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| Birth Name(s) : Zhang Ziyi |
Date of Birth: February 9, 1979 |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Zhang Ziyi Biography
Ziyi Zhang (mainland Chinese actress) grew up in a working class family in Beijing. She passed the entrance examination of the secondary school affiliated with Beijing Dancing College at the age of eleven. She is a third-year student of the Performing Art at China Central Drama College. She also won an award in the National Young Dancer competition.
Her first film was 1999's "The Road Home,"directed by the renowned director Zhang Yi-mou. The film, which will be released by Sony Picture Classics in 2001, went on the garner the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the 2000 edition of the Berlin Film Festival.
On June 26th, 2000, she demanded 10 million RMB for any role in comercial ads, setting an astonishing record for the industry.
She's quickly risen to her stardom with her youthful beauty, acting skill, and the rumored romantic scandal with the director Zhang Yi-mou which she refuted. |
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Additional Zhang Ziyi Biography
Zhang Ziyi (章子怡; pinyin: Zhāng Zǐyí) (born February 9, 1979 in Beijing, China) is one of the best-known Chinese film actresses working today, with a string of Chinese and international hits to her name. She has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Seijun Suzuki and Rob Marshall.
Born in Beijing, China, Zhang Ziyi joined the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 11, and at 15 she entered China's prestigious Central Academy of Drama (regarded as the top acting college in China).
When her parents suggested she go to the dance academy, she was sceptical. While at the boarding school, she noticed how catty the other girls were while competing for status amongst the teachers. She would cry each night and morning, and on one occasion ran away from the school.
At the age of 19, she was offered her first role in world renowned director 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 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.
Her first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2, but as she didn't speak English at the time, Jackie Chan had to translate everything the director said to her. In that movie, her character's name, "Hu Li" translated from Mandarin Chinese is "Fox".
After this she went on to make Hero with her early mentor Zhang 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 Zhe which competed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. She went back to the martial arts genre with House of Flying Daggers, which earned her a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang starred in Princess Raccoon directed by 82-year-old Japanese legend Seijun Suzuki who was honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2005, she 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, she received a 2006 Golden Globe Award 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.
Soon after her debut in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, rumours arose regarding a possible affair between the actress and the older director. Zhang Yimou was previously involved in an extra-marital 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.
Hong Kong and Taiwanese media have often pushed at ties between Zhang Ziyi and co-star Jackie Chan. This was fuelled in part by photos that emerged of the pair during celebrations of Chan's birthday on the set of Rush Hour 2.
Zhang Ziyi for a while was publicly linked with Fok Kai-shan, grandson of Hong Kong business tycoon Henry Fok.
Although Zhang Ziyi 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. When quizzed in early 2007 if she was happy by Phoenix TV, she stated in the interview: "Yes, very much so ... I'm doing the things I enjoy."
In January 2007, Zhang Ziyi was spotted holding hands and kissing with her new partner at a New York basketball game. The man was identified as 41-year-old, Israeli multi-millionaire, 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 Ziyi is purported to have a multi-film deal.
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
- 2000 - Best Supporting Performance, Female for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Young Artist Awards
- 2001 - Best Young Actress in an International Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
- 2001 - Best Supporting Actress for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 2005 - Best Actress for House of Flying Daggers
BAFTA Awards
- 2001 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 2005 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for House of Flying Daggers
- 2006 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Memoirs of a Geisha
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- 2001 - Best Supporting Actress for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Golden Globes
- 2006 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Memoirs of a Geisha
Golden Horse Film Festival
- 2000 - Best Actress for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 2004 - Best Actress for 2046
Online Film Critics Society Awards
- 2001 - Best Supporting Actress for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Screen Actors Guild Awards
- 2006 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Memoirs of a Geisha |
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| In China, we don't consider someone truly beautiful until we have known them for a long time, and we know what's underneath the skin. |
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