li, whom he similarly debuted and with whom Zhang Ziyi was quickly compared. However, a relationship between the two remains unconfirmed.[5]

Hong Kong and Taiwanese media have often pushed at ties between Zhang and co-star Jackie Chan.[6] This was fueled in part by photos that emerged of the pair during celebrations of Chan's birthday on the set of Rush Hour 2.

Zhang for a while was publicly linked with Fok Kai-shan, grandson of Hong Kong business tycoon Henry Fok.

Although Zhang does not like to talk in public about her private life, in 2006, she stated in an interview that she had found love - but did not offer a name.[7] When quizzed by Phoenix TV in early 2007 if she was happy, she stated in the interview: "Yes, very much so ... I'm doing the things I enjoy." [8]

In the July 2006 issue of Interview Magazine, Zhang Ziyi spoke of her movies' contents and being careful about the roles she take on, especially in Hollywood.

Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles--poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that. That's why I really appreciated Geisha, because it allowed us to show the world what kind of actors we are and what kind of characters we can play--not just action, kick-ass parts.

[9]

She stated in an early interview that if she had not become an actress, she would have liked to have been a kindergarten teacher, as she "...love[s] children!"

In January 2007, Zhang was spotted holding hands and kissing her new partner at a New York basketball game. The man was identified as Israeli multi-millionaire and venture capitalist, Vivi Nevo. The two were again seen together at an Oscar party in Los Angeles. Nevo, who has previously been tied to model Kate Moss, is a major shareholder in Time Warner and an early backer of The Weinstein Company with whom Zhang is purported to have a multi-film deal. Zhang Ziyi and Nevo are currently engaged, and are planning on getting married in March, 2009, according to Nevo. [10][11]

Other information

  • Of the characters making up her name, Zhāng (章) is her surname (not to be confused with the more common Zhāng 张 which is a homonym but written with a different character), Zǐ (子) means child or esteemed person, and Yí (怡) means joy or happiness. She has appeared in English language films under the name Ziyi Zhang. In an interview, she stated that the name change was her publicist's idea of a way to appeal to Western audiences.
  • Zhang says that one of her methods of learning the English language was listening to Eminem, which apparently led to some embarrassing situations. She said "I don't always know what he is talking about, so I write down the lyrics and repeat them. Later, I understood how rude they were."[12]

Filmography

Year English Title Chinese Title Role Director
1996 Touching Starlight 星星點燈 Chen Wei Sun Wenxue
1999 The Road Home 我的父親母親 Young Zhao Di Zhang Yimou
2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍 Jen Yu Ang Lee
2001 Rush Hour 2 - Hu Li Brett Ratner
The Legend of Zu 蜀山傳 Joy Tsui Hark
Musa 武士 Princess Bu-yong Kim Sung-su
2002 Hero 英雄 Moon Zhang Yimou
2003 Purple Butterfly 紫蝴蝶 Cynthia/Ding Hui Lou Ye
My Wife is a Gangster 2 我老婆是大佬2 Gangster boss Jeong Heung-sun
2004 2046 2046 Bai Ling Wong Kar-wai
House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏 Mei Zhang Yimou
Jasmine Women 茉莉花開開 Young Mo/Young Li/Young Hua Hou Yong
2005 Princess Raccoon 貍御殿 Princess Tanuki Seijun Suzuki
Memoirs of a Geisha - Sayuri Nitta/Chiyo Sakamoto Rob Marshall
2006 The Banquet/Legend of the Black Scorpion 夜宴 Wan Feng Xiaogang
2007 TMNT - Karai Kevin Munroe
2008 Forever Enthralled 梅蘭芳 Meng Xiaodong Chen Kaige
2009 Lost for Words - Lin Zhen Susanne Bier
The Horsemen - Kristen Jonas Åkerlund

Awards and nominations

Awards nominated

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

BAFTA Awards

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

Golden Globes

Golden Horse Film Festival

Hong Kong Film Awards

Image Awards

Kids' Choice Awards

MTV Movie Awards

Online Film Critics Society Awards

Satellite Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Teen Choice Awards

  • 2001 - Film - Choice Breakout Performance

Awards won

Hundred Flowers Awards

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

  • 2001 - Most Promising Actress

Golden Bauhinia Awards

Golden Rooster Awards

  • 2004 - Best Actress for Mo li hua kai

Hong Kong Film Awards

  • 2005 - Best Actress for 2046

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards

  • 2005 - Best Actress for 2046

Independent Spirit Awards

MTV Movie Awards

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards

Young Artist Awards

Magazine recognition

  • Ranked 2nd of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).
  • Named one of the 25 Hottest Stars Under 25 by Teen People Magazine (2001).
  • Named one of the 25 Hottest Stars Under 25 by Teen People Magazine (2002).
  • Ranked #91 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002)
  • Voted in at #100 in FHM's Sexiest 100 Girls of 2002, UK edition. [June 2002]
  • Forbes magazine's China edition recently ranked her the second most popular celebrity after NBA player 'Yao Ming' . [August 2004]
  • Named by Entertainment Weekly in their 'The Must List' 2005. Listed 38th out of the 122 people and things the magazine "loves" this year, Ziyi was the only Chinese to be included.
  • Selected by Southern People Weekly magazine as 'Chinese Top Ten Leaders Of The Younger Generation' in 2005.
  • Listed in People's '50 Most Beautiful People' List in 2005.
  • Listed in TIME's World's 100 Most Influential People. They called her "China's Gift to Hollywood".
  • Ranked one of the '100 Most Beautiful Women in the World' in the July 2005 issue of Harpers & Queen magazine. It was her first time on the list. She was ranked number 15.
  • Included in People's 100 Most Beautiful People in the World the second year in a row in 2006. This is now her third appearance on the list.
  • Voted in at #86 in FHM's sexiest women in the world in 2006. She had not appeared in the list since 2002.
  • Topped Japanese Playboy's "100 Sexiest Women in Asia" list and was featured on the cover. (April 2006)[13]
  • Voted #1 in E!'s Sexiest Action Stars list in summer 2007.

See also

References

  1. ^ Four Promising ActressFour Young Chinese Stars
  2. ^ TIMEasia.com | She Makes Magic | 12/11/2000
  3. ^ Academy Invites 112 to Membership
  4. ^ Zhang Ziyi singing a song
  5. ^ Zhang Ziyi: Rising Movie Star
  6. ^ Zhang Ziyi at HelloZiyi.us - Ziyi is China's Best Export
  7. ^ Zhang Ziyi Is In Love, Would Love To Get Married - Starpulse Entertainment News Blog
  8. ^ 凤凰宽频_凤凰网
  9. ^ http://www.helloziyi.us/Articles/interview-magazine-july2006.htm
  10. ^ The Power 50: DETAILS Article on men.style.com
  11. ^ Zhang Ziyi Indentured to Weinsteins? - Cinematical
  12. ^ Ziyi Zhang - Ziyi: 'Eminem Was My English Teacher'
  13. ^ Ziyi poses for Playboy


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