Celebrity Movie Blog

Who is Zhang Ziyi?

Zhang Ziyi was born on the 9th February 1979 in Beijing, China. She 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, Seijin Suzuki and Rob Marshall. She joined the Beijing Dane 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). 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. She 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". Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, she starred in Princess Raccoon, directed by Japanese legend Seijin Suzuki in 2005.