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The Chinese MirrorJuly 14, 2009
From Actress to Producer
In order to accelerate the completion of filming, Zhang Ziyi put in 50-plus workdays of 12-hours or more, but on the set she was always cheerful, singing happy songs like a child. As Du Yang expressed it, "her cheerful attitude on the set kept everyone else at ease, and that was especially important."
Du Yang is "Sophie's" general producer. Before this collaboration, she thought Zhang Ziyi was too great an international megastar to get close to; but now that she knows Zhang, Du speaks of the actress's "little girl" nature, saying "she is especially straightforward, lovable, and very considerate of others."
Zhang Ziyi is the nucleus of this film, made with an investment of more than 50 million yuan [US$7.5 million/UK£4.5 million/€5.52 million] and a cast of more than 100. [Update: in later interviews, Zhang has denied the budget was this high.] Her acting role is as the main female character Sophie [Sufei]. Sophie is a cartoonist on a mission, namely to win back her boyfriend, a campaign which triggers a series of comical scenes. This is the first time Zhang has done comedy, and she bears a heavy share of that comedy. Art director Chen Siqin revealed that Zhang's character assumes over 20 different images in the film. One could say that Zhang Ziyi's success or failure in acting out these various images is a factor in the movie's success or failure.
Another aspect is that this is Zhang Ziyi's first assumption of production responsibility.
Last year, as one of the several producers of "Sophie's Revenge," Zhang Ziyi approached the cultural communications division of Du Yang's Beijing Perfect World Company with young director Yimeng's script, to discuss the company's possible investment in it. Du Yang needed only two days to decide to invest, saying that everyone at the company agreed she and Zhang should make this Chinese-style "Amelie of Montmarte."
At the Beijing Film Studio, the crew constructed a fantastic dream version of Sophie's home, a riot of clashing colors with green walls and red chairs. A pair of goldfish lamps bathed the room in a hazy yellow light. The overall vision was done in an Eastern style, but it was really a subversion of the traditional Eastern aesthetic. The set and all its props were entirely designed, modeled and made by Chen Siqin. The "Dream Room" became a favorite place for the cast, and when it was torn down the actors had a group photo taken.
Yimeng's original script did not detail the artistic aspects of the film. This may have been due to [the film's] fairy tale aura, and its being a sort of fairy tale romance. At the beginning of the movie, Sophie's long-time boyfriend Jeff transfers his affections to a movie star played by Fan Bingbing. But two months before Jeff is to marry, Sophie opens up a "love manual," and determines to use this to win him back. With the help of her close friends Yao Chen, Ruby Lin and Peter Ho, Sophie devises several stratagems.
Back when acting was her only function in a movie, Zhang Ziyi could just leave when filming was completed; but as a producer, she now has a great many other things to worry about, like whether to acquire automobiles. Would that put the film over budget? Who should have the final word on film cutting, the director or the editor? Although she did not know them all well, she consulted with cast members separately to get their advice on how to make the film better. Du Yang describes Zhang as "wise," saying "she realizes she should not force others to bend to her will; rather, she absorbs their different views."
Chen Siqin says that when there was some disagreement among the film crew, Zhang Ziyi's opinions were especially important, but she never offered them hastily, always listening to the views of others before opening her own mouth. "There was nothing to be gained by making a hasty decision," says Du Yang, and when a dispute arose, Zhang's practice was to resolve problems through discussion, for she believed "there is no problem that can't be talked over."
"Sophie's Revenge" will go into nationwide [China] release in August. On July 6, at the Landmark Towers Hotel in Beijing, Zhang Ziyi sat down for an interview with this publication.
In the following interview, B=The Bund Pictorial, and Z=Zhang Ziyi.
An Attempt to Approach "Amelie of Montmarte"
B: I think that "Sophie's Revenge" is very special, its color, its rhythm are very special.
Z: (laughing) Is that good or bad?
B: It's especially un-Chinese, although you said you wanted to make a very Chinese comedy.
Z: Although a movie may be a Chinese production, the end product can still be made somewhat differently. The may be the reason why everyone thought it allowed considerable room for creativity after they had read the script. For example, the music arranger Jin Shiyuan felt it was a lot of fun, in different places. He used symphonic arrangements, but also used the erhu. The art designer Chen Siqin worked very hard on this movie, but he also appreciated having so much room for creativity. The characters were also like this. And while it's an urban love story, and sounds very conceptualized, the content of this movie is actually very rich.
B: The scene in the slaughterhouse, where you imagine Fan Bingbing wants to kill you, called to mind absurdist theater.
Z: Sophie is a cartoonist with a rich imagination. In the slaughterhouse scene, she imagined Fan Bingbing killing her, and she was afraid. Sophie imagines a lot of things, like when she visualizes a lot of little people flying around her, like animated cartoons. Various art forms were merged together. Although it's a simple story, it's not told in a simple way.
B: In its story of a girl trying to win back a lost love, this movie reminded me of the American comedy "Legally Blonde." Did you draw on similar foreign films?
Z: These are part of a particular film genre, and there's no way to get too far away from it. But we hope "Sophie's Revenge" will stand out on its own in the genre, and maybe establish its own subgenre. Director Yimeng especially liked "Amelie of Montmarte," and China still hasn't made this kind of comedy, which doesn't prevent "Sophie's Revenge" from being looked on as a daring attempt. Whether it's successful or not is something to talk about later, but if young people are enthusiastic about trying it, I think its chances are particularly good.
B: "Sophie's Revenge" is a commercial film. How do you view commercial films?
Z: I feel that if a film is good, and audiences think it is worth the price of a ticket, that is enough. I just recently spent 280 yuan [US$41] for a ticket to see "Transformers 2," but I thought it was a lot of fun, and especially worth it. There is a wide variety of art films, and some audiences may not like a particular film among these. There are art films that win Oscars in the US, and many of them don't do well at the box office. Audiences will find the movies they enjoy.
Zhang Ziyi as Producer
B: Ruby Lin's screen image has always been one of traditional gentility, but in this movie she plays a rebellious female, who changes boyfriends as fast as she changes her underwear. How did you come to unearth this latent peculiarity in her?
Z: I just thought she would good in the part. (Laughs) In the role, she is changed quite a lot, with short hair, wearing leather miniskirts, tight leather pants, very modern. She had never played this sort of role before, and it gave her a feeling of freshness, of renewal. Actors all want change, and whether the role is large or small, if it is something they've never tried before it gives them a creative feeling.
B: You chose your cast very well.
Z: Yes, we did that well.
B: Jin Yimeng, the film's director, is very young. When they are just starting out, many young directors are confronted with problems they've never had to deal with before. How do you view Yimeng? Had you seen her cartoons, her short films?
Z: In my view, Yimeng's previous works were irrelevant. I was impressed most by her original script and her approach to story-telling. Her way of telling a story is so special. Actually, urban love stories are very routine, going from a breakup to a reconciliation with several twists and turns in between. This story's uniqueness lies in its content and form. When I first read this script a few years ago it piqued my interest right away as something I felt could be done in a very modern, very international way. When I first met with Yimeng, I could envision the completed film, and it was like fireworks. Yimeng had nothing at that time. We set up a group, organized a team, sought financing, and bit by bit it came together. As for her being a new director, such opportunities are really rare. Looking back on it now, I feel that my getting to know Yimeng was destiny.
B: What were the circumstances of your first meeting Yimeng?
