Zhang Ziyi

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Zhang Ziyi (2019)

Zhang Ziyi ( Chinese  章子怡 , Pinyin Zhāng Zǐyí ; born February 9, 1979 in Beijing ) is a Chinese film actress .

She achieved international fame primarily for her roles in films of the Wuxia genre such as Tiger and Dragon (2000) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) as well as for the title role in the literary adaptation The Geisha (2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for the British Academy Film Award .

Life

Zhang Ziyi grew up in Beijing. Her father worked as an economist, her mother as a kindergarten teacher. At the age of nine, at the request of her parents, she began to take dance lessons because she was in poor health. At the age of eleven she attended a secondary school affiliated with the Beijing Dance Academy and received intensive dance training.

Since then she says she has worked far harder than most children and young people. Her day regularly started exercising at 5:00 a.m. and didn't end until 11:00 p.m. She didn't feel comfortable at school; The atmosphere there was extremely competitive, with girls competing for status, leadership, or the attention of teachers. At the age of 13, this was one of the reasons why she fled school and was brought back by the police.

Although Zhang Ziyi won several dance competitions, it became increasingly clear that her future in this subject would not be particularly promising. Therefore, at the age of 17, she moved to the Central Academy of Drama (中央 戏剧 学院) in Beijing, where she graduated with Liu Ye in 2000.

In 2015 she married the rock musician Wang Feng . The couple have a daughter and a son together.

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Zhang Ziyi got her first engagement as an actress in the Chinese television film Xing xing dian deng (1996). After director Zhang Yimou discovered the young actress during casting for a commercial in 1998, he gave her the lead role of Zhao Di in his film Heimweg - The Road Home (1999), who breaks with the tradition that marriages are arranged by parents and as the first woman in her village, she chooses a man out of love.

In the Chinese press, Zhang Ziyi was soon referred to as "little Gong Li", alluding to a suspected relationship between Zhang Ziyi and director Zhang Yimou , who was twice his age and who had a longstanding relationship with actress Gong Li until 1994 .

Zhang Ziyi's international breakthrough came with the film Tiger and Dragon (2000), in which she plays Jen Yu, the proud, cheeky daughter of Governor Yu and an outstanding swordsman. Critics praised her acting skills as well as her skill in numerous kung fu fights.

Zhang Ziyi in 2006 at the 59th Cannes Film Festival

In Rush Hour 2 (2001), Zhang Ziyi starred alongside Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker for the first time in a Hollywood production. About the working conditions in the “dream factory” she said: “Hollywood actors are far too spoiled. They'd have to work harder. When filming, everyone has their own caravan and their own food. You only work 12 hours a day and have the weekend to relax. In China you have to work the whole week, 18 hours a day. ”At the same time, she emphasized that she was not interested in money, but only in good roles.

In the following years, Zhang Ziyi made several films that, like Tiger and Dragon, belong to the Wuxia genre. So z. B. Musa - Der Krieger (2001), Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). Although she became famous through these films, the actress confessed that she didn't like martial arts and that shooting the fight scenes was pure agony. “You wear a tight corset with long wire ropes. They'll pull you up and hang several meters above the ground until you feel sick. "

In Purple Butterfly (2003) she can be seen in a drama that is set in Shanghai in the 1930s. In the Korean action flick My Wife Is a Gangster 2 (also 2003), Zhang Ziyi made a cameo at the end of the film as the head of a Chinese gangster syndicate.

For her portrayal in the film 2046 - The Ultimate Love Film (2004) by director Wong Kar-Wai , she was honored with the Hong Kong Film Award in 2005 for best leading actress .

She played her first English-language leading role in The Geisha (2005) alongside Ken Watanabe , Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh . She was nominated for the British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe for the title role of Sayuri Nitta. In Japan and China, the occupation of a traditional Japanese role with a Chinese woman was controversial. In her homeland, Zhang Ziyi was exposed to strong hostility due to the strong anti-Japanese sentiment among the population. In Japan, on the other hand, the occupation of important roles in this film with Chinese actors was also controversial, but more on the assumption that foreigners cannot play geisha.

In 2006 she was a member of the jury at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival .

On October 17, 2012, Zhang Ziyi was honored with the Outstanding Artist Award at the 3rd Annual New York Chinese Film Festival.

In the video for the Coldplay title Magic (2014), Zhang Ziyi played the female lead.

Since October 2017, Zhang Ziyi has been one of the three permanent jurors and mentors in the entertainment program Yǎnyuán de dànshēng (演员 的 诞生, born to act), broadcast by the Chinese TV station Zhejiang Weishi. Here, prospective or established actors show their skills on stage. In the margin, they will be judged by the audience, a group of experts and the jurors. The winner of this round will then have the opportunity to shoot a short film with one of the three jurors, in order to be judged again.

Trivia

  • In November 2001 she played with Ray Lui at Hong Kong Millionaire to raise money for the "Hong Kong Cancer Fund" (香港 癌症 基金會). They won $ 50,000.

Filmography

Zhang and Tony Leung at the premiere of The Grandmaster at the Berlinale 2013

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zhang Ziyi gives birth to 2nd child on New Year's Day. In: China.org.cn. January 3, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Hero-Star Zhang Ziyi: "I was a little sheep" Interview with Spiegel Online from June 8, 2003, accessed on October 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ Ziyi Zhang - Outstanding Artist Award at NY Chinese Film Festival JustJared.com, accessed October 19, 2012. (English)

Web links

Commons : Zhang Ziyi  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Ziyi is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Zhang, Ziyi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zhāng, Zǐyí (pinyin); 章子怡 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION chinese film actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Beijing , People's Republic of China