Ziyi Zhang in Wong Kar Wei's "2046"This talented and extremely gorgeous Asian actress was born in Beijing, China on February 9, 1979, making her 28 years old today. A graduate of the Central Drama Academy, the top acting college in China, Ms Zhang had only one appearance on Chinese television in 1996 prior to her first film role in Zhang Yimou 's The Road Home [1999]. Billed at that time as Zhang Ziyi [the family name is Zhang, and she is not related to the director], she starrred as Zhao Di, a sweet peasant girl who falls in love with the young teacher who comes to her village. It's an incredible performance that fortunately is available on DVD.
Her next role, as Jen Yu in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2000], brought her vast attention in the United States and around the world. In this and other films, she called upon her dance training [she joined the Beijing Dance Academy when she was 11] to help her in martial arts scenes, since she had not previously trained in any martial art. She followed this up with an appearance in Rush Hour 2 in 2001. At that time she did not speak English, and Jackie Chan reportedly served as translator between director Brett Tatner and her. Rush Hour 2 brought her to the attention of an even wider spectrum of the U.S. film audience.
To date, she has starred in two other films directed by Zhang Yimou, Hero [2002] and House of Flying Daggers [2004]. Her meteoric career has also seen her work with several other famous, even legendary directors, two of them from Hong Kong. Tsui Hark cast her in The Legend of Zu, his forgetable 2001 remake of his Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain [1983]. Wong Kar Wai's 2046, released in 2004, marked the first time that she was billed as Ziyi Zhang, apparently out of a desire to avoid confusion in the Western press as to which was her personal name and which her family name.
Ziyi Zhang can also be seen in Japanese filmaker Seijin Suzuki's Princess Raccoon and Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha, both 2005 releases.
So, Happy Birthday to you, Ziyi Zhang. We look forward to many happy returns of you to the silver screen.
Ziyi Zhang links:
- Internet Movie DataBase
- Wikipedia
- Yahoo Movies
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