Zhang Ziyi, An Excellent Chinese Actress Quiz

Answer: Beijing

Zhang Ziyi was born on 9th February 1979. Her father was a worker of a communication company while her mother was a kindergarten teacher. She has an elder brother (born in 1973), who worked as her agent early in her career. But I often wonder how Zhang Ziyi came to be born under the strict "one child" policy in China.

Answer: Dancing

In 1990, Zhang Ziyi was admitted to the affixed school of Beijing Dancing Academy. She learned folk dancing there and four years later won an award in a national dance contest. In the movie House of "Flying Daggers" (2004), she played a drum dance, which showed her dancing talent very well. I still remember in CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2003, her wonderful dancing was the first show.

Answer: Central Academy of Drama

Zhang Ziyi was admitted to the Academy (located in Beijing) in 1996 and graduated in 2000. While she was studying at the college, she acted her first film (the made-for-tv movie "Touching Starlight"), which was very unusual among her classmates. This tv movie was not her first work - she had played an advertisement for a Chinese liquor before this movie.

Answer: The Road Home

In 1999, she played the film "The Road Home" by Zhang Yimou. So she became a "Mou girl", which means to many that she would attain success soon. At that time, it was reported that she had lived together with Zhang Yimou during the filmmaking, which turned out to be a rumor in the end. But by means of this rumor, she had become very famous even before the film was shown.

Answer: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

"Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" (2000) is the film that won Zhang Ziyi international fame. Iy won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (it was in Mandarin with English sub-titles). Originally Lee An, the director, wanted to have Shu Qi play the role of Jen Yu, but Zhang Yimou recommended the little-known Zhang Ziyi to him and Zhang Ziyi did the work excellently.

She worked very hard during the film making, especially when she was lifted very high by a wire hanger and did many stunts in the air. Though Zhang Ziyi was for sure the heroin of the moive, filmmakers publicized Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh a lot as if Zhang were only a supporting role.

Answer: The Banquet

Zhang Ziyi played many martial arts movies so that many people think she is a "kungfu girl". But she never learned kungfu. I guess her dancing skill helped her a lot.

Answer: Jasmine Women

Generally Zhang Ziyi only worked with "big" directors but she did work with some "small" directors too. In the movie "Jasmine Women" (2004), directed by Hou Yong, she acted three roles, respectively named Mo, Li and Hua (in fact a family of grandmother, mother and daughter). This movie is my personal favorite. Zhang Ziyi did a wonderful job in this movie.

Answer: Hero

Zhang Ziyi starred most of her films but "Hero" (2002) is an exception. This movie included many excellent Chinese actors like Jet Li, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. In this movie, Zhang Ziyi played Moon, the maid of Flying Snow. It is said that Zhang was paid very little in this film. I guess Zhang Ziyi did this partly to show her appreciation to Zhang Yimou, the director and also her benefactor.

In Zhang Yimou's second martial arts movies, Zhang Ziyi acted the heroin, Mei, a blind girl.

Answer: Memoirs of a Geisha

Both Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are so-called "Mou girls" and generally considered to the best two Chinese actresses. Fans long wished that they could act one film together and in 2005 in the Hollywood movie "Memoirs of a Geisha", this wish came true. This is really a special movie, in which three Chinese actresses (the other being Michelle Yeoh) acted Japanese geisha. I found Zhang Ziyi was extraordianarily beautiful in the movie but many people say that Gong Li overwhelmed Zhang Ziyi in acting. By the way, in the movie "2046" and "The Grandmasters", Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li acted together too but they didn't appear in the same scene.

Answer: Sophie's Revenge

Working as a producer is very hard and tiresome in China and you would only see few women producers here. "Sophie's Revenge" (2009) is a modern urban movie and also a comedy. Zhang Ziyi not only acted this movie but also produced it. She had to to a lot of work, including financing the movie and publicizing it during a long trip, which was very hard for a young girl.