Z: It was winter. I had read the script already, and very much wanted to play "Sophie" myself. So when I met with her I wore a pair of especially flowery boots, and a hat. I asked her, "Do I look the part?" She said "You've already stepped into the role!" (Laughs) Very funny. After a very good chat, we decided to get started on doing it.
B: How do you view "producer centered" and "director centered" [movies]? Hollywood has from early on been "producer centered" while domestically we are still "director centered." What was the director-producer relationship in "Sophie's Revenge?"
Z: We've both had to make some compromises. For example, in [Chinese filmmaking] the director has final control of editing. But in order to get this film done on time, everyone had to work separately, so there had to be some separation of powers.
B: Producers inevitably have to deal with financing. What's your attitude toward that?
Z: I only ask that the money be controlled by people who specialize in that. I don't move the money around, the farther I am from it the better. But budget control, staying within budget, I can have some hand in matters like that.
B: You are now Zhang Ziyi the actress, and Zhang Ziyi the producer. Might you someday become Zhang Ziyi the director?
Z: I've not thought about that much. I think directing is a career not made for women. Sometime I see TV specials, large scale events, or movies directed by women, and I think, that's too much work. The physical demands, and having to deal with all sorts of people, all kinds of things, all kinds of links. I don't know that I could do it. Maybe not.
B: If you had to choose, which of the following three people would you choose as your objective: famous producer Walt Disney, actress Audrey Hepburn, or French filmmaker Jacques Perrin?
Z: Whoever I chose, I would try to do the best I could. When a film is to be made in which quality is assured, everyone will be interested in going to see it. If there is an opportunity to make such a film, I don't want to pass that up. The rest we can talk about later. In the future, public affairs might take up a larger share of my time, and when I reach a certain age I may want to do more of that.
B: You've said in the past that before you start filming you will spend two months time preparing your role; but what could you do to prepare for this comic role of Sophie?
Z: There was really little I could do to prepare. Comedy is never something that can be acted out: it depends on one's personal experiences and feelings. In this movie, with the help of costuming and art design, I changed myself into Sophie. My attitudes, my manner of speaking, were Sophie's attitudes and manner of speaking, and it was very hard to draw Sophie and I apart. This was the correct approach.
B: You and Sophie are unalike in temperament. At what point did you "merge" with Sophie? Some actors have said that before they could achieve this "meeting point" they had to in effect kill themselves before they could "meet" the character. You?
Z: Sophie is like my intimate friend, and I understand everything in her innermost being, as if I had already met her in a previous life! Haha, I'm joking, like an actress talking like a little girl.
B: How did you get into the part? Some actresses rely on high-heeled shoes to feel a role, some rely on makeup. In this movie, did you rely on image?
Z: Yes, the outiftters can be a great help to an actor. Sophie starts out making herself up like a tart, careless with her hair and dress. I'm not that kind of person, and I can't comb my hair like that.
B: As your first comedy performance, this movie called for you to break with everything you had done in the past. You have a line in which you say that you will use scienfitic methods to win back the lover you lost. This made a very deep impression on people.
Z: Yes, and I don't know how one could do that. (Laughs) The longer you live inside a character, the less you feel that character is indispensable. Add to that the costuming and makeup, the surroundings, as well as Yao Chen and Ruby Lin at your side fanning the flames, and the portrayal emerges from that.
B: Even when you were not filming, you were still especially glad to be on the set. Were you happy during the entire process of making the movie?
Z: Yes. When making a comedy like this, if you're not in a good frame of mind you won't capture the correct mood for your character, and can't act it.
B: When "All About Women," had just wrapped, Zhou Xun and others in the cast remained in character when they did interviews. But here you are, out of character very quickly, suddenly yourself again.
Z: I can't get out of a character afterwards, I'm still in the movie. For example, when I was making "The Horseme," I was very nervous every day, and had nightmares every night. That was because I was portraying a killer, and my lines were so apocalyptic, it would give anyone nightmares. But when we finished filming, although I was able to immediately return to my own life, and had a great many things I wanted to do, I still had the feeling all day that things just weren't right. I was very excited about Sophie every day, and the work was so fresh and new, the role such a challenge for me, brimming with possibility.
The Coming Urban Fashion
B: I think a lot of young women will wish your home in the movie could be theirs.
Z: The first time I entered the room was at the first dress rehearsal, and I thought it was so awful it was funny. The floor was inlaid with a ring of small monkeys, there was a drum, a large shovel, many toys, writing instruments, and the ornaments and colors were like in a dream, very fanciful. But everything was in keeping with the character in the story, like a fairy tale. Everyone who did a scene in the room didn't want to leave it, they wished they lived there. I told the art designer Chen Siqin that if I get another home I want her to design it for me.
B: Chen Siqin said that she paid a lot of attention to designing things you can't see. Could you clarify that a bit?
Z: Well, we could talk about my home's bathroom. I only have one scene set in the bathroom, but quite a long time went into building it. The scene tells how a woman may have an enormous appetite after she is disappointed in romance. In the scene, Sophie is sitting on the couch, crying, watching TV, and eating. She eats to the point of making herself sick, and has to give it up. So Sophie runs to the bathroom to throw up. The camera lens shoots the scene from a lower level, so there are a lot of details you can't see. This is just one prominent example of this type.
B: You wear an unusually large number of outfits in "Sophie's Revenge." Which one was your favorite?
Z: I especially liked the sheep's costume, because that was a particularly funny scene. I also liked the tangerine-colored cape Sophie wears in the scene where she creates a disturbance in the hospital, when she is most demented. Sophie also has a lot of nightclothes, with many patterns and colors. There are a lot of costume changes in the movie. Not just me, Bingbing also has a lot. Several of the girls do. Yao Chen wears expensive Tiffany jewelry every day. This movie will make everybody want to give it a try, and every link is like this.
B: Fashion is one of the labels of "Sophie's Revenge," but its fashion concept is somewhat different. How do you view those fashions?
Z: Director Yimeng hopes that years from now, when people see this film they won't feel that is a film about 2009 fashions. She hopes they won't think about when it was set, just feel something. For example, the taxicabs in the film were all specially made, to try and give a cartoon feeling. As for fashions, I feel that they only have to suit you, sufficient to express who you are, and that's enough.
B: What props did you keep for yourself? Costumes?
Z: It seemed like everything was locked in the office, nothing else I wanted. The desk props were all so attractive, so I asked if I could keep some. They all said I could, but when we finished filming, everything was gone. (Laughs)
B: This is very much a woman's film.
Z: Yes, but how could she be a truly independent young woman? Although in seeking true love, she is me. |
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Chinese film star Zhang Ziyi talks to Time Weekly about her new film as well as who she is and what she wants.
Zhang Ziyi plays two roles in real life: film maker and celebrity. In the former role she has just produced the romantic comedy Sophie's Revenge which will premier in China on August 14. In the latter, she is the beautiful, successful star who has had a miraculously smooth rise to fame. But her own view of herself is very different. In an exclusive interview with Time Weekly, Zhang Ziyi said she is not as successful as people think, and complained of being a victim of the times.
"There are very few people who are willing to sit down and talk to you, and feel the pain and the tears you suffer in the depths of your heart," she said. "I hope that my achievements in the arts and my contributions to charity and Chinese cinema will stay in the public's mind after I am out of the spotlight."
A bold attempt to do something new
You have just produced your first feature film. Was this the realization of a dream, or just a whim?
Zhang: It had long been a dream of mine to try it given the right opportunity, but I never expected to that I would be able to produce so early. As soon as I read the script of Sophie's Revenge, I wanted to produce it. Over the past years I have had the good luck to work with great directors, like Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee and Chen Kaige. Now as the producer of Sophie's Revenge, I am taking the bold step of working with Jin Yimeng, the director and scriptwriter, who is a great new talent.
With a novice producer and a relatively unknown director, why are you so confident of success?
Zhang: Frankly I don't know. Maybe it is Yimeng's unbelievable enthusiasm for this film that inspires me. Additionally, I have chosen a strong team, professional and excellent actors, film editors and musicians, which to some degree reduces the pressure on the director. One of my American friends, the producer of Beautiful MindChangeling encouraged me by saying that no matter whether the work is done well or not, if you stand up and try your best, it is a great success in itself. And in fact things turned out as he said they would. People who have seen the film like it, and I also think it is a great effort.
"I don't let investors control my art"
Your experiences in Hollywood have given you insights unavailable to other domestic producers; is your outlook more international?
Zhang: In my opinion, the biggest difference between Hollywood producers and Chinese mainland producers lies in experience. A good producer needs to have a good record. In other words, the films a good producer makes must be profitable. Just having a lot of money does not make you a good producer. You have to research and know the market well.
Was it easy to find investors for your film Sophie's Revenge?
Zhang: Actually we did encounter setbacks. At the outset one company wanted to invest in my film, but it interfered so much that finally I gave up its money. For me, businessmen should be in charge of money and art should be left to artists. I don't let investors control my art and I will not abandon my artistic vision in order to get money. Of course, as producer, I made this film as an artwork, while respecting logical business principles.
"I lost too much"
When you look back on your past, do you have to suppress your anger about certain things?
Zhang: I am thirty years old. Over the past ten years, I have had many good and bad experiences. I have become more mature and try to avoid confrontation. I try to deal with everything around me seriously and sincerely.
A journalist once said to me "After talking with you, I get the feeling you are not so difficult to get along with. Why do the media say you are hard to communicate with? " I replied, "I can't explain it. Because so few people talk face to face with me, like you, in other people's eyes, I seem far from their daily lives. They see me at film festivals and the Oscars, wearing beautiful dresses and expensive jewelry and so on. In fact my life is not like that. But they have no direct contact with me. The images they have of me come from TV and the media. There is nothing I can do about it."
Doesn't your media image to some extent reflect your personality?
Zhang: From the very beginning to the present day I have not changed. I am a consistent person. But the reports of the Hong Kong media had a bad effect on me. They "demonized" me in gossip magazines. It was unfair. But I think that after ten years the media and the audience should know what kind of person I am. Whatever, now I don't care that much what they report about me anymore.
Do you think the bad image is the result of some people's belief that your career has been too smooth, too good to be true? Normally it takes years to achieve what you have.
Zhang: Maybe nobody can truly feel and understand the pain and tears I have suffered in my career, although I don't like to mention them, because I truly believe that all successful people experience suffering and setbacks. It is impossible to make everybody understand you. I must say that now I feel more comfortable and I think the hardest days are over, and people seem to be more considerate towards me.
"I want more, like a family and marriage"
Has Zhang Ziyi got everything she wants?
Zhang: No, absolutely not. As a woman what I really want is marriage and a family. Maybe now I am focused on my work and career, but I think getting married is something I will do sooner or later. In my opinion, my sister-in-law is very successful, even though she doesn't have a so-called career, because she has a very happy family, two cute children, and the love of her whole family.
Art, charity and contributions to Chinese cinema
You have given lots of interviews in the past. Is there any question you want to answer but have never been asked?
Zhang: We have lived through a time in which China has experienced fast and unbelievable development. That is good, but more or less I became a victim of the times. For example, I am always asked questions along the lines of "If so and so happened, what would you do?" What I want to say is that there were no ifs and I do not make any assumptions. In my opinion, people should face the facts and act earnestly and sincerely. Maybe one day charity will become the major part of my career and I will give back to society what the public has given to me.
What do you want to stick in people's minds when your career on the big screen is over?
Zhang: Firstly I hope everybody will recognize my artistic achievements. Secondly I hope I could have made a greater than average contribution to Chinese cinema. At lastly, as a public figure, I hope people will recognize the efforts I have made in charitable work.
Would you deliberately change yourself to create this kind of image?
Zhang: No, I never do such things. Just as I said just now, whether I'm facing the media or the audience, I am who I am. I will not deliberately change anything. I don't like to release statements everyday, especially when rumors or defamations appear about me. It is too boring. |
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Ziyi looked noticeably relaxed and dressed in a black one-piece in heels. The interviewee and her chatted informally about Ziyi's married brother and her baby niece before the interview proper starts. Conducted in Mandarin, Ziyi's native tongue.
A: Actually I'm not so concerned if the production is Hollywood or China-based. I don't think that's important at all. Something must be there to attract you and give you a confidence and impulse to tackle a role.
Q: Your schedule...lately you've announced you were shooting The Horsemen.
A: It's finished...
Q: Really?
A: ...Yes, the shooting ended around the Lunar new year, in Canada. Next I might be shooting...another English-language film, with Jang Dong Gun - the debut of a Korean director...
Q: A Hollywood film?
A: Yes, a Hollywood film, with the producers and production company behind The Matrix and Lord of the Rings trilogy. It'll be a boy-girl Western, set in the 60s - a cowboy romance. With some adventures too. It'll be interesting.
Q: English-language?
A: Yes.
Q: At Cannes this year at the Q&A sessions I hear you speak English. You were fantastic.
A: (Laughs) Far from that - I'm still nervous...But I think you must keep practicing a language you learn. I'm getting much more comfortable and fluent with it now, though.
Q: Did you take time off to learn the language, in the US, last year?
A: Not really. Less than one month into shooting, I ended up enrolling on a three-month class. It's really hard work to put in prior to the shoots.
Q: Where exactly? New York?
A: Yes, at the Julliard School. And with a speech coach. It's interesting, you get to sit at lectures every day. At Central China Drama Academy where I graduate, it's a very traditional, professional teaching style. I ran over to see how the American lectures are taught. They're very interesting.
Q: Does it differ from us much?
A: Very much similar...They practice lines like we do: those with the consonants N and L. Then you must keep repeating them, like: "Now, Now, Now--!" You get up at six for a morning session, where you aspirate the N-L consonants at the windows...
Q: Too basic for you, isn't it?
A: Yes, but I watch them do it, out of curiosity, they're not part of my curriculum. I'm really there to see for myself how they do things in America. To see the difference from China. It's interesting to know the Americans are still doing these consonant practices in their third year!...But on the whole, the US and China approaches are intrinsically the same.
Q: I saw your media interview. You were taking classes and the metro there? You must be glad to know you could travel around on a public train!
A: Yes, it's rather free out there...
Q: Didn't anyone recognize you?
A: Yes, but it's OK...something funny happened while I was there: I was walking my dog in NY City one day...it crapped and I was picking its defecate up to the bin, when a stranger came over...a foreigner...and asked me if I was her. It was embarrassing but very funny. To be looking for a rubbish bin with crap in your hands when this happened...
Q: Do you feel more at ease and relaxed there?
A: Actually, I love going back to Beijing. It's my home, where I schooled and where my friends are. I can speak my Beijing dialect there too...and the paparazzi aren't as bad. When someone tells you apart at the supermarket, it's kind of neighborly. I like to be able to shop for dishwashing detergents or toiletries...
Q: You mean, as of now?
A: Yes, as of now...I still do measurements of the carpet myself...These are domestic pleasures you can't forsake. They're important.
Q: How would you define a world-influencing Chinese? [She was chosen as one of 10 most Influential Chinese in the World in 2006].
A: You should an elite in your field and very positive in your influence. Or a role model. There're many great people out there. I don't see myself as exceptional person, but I lived in a good era and participated in many good productions. As for world influence - it's too big an ambition.
Q: How has your influence affect yourself? Because you do affect people around here.
A: Let me use a script I saw lately as an example, which gave me a part as an interpreter at the Immigration Department. It's an interesting movie, a little like Crash or Babel, a vignette-collage that interlinks people of races and cultural backgrounds together. But I read it and had to turn it down immediately. I like the role, but I can't accept the message he was getting across. Not as a Chinese.
Q: Were there...racist undertones in it?
A: Yes...like it says the Chinese government silences dissidents who must flee abroad. I don't do roles like this, it violates my principle. As a Chinese, I don't think it depicts the China I know and I can't, for a movie, do something which demeans our national dignity. I can't do it. Now, on reflection, when you know more people are keeping tabs on you with your minor successes, you'd consider each decision you take more carefully, naturally.
Q: Is Memoirs of a Geisha different?
A: Memoirs is different, it doesn't defame our ethnicity or country. Whether you're reading the script or the book, it's just a simple, great love story. And it teaches us to be unyielding before adversities. I don't see anything wrong in these values at all.
Q: A lot of home audiences take issue with the love story and the onscreen passion - I'm sure you know...
A: Yes, it's been [nearly two] years now, and I don't like to say too much on this, because clear-sighted audiences will know that to have three Chinese actresses as leads in a major, A-grade international film project - that's something to be proud of.
The Japanese were angry because no Japanese actresses were chosen as leads. They lament ethnic Japanese can't compete in the international market.
When you think about it...it's pointless to squabble...there're much more important and meaningful things to do.
(On internet attacks)
We [meaning interviewer, a TV host] are both at the forefronts of the news, public figures. You know, like I do, we needn't have to be bothered by these. These attacks may originate from the web or the tabloids, but you won't know from who exactly, and his or her cultural background. He may be a drunk or a healthy man of the street - you'll never know. I think it absurd to be troubled...someone asked me this time round if I bared my back for a photo shoot. I just laughed it off...I think I'm a happy person still, my attitude in these matters relatively collected and healthy...I don't get involved, or get along pretending who I'm not.
Q: I have a series of questions - a psychological questionnaire, really - for you. Relax - they're just very simple queries.
What sort of ability do you crave most?
A: Ability do I crave most?
Q: Like acting abilities, which you have...or say, to be a good wife. Any childhood reverie, like as Supergirl?
A: (laughs) I don't really indulge in dreams as a kid, like to fly or leap in a bounce. I know they are impossible. (Thinks for half a minute)
Q: We'll come back to that...could you be hiding something? Hmm.
A: Gimme a minute!
(Some time passes after a commercial break)
A: Got it... I think it must be...the ability to repay others.
Q: Repay others? You mean, with gratitude?
A: That's right.
Q: Repay who, to be exact?
A: I'm not thinking of one person in particular. And there're just so many to repay and thank - my teachers who mentor me, the directors, my parents, friends who gave me so much love.
I think the society is getting too complex, everyone's impatient and wants more. Take babies for instance. Even an infant would grab things they want - they wouldn't give it up. It's in our nature. Even in prayers we're asking for this or that. Shouldn't humans learn to give more than to take? I don't know if we're asking too much.
Q: Could it be because you already had so much, that you brood on this?
A: Maybe it's because...I've gradually grown up and matured. I don't know...feelings affect me a lot as a person. When you see a movie or something you like, you will think and come to an epiphany... and burst in tears. Every day if you look at things in a [thankful] mould, you'll learn more. If we are sensitive and willing to use our hearts. [Zhang is an ambassador for the Special Olympic Games]
(On Respecting others)
We should bear a respect for everyone you meet. I often wonder if I weren't the person I am, would people treat me the same way as they do now? I think about this.
I might joke with a waiter at just about any restaurant...I don't think we must distinguish between people - it's just that God, or fate, made something happen to you, or someone else, in this life and the next. For what I've achieved, I feel there're just too many people I must thank. These feelings are buried innermost in my heart. If I get the chance to [repay, I would]...I don't know...these things affect a person's view of life...
Q: Do you have an abiding life maxim?
A: Life maxim? (Thinks) Maybe this: A person should never be arrogant, but one must have some degree of pride.
Q: I like this. We hear this often as kids.
A: It's meaningful and applicable to everyone, I think.
Q: Who would you say you admire most amongst persons alive today?
A: To be frank, when a person gets admired and looked up to for all he's achieved, the reasons are somewhat universal.
But more than anyone, I respect people who may be minor players in life. They may be unimportant to the rest, but may go after some dream of their own. Maybe for the whole of their lives. This steadfastness moves me a lot.
Q: What's your ideal lifestyle?
A: One of freedom.
Q: How do you wield off your troubles?
A: I talk to people.
Q: With -?
A: You could talk to your lover or your close friends about your troubles; but you can't let your family know some things, like the grievances you suffer. You wouldn't want to pass them on to your parents.
Q: What's your greatest grievance?
A: Not that I want any! (Laughs)
Q: Or what aggrieves you most.
A: Lies.
Q: (sympathetically) Did anyone deceive you?
A: Not in a relationship...I feel...(she looks a little sad) We are back on this topic again...Because I stand on the tip of a tsunami wave, metaphorically, you wouldn't know...you wouldn't know what would happen if I don't toughen myself...And if you are not confident enough, or keep your feet firmly on the ground, you fall to unexpected adversities. You can't control some things...maybe your love life and career, like who you choose to love, or your friends or kin, you can, but mostly we are passive receivers. You must be strong and learn to protect yourself.
Q: What do you like best in an individual of an opposite sex?
A: (thinks seriously) He must be...
Q: Honest, again?
A: Honest, steadfast, faithful, for sure...(thinks seriously) I feel I don't need not just simple professions of love. His love must be...generous and...open, all-abiding.
Q: Last question: If amongst all these you now have - youth, beauty, wealth, health, kinship and love - God could only let you have one left, which would it be?
A: Just one? Can I pick kinship and love? (they laugh)
Q: Two? Actually a close lover is like family too.
A: It should be kinship and love, I think. If you could die in the arms of someone who loves you, it's a kind of happiness in itself.
Health is important, but every one must die some day.
Q: Interesting answer. I've crossed out a question intended in this questionnaire though. A bit cruel...It asks you your preferred way to die.
A: Like the way I've said before [laughs].
[On her love life]
A: It's my greatest wish, like all girls...[to get married happily]. I don't dream of nabbing Best Actress or walking the red carpet...these things mean nothing to me, but a happy family stays with you for life.
Q: You've said it's hard for you to find a life partner. Why?
A: Because I don't need one. I don't need financial support, but a spiritual soul-mate. Through these years, I've earned enough to keep myself, my family and friends sufficiently happy. It's the rapport and what I could learn from a man which attracts me.
Q: Have you met many suitors? Or are you too picky?
A: I don't know...Life is strange...if you are me, you get to meet lots of people worldwide...out of millions, you choose one and live together and then you get a baby. It's endlessly fascinating.
Q: Some friends keep asking me why you were so famous. Was it because Zhang Ziyi was, after all, just very lucky?
A: You're right, many fellow actresses wondered if they could ever get the lucky breaks that I had, as in my debut with director Zhang Yimou, or Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger. These films acquaint the world public to me at large. And I've wondered myself too. Were someone else to have these lucky breaks, wouldn't they have made it too, like I did?
But I think you must still do your best. I performed my tasks conscientiously and superlatively enough. In other words, there's no short-cuts, anywhere. Everyone see the glam, but they don't see how much sacrifice you must make behind the scenes. I've come to realize successes don't necessarily follow luck.
Q: Out of the three Chinese directors you've worked with - Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, now Feng Xiaogang - whose appraisal meant most to you?
A: I have very different feelings regarding each of the three. Let's start off with Feng Xiaogang. I didn't know Feng Xiaogang until we made The Banquet together. Now we've become good friends. He would tell me everything...even his misfortunes and all. I think it's a wonderful thing, this sharing, because he's treating you as a friend, sharing his joys and miseries alike. I like his character, his frankness, and I'd love to do another movie with him. Because of my help he competed in his first Film Festival, at Venice, and he felt indebted to me...I think there's no need for gratitude at all. He always sees the best in me and believe in me, and that move me a lot.
Ang Lee will always be a friend. Because he make me to be who I am through Crouching Tiger, and more importantly, because I learn from him how to handle and overcome difficulties. We kept in touch a year after the movie was shot, he'd call and ask me to pick up prizes and give speeches on his behalf. I think he trusted me enough.
As for director Zhang Yimou, need one say more? We are simply "buddies".
Q: What do you think Hollywood directors see in you?
A: I don't know what, exactly, but I daresay it's really tough out there. The logic is simple: just think, how many Hollywood actors do you need in China? Close to none. The converse is also true in Hollywood. They don't need that many Asian faces out there. Our roles we get to play are very restricted.
Q: As an Asian - and Chinese - working in Hollywood, do directors there demand more from you, or are they more lenient?
A: I don't think there's a difference. It depends on what that one particular director wants from a movie. You don't set your standard lower for, say, an Asian or Chinese actress. I see that as a disrespectful gesture. If you respect me, there shouldn't be any lines drawn. I may have my personal difficulties, but that's entirely my own problem.
Q: Last question. You're still very young. With so much exposure and media pressure around, are you happy now?
A: Very. I'm doing something I enjoy, doing the parts I like, living a happy life. I have a warm family and someone to love - what more can you ask?
As for all those dishonesties we spoke about, let's just be ourselves and remain truthful, and these things should not affect us. |
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The Daily TelegraphJanuary 3, 2006
Ziyi Zhang talks about Memoirs of a Geisha
Hollywood's $85m adaptation of the bestselling novel 'Memoirs of a Geisha'
is ruffling Japanese feathers because the lead role is being played by Ziyi Zhang,
who is Chinese. She talks about the controversy to David Gritten
Film history is littered with such wince-inducing moments: Marlon Brando as the "wily" Japanese interpreter in The Teahouse of the August Moon; Italian Giorgia Moll, awkwardly cast as a young Vietnamese woman in the 1958 version of The Quiet American. In 1937, Austrian Luise Rainer won an Oscar for her role as a rural Chinese wife in The Good Earth.
Viewed in this light, it may seem a step in the right direction for Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang to play the lead character Sayuri in Hollywood's adaptation of Arthur Golden's global bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. But some in Japan see it differently; geishas are uniquely products of Japanese culture, and there is some displeasure in Tokyo at Zhang's presence in the film.
It does not help that Gong Li, also Chinese, and Michelle Yeoh, who is Malaysian-Chinese, have major roles as geishas. All this at a time when diplomatic relations between the two nations are cool, verging on frosty.
Zhang is forthright about this issue: "There's nothing in Chinese culture that is an equivalent of the geisha," she admits. "It's so different, so special to Japan." "Before I started work on this film, I didn't know anything about geishas. I had to learn all the gestures and movements. It wasn't that hard. But to play them, you have to understand them. They can't have boyfriends, they can't marry. So you need to know why they make those sacrifices."
Zhang, 26, is now China's leading female star, having supplanted Yeoh and even the great Gong Li. One sees why immediately: in person, as on the big screen, Zhang has flawless bone structure and features. Slight of build and docile in manner, she sits on the edge of her seat, answering questions with impeccable patience and courtesy. Yet beneath this surface, she has a reputation for being steely, determined and ambitious.
"After I read this book, five years ago, I went to Kyoto," she says. "I was really interested in geishas' work, and wanted to meet real geishas. While I was there, I talked to some, and asked them why they wanted to become geishas. They told me they were proud to continue a traditional part of Japanese culture. Even their families were proud of them. But not as many women want to become geishas now. There are too many restrictions."
She relates this story innocently, as if she went to Kyoto simply in the interests of personal research. Yet one need not be a cynic to guess she sniffed a job in the offing: Steven Spielberg had quickly optioned Golden's bestseller, and a film of Memoirs of a Geisha was always inevitable.
Zhang plays Sayuri from her late teens onwards. As a child in 1929, she is taken from her penniless parents, to become a housemaid in a geisha house. While there, she is fought over in a battle of wills between two older geishas: her friendly mentor Mameha (Yeoh), and the petulant, treacherous Hatsumomo (Gong Li) who rightly sees in Sayuri a potential rival.
The $85 million epic was finally directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago); Spielberg stayed around the film as a producer. It was unfeasible to shoot in Japan, so an enormous geisha district, including homes, teahouses and village streets, was built in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles. This was Zhang's first taste of a big-budget American film; it left her wide-eyed.
"Working in Hollywood, it's clear the more money you have, the more technology you can get," she observes. "So you can build a whole Japanese set. Only in Hollywood! I couldn't believe the first day I walked on the set. Rob Marshall walked me like a tourist round the set. It took 40 minutes, so how big was that? Today it can be winter, and tomorrow summer. Everything's unbelievable."
So was the amount of work required to play the lead role as a geisha. "The pressure was on my shoulders, and I felt I couldn't let anyone have any regrets for casting me," she reflects.
Thus for a spectacular solo dance sequence, on high teetering heels, Zhang, a trained dancer, practised five hours a day for several weeks. Wearing a kimono, she had to hold herself upright all day: "Your neck almost breaks. It's hard to lift an arm, the kimono is so heavy. You can only take tiny steps because it's so tight, so you can't eat, drink or go to the bathroom either."
Zhang Ziyi (her American representatives recently persuaded her to use her given name first, Western-style) grew up in Beijing; her father is a government economist, her mother a teacher. After six years (from 11 to 17) of boarding at the city's dance academy, she entered drama college, and was making a name as an actress by the time she was 20.
She became a firm favourite in Chinese films partly financed by US studios: The Road Home; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; House of Flying Daggers. She even had a minor part in Jackie Chan's comedy Rush Hour 2, set in Hong Kong and Las Vegas.
All this burnished her reputation and made her globally bankable. She now has a profile across Asia (she is a spokesperson for Maybelline cosmetics) and increasingly in the West. Perhaps with one eye on the main chance, she began learning English two years ago; while she stumbles on the odd word, she is impressively fluent.
In retrospect, Memoirs of a Geisha may come to be seen as a detour in her career. She does not foresee portraying a geisha again in the near future: "For myself I don't like the geisha look," she admits. "It's like a mask. People say they're like actresses, but they don't have their own life. Every day they're pretending they're somebody else."
"But I enjoy being an actress a lot, because I can feel different women's lives. I have the chance to feel like a geisha one day, and on another day maybe a scientist. That's the interesting part for me. My profession has helped me to grow up."
It'll be intriguing to see where it takes her. Hollywood, she insists, is not her sole preferred destination, and she has no desire to restrict herself to kicking and fighting her way through Chinese action movies.
Next, she will appear in Ye yan, a Chinese film that she says "is based on Hamlet, but it's even more complex. I play an empress, who is Hamlet's stepmother.
"I don't like kick-ass stereotypical roles. I already turn a lot down, even when they promise me a lot of money. I really want to do something in Europe. With a small movie, it can be an interesting challenge. But I have to get the right project. I don't think it's so important to go to Hollywood. All that trash that comes out of there! I don't want to do that."
We shall see. |
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The Star OnlineJanuary 4, 2006
Z for Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi, dressed in a pretty yellow frock with matching pumps, was sipping her glass of refreshment when journalists from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand took their seats in front of her. We were at the Park Hyatt Tokyo in Japan to interview the director and cast of the highly-anticipated Memoirs of a Geisha. Despite a long Q&A session in the morning with other Asian media, the star of Memoirs looked fresh and perky.
Just before our scheduled 20-minute round-table interview began (which was abruptly cut short to a mere 11 minutes), the Malaysian deejay from a Chinese radio station asked if Zhang could oblige by answering his questions in Mandarin for the benefit of the station’s Chinese listeners.
“But would the other journalists understand?” she retorted in glib Chinese-American accented English.
We have heard that Zhang speaks fluent English these days. With no interpreter by her side, she gamely tackled our flurry of questions in English and occasionally in Mandarin. She only flubbed up once, over the word ‘stereotypical’ (“Oh God, English!” she berated herself.).
Indeed, it is quite an achievement for Zhang who, just a few years ago, spoke little English. It has been reported that Steven Spielberg had earlier rejected her for a part in Memoirs because the only English words she knew at the time was “hire me”.
Two years ago, this Beijing-native got herself a tutor and spent at least two hours a day studying English.
With the language barrier out of the way, Zhang became a prime candidate, not just for any part in Memoirs, but the coveted role of Sayuri.
Memoirs’ director Rob Marshall (Chicago) had seen Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and thought her beautiful. He was also impressed by her athleticism and dancing background. Marshall had finally found his Sayuri.
When asked why he picked Zhang, Marshall said that an actor like Z (his term of endearment for Zhang) comes once in a generation. She is Sayuri, he announced, noting that aside from being extraordinary, she has the spirit of the character as well as the demure sensibility.
Memoirs, adapted from Arthur Golden’s 1997 bestseller of the same name, is a Cinderella tale of the misty-eyed Sayuri and how she pursued her ambition of becoming a geisha so that she could bring herself closer to the man she loves.
Buzz is strong that Zhang’s performance in Memoirs will garner the actress her first Oscar nomination. Already she has received one for the Golden Globes.
But, according to Zhang, she has never thought about the Oscars. Her only wish is for audiences to love the movie as much as she does.
“When you are shooting, that is your work. You create your character and, afterwards, it is out of your control. I think it doesn’t matter who gets nominated. We really care about this movie because it is about teamwork. Everyone worked hard and gave their best. I hope the movie has good results and people will love it.”
So who is the first person she will thank if she wins? “Oh God, don’t ask me anymore,” Zhang said with a laugh.
On playing Sayuri, Zhang explained that it portrayed her inner world.
“In my past work, my characters are usually strong women. But here, I had to suppress my emotions. For instance, when the baron undresses me, it is a moving scene. I wondered how I could portray this so that viewers will understand and sympathise with Sayuri.
“Maybe I could depict a young girl’s sorrow, her pain and tears. But then I thought that if I held back these emotions, viewers would perhaps feel more for Sayuri. In the end, that was what I did.
“When I was doing the scene, I found myself trembling and I noticed that many of the female crew members were crying. I knew that I had played the scene right. I think that if you can feel it and believe in yourself, audiences would be able to feel the same, too.”
Zhang admitted that there are similarities between her and Sayuri.
“She had a difficult childhood and it made her into this determined individual. I, too, am strong inside. Since my first movie, there was all this pressure and people scrutinising me. But I just said, ‘Okay, pressure is a good thing. It pushes you to work harder. And you have to try not to be negative.’”
It is this indomitable spirit that has seen this 26-year-old – whose initial dream was to be a kindergarten teacher – master the English language, become an international star and weather the Internet chat-room backlash back home in China, when she accepted the role of Sayuri and purported nude pictures of her and co-star Ken Watanabe were circulated.
“I never thought that one day I can speak English. And to act in my second language in such a big film is unbelievable. A lot of people will think, ‘Why is it her again? Why do all these great directors keep giving her chances? Why is she so lucky?
“When I was younger, I tried hard to explain that I did not only depend on my luck. I worked very hard and took all my roles seriously. But now, I’m a big girl. I don’t like to say too much about why because that’s just what is. I do a good job and they give me another offer and I keep working harder.”
Yet, there is one similarity Zhang claims not to share with Sayuri.
“If I loved somebody, I would tell him. I wouldn’t wait for 10 years. It is too long!”
Co-starring with Zhang in Geisha is the unrivalled Gong Li. The tense relationship between these women has long been rumoured. Both had been romantically linked to director Zhang Yimou. And when Zhang first caught the attention of the media, she was dubbed ‘little Gong Li’.
The producers of Memoirs were said to have also heard similar gossip. Worried, they were reported to have addressed the matter with the actresses’ representatives. Gong and Zhang assured them that they were on friendly terms.
“People worry about it too much. Great actors can work nicely together. If she is a great actor, there is no problem,” Gong was quoted as saying in an interview with Time magazine.
In her interview with Teen Hollywood, Zhang recounted a scene in which Gong slapped her around. She said that prior to filming, Gong had asked her if it was okay to hit her hard.
“I said, ‘Yeah, make it real.’ And you know, she really listened to me. She whacked me so hard. And after I took off my make-up, you could see her handprint on my face. I thought, ‘Now I know how big her hand is’. But we had a great time and I hope I will have the chance to work with her again.” |
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Town and CountryJanuary 2006
Ziyi Zhang: Face of the Future
Why Memoirs of a Geisha's young Chinese star is winning the hearts of audiences around the globe
You probably first noticed Ziyi Zhang in 2000, when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Ang Lee-directed movie in which she starred (it was only her second film) became a huge hit in the U.S. Although it was a martial-arts movie, and a Chinese-language one at that, Crouching Tiger's romantic storyline, lush visuals and amazing airborne fight sequences struck a nerver with American audiences. It was not alone: from film to fashion, food, fiction and fine art, Americans are embracing cultural imports as never before. And right now, China seems to be at the forefront of this burgeoning cultural revolution.
One of the most sublime of these Chinese exports is Zhang herself, a leading lady for the 21st century. She's petite and almost fragile-looking in person, but on the big screen she can convey the playful innocence of a child, the grace of a dancer and the bone-crushing strength of a superhero. She's a true exotic, but not because she's from a faraway country. Zhang, twenty-six, was born and bred in Beijing (the daughter of an economist and a schoolteacher, she's still based there), but she might as well hail from a faraway planet: her ethereal beauty so sets her apart-as Greta Garbo's once did-from other A-list actresses of her generation.
Currently making her English-language debut in Memoirs of a Geisha, the screen adaptation of Arthur Golden's hugely popular novel, Zhang is set to become a very big star in America. This says as much about the broadening of American tastes as it does about her extraordinary appeal as an actress. "I have to admit, I feel really lucky that Hollywood is now interested in other cultures," Zhang told me over afternoon tea in the lobby of the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, where she was staying temporarily during postpreduction of Geisha. (Wearing tinted contact lenses, she plays Sayuri, the persevering Kyoto geisha with the liquid green-blue eyes.) "It's like a huge door has finally opened, and we Asian actresses are just in time to come through it."
Still, she's aware that there are limitations to the roles she'll be offered in America. "I'm not interested in playing prostitutes or the stereotypical poor Chinese girl," she explains in her hesitant but fluent English (she's been studying the language for the past two years). That means she won't make big Hollywood movies just for their own sake. And she continues to have a thriving career in Asian films, working with that continent's top directors, among them Wong Kar Wai, the auteur behind last year's highly stylized 2046; and Zhang Yimou, who cast her in House of Flying Daggers (in which she plays the brave and breathtakingly beautiful center of a doomed love triangle) and 1998's touching Road Home, her film debut.
Zhang is thoughtful and serious not just about her career but about her craft. "After I became an actress, I started watching lots of movies. The really great performers don't use only their voices. They act with their faces, their eyes," she says. "Sometimes, when they're shot from behind, even the position of their shoulders will tell you something you didn't know."
This kind of talk isn't surprising from someone who spent six years of her childhood studying traditional Chinese folk dance, and that early, intense training is evident in all her film work, from the impossibly graceful martial arts of Crouching Tiger to the deeply moving "Snow Dance" that Geisha's Sayuri performs-in eight-inch platform shoes, no less. "We rehearsed just that one scene for several weeks," she admits, her face lit by a lovely, broad smile.
Beyond the physical challenges of Zhang's roles, complicated costumes have figured prominently in many of her movies (sometimes, she says, it took up to two hours for her to be dressed in Sayuri's ornate kimonos). So it follows that in real life she prefers to dress casually; when we meet, she's in white jeans and a crisp T-shirt, a pair of dark sunglasses poised atop her pulled-back hair. "When I go to movie premieres or film festivals, I have to dress up," she says. "And it can be fun every once in a while, like a fairy tale with the hair and makeup, the gown and diamonds and rubies." She pauses and laughs heartily. "But then you realize the bodyguards near the red carpet are there to protect the jewelry, not you."
"Zi's so joyous-she loves to laugh, loves life. It's infectious," says Rob Marshall, Geisha's Oscar-nominated director (for 2002's Chicago). Marshall says that although Zhang is Chinese and the film's Sayuri is Japanese, "I honestly feel that she's the only actress in the world who could play this role. I needed a great actor, a brillian dancer and, most important of all, someone with star presence. Zi claimed the role. You can't watch her and not think of Audrey Hepburn. They that's extremely rare.
When asked if Hepburn, or any other American or European actress, was a role model while she was growing up, Zhang says that Western movies didn't figure very prominently in her childhood (or in 1980s and '90s). "When I was a little girl, I thought air attendants were the most glamorous women in the world," she says, laughing. "They spoke English and wore beautiful uniforms with hats." Perhaps she could play a flight attendant in a movie, I tell her. "Yes, probably one day," she says, smiling at the very thought of it. |
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EsquireJanuary 2006
Women We Love: Ziyi
Ziyi Zhang (or Zhang Ziyi, as she's known in China) has just checked herself into a Beijing hospital. She is suffering from a mysterious respiratory ailment that she developed on the set of the Chinese film "The Banquet". We feel for her. But for the doctors on duty, the shift just got a lot more interesting. The five-foot-five, 26-year-old Zhang is among the most delicately beautiful women in the world, and roles in "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers," and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" have made her a superstar in her country.
Zhang grew up in Beijing, the daughter of an economist and a teacher, and was discovered by director Zhang Yimou at an audition for a shampoo commercial. This month, she stars in "Memoirs of a Geisha", her first role in English, a language she only began learning a few years ago at the suggestion of director Ang Lee.
Esquire: What are you doing in the hospital? And you better not say bird flu.
Ziyi: I feel sick for a couple of weeks. They think something wrong with, what's that called?, windpipe. The conditions are very bad in China. There is much pollution inside the studio. We build a whole palace inside the studio and they use very bad ... gas? [In the background, her translator says, "Fumes."] Fumes!
Esquire: You live in Beijing in an apartment with your parents, right?
Ziyi: Yes. When I was eleven, I went to boarding school. I left home to study on my own, so I didn't spend that much time with my parents. So now I have chance to spend time with them.
Esquire: Do they have lots of rules?
Ziyi: I have freedom. I'm big girl. They're pretty, how you say? — relaxed. But they're proud of me. My daddy always asks my autograph for his friends, his leaders.
Esquire: What was it like coming to America for the first time?
Ziyi: That was 1999, I think. I was 19. I only had one idea: I wanted to go to the "real" McDonald's.
Esquire: You and Yao Ming are supposedly the two most famous people in China. You should date.
Ziyi: "Nooo". He's such a big boy.
Esquire: How is being famous in China different from in America?
Ziyi: I think it's much relaxed here. The paparazzi is not so crazy. I'm happy to be here and have no, how you say? — stalker.
Esquire: Do you find it strange that Chinese actors were cast to play Japanese women in "Memoirs of a Geisha"?
Ziyi: I don't feel strange, because that's my job, to play different kind of people. It's really hard for us to learn how to be a, what's that word? I learn last night? Ah, yes. "Convincing." Convincing geisha.
Esquire: You were recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Ziyi: A big honor. I have chance to watch great movies.
Esquire: And some not so great.
Ziyi: Yes. But I think I can raise my, how you say? ["long burst of Mandarin to translator"] — level.
Esquire: What's the best Hollywood movie you've seen recently?
Ziyi: I like "Cinderella Man".
Esquire: Did you watch it in English or dubbed?
Ziyi: I got it in Mandarin. We don't have so many American movies showing in Beijing, in China. I think every year we only have ten American movies. Not that much. We have ["rapid-fire Mandarin to translator, then slowly"] censorship bureau. They have to give, uh, permission.
Esquire: The Chinese people and press didn't really embrace you earlier in your career. Is that changing?
Ziyi: Yeah, I think it's much better now, because people understand I don't just rely on my looks. Because when I get very famous very fast, at that time I was only like nineteen, and they just thought, She's nothing, she's just luck. Now I really don't care, because I know that I just do my movies, and if I do great job, you will see it. It's not easy to act. |
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Beijing Youth WeeklyFebruary 23, 2006
Just back in Beijing from a trip to Xi'an with a few American friends to see the terracotta warriors, following a vacation with her parents in Hawaii, Zhang Ziyi looked sprite and in good spirit. This reporter met her in the Palace Hotel (in downtown Beijing), with her mother by her side. She said pleasantly that she had told her mother to look around the shops for anything she wanted and she would pick up the tabs.
During the interview, Zhang Ziyi for the first time revealed her take on a personal relationship, "I don't expect a lot from a relationship. I don't want to rely on anyone, ever. What I need more than anything else is heart-felt understanding. I'm looking for a learned man who can win my reverence and respect under any circumstances."
Q: About your low-key style. There are some voices out there saying you are just pretending to be mysterious. Any comment?"
Z: I don't think I'm that secretive. It doesn't mean much to me if there is one more or one less report about me. I'm much better off doing just what I should be doing. Actually I always stay out of trouble as best I can. I'm instinctively self-protective and don't make new friends as a hobby.
Q: More often than not people learn about your whereabouts in news reports covering your appearance at overseas functions such as movie events or fashion gigs. Don't those news reports tend to make people misunderstand you?
Z: I don't feel obliged to tell everybody where I am. I just want to live my own life the way I want it. I don't like such formulaic expressions as sending a "Happy New Year!" SMS every year and what not. This kind of cliched messages mean nothing to me. You send me one and I'll send it back to you in reply...I just hate this kind of messages.
Q: What's your daily life in Beijing like?
Z: Sometimes I like to dine with friends, but most of the time just with my family, because my friends are also my parents' friends. They all know one another very well. Sometimes I would ask a few girl friends to go shopping or for a facial. Maybe a massage, too. The one I usually go to is an unassuming little parlor near my home.
Q: Many people say they saw the real Zhang Ziyi at your brother's wedding.
Z: That's probably because many reporters haven't had many opportunities to talk to me, I guess. It's like how I used to think about Gong Li years back, how wonderful her everyday life must be! But, in fact, everybody is just an ordinary person in private. We are all so ordinary as everyone else.
This time I went with my parents and some foreign friends to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors. I was just myself, fooling around at the dinner table when we ate. One of the foreign friends, who didn't know me very well, said: 'I never imagined you could be so easy-going. Just like a little girl. Eating your heart out like there is no one else around. It's so real.' That sounded like a revelation to me, too. Seems only one's innocence never fails to affect.
Q: It is said that you were quite emotional when you learned you had been nominated for a Golden Globe. When you were actually at the ceremony, did you feel nervous?
Z: I was actually very relaxed. I never expected to win. As it is, being nominated is a very great honor already.
Q: Your Golden Globe nomination was a pleasant surprise to all of us. We all wished you would give us more of such in the future. That's why we all felt so disappointed when you didn't win in the end.
Z: It shows people think too much of this (award) thing. I as the one under the spotlight managed to stay more or less unaffected. Winning is certainly worth celebrating. But that doesn't mean not winning proves you are not a good actor.
As a matter of fact, Americans don't think of those who did not win awards as losers. When he was interviewed on the red carpet that day, (Brokeback Mountain helmer) Ang Lee said everyone who had walked on this red carpet was a winner.
Q: People had also hoped you would be nominated for an Oscar but were again disappointed. Were you, too?
Z: I was very calm. I think being nominated for a golden globe is a gift, sort of a surprise. Every award has its own rules of the game. Frankly, I have never expected to win an Oscar someday. I don't understand why so many people see the award as (from) "heaven".
I remember an actress said during an interview, "I will definitely work hard for Oscar." It sounds so hilarious. I think an actor should work hard for his or her next role, not for some accolade. The two goals require different efforts.
I go to the US a lot, but I still don't believe I belong in Hollywood. If I give up this belief, I can make tons of movies a year there.
Q: Your family was not rich when you were a child. Or, in your own words, you were an underprivileged child. Now that you have loads of money, has your idea of wealth changed?
Z: On the contrary, believe it or not. When I was in college, I thought it was a lot already when I made 400 yuan (RMB) for an ad shoot. I guess I've never had the urge to do anything to be rich. Everything has turned out just fine for me. Now I have everything I need materially. What I need is freedom and happiness.
I also long for a special kind of happiness... Some day I'll find the one I can trust my feelings with. It's love between the two of us and a family with children. But who knows when that will happen? Maybe in the distant future.
Q: Are you confident about your current relationship?
Z: I don't want to let the whole world know about such private matters of mine, because that is the only space I have to guard. Whether it is to protect myself or those I love, I take it as my responsibility. I think every woman, no matter who she is and at what age, needs someone to trust her feelings with. Do not believe a normal woman when she claims: "I don't want a boyfriend," or "I don't need love." Ever.
Q: I never thought you'd be so pessimistic about love?
Z: I'm now in a phase where I can't expect too much emotionally. Maybe some day I'll meet someone and I suddenly feel I can just stop making movies for good. Just maybe. Some women probably need men for their material provisions. Not me. I am quite a feminist. For me as an individual, I never want to rely on anyone. What I need more than anything else is heart-felt understanding. I'm looking for a learned man who can win my reverence and respect under any circumstances.
Q: In (Director) Feng Xiaogang's new movie "The Banquet", you have an affair with each of three men at the same time. How much more exciting can love be than that? What brought you and Feng together for this project?
Z: When I met with (Executive Producer) Wang Zhonglei at the Cannes Film Festival last year, he told me there was this story. I thought it was quite interesting, but I also let him on some of my thoughts about it. He called Director Feng that same day, and he (Feng) said immediately: 'I can change the plots for Zhang Ziyi.' Then I just fell in love with the script when I read it. To me, this is a whole new character. She is an empress. And a very mean one who is nevertheless also vulnerable deep inside. She is very conflicted.
Q: Did you ask Feng Xiaogang if he was satisfied with your performance?
Z: (Laugh) How could he not be! But really, I don't think he was totally sure in the beginning how good my acting would be. Then he said "Ye Yan" (The Banquet) would make me...(Ziyi stopped without finishing the sentence and said, somewhat embarrassed: "Why don't you ask him the next time you two see each other!") |
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Washington PostApril 23, 2006
This 'Crouching Tiger' Tames His Audience
It's one of those Washington things. You'd know it in a second. It's a "big event," generated entirely by large entities as they lumber through the universe in search of small amounts of leverage to use against each other. "Entities?" The corporations, governments, departments, associations, all those, er, units hiding behind monumental buildings on K or 16th or Massachusetts with their logos and receptionists and discreet plantings and high-end office suites, which never seem to make or sell anything, yet somehow, mysteriously, are at the center of power.
So it is with the "China Film Festival -- 2006 U.S.A.," which has been brokered by a litany of entities: the Motion Picture Association of America, the National Geographic Society, the China Film Bureau, among others, and from which everybody benefits, everybody has fun, everybody experiences a frisson of goodwill. Does it help the prospect of world peace? Probably not, but maybe it cuts down DVD pirating by 0.005 percent. It may also be a part of a Chinese Foreign Ministry charm offensive to coincide with President Hu Jintao's visit.
What can be seen is: important men in well-fitting dark suits dominating one end of an auditorium in a building as solid as Earth itself. All hair is trim. Age: roughly 40 through 65. It is the face of professional Washington. Some are American, some are Chinese; but after a bit you cannot tell them apart.
This is the opening event of the "festival" (most of which was closed to the public): A parliament of speakers was convened and a lot of words were spoken along the lines of this actual quote, "Therefore we can say that the film community is a bridge which can shorten the distance between countries." Blah, blah, or, to make the point more precise, blah, blah and, of course, blah.
However, in all this official celebration and meshing of big gears, the oil of well-paid smilers and handshakers . . . there was a moment when it all went away.
I mean vanished, as if vaporized. The whole entity-oriented assemblage of purpose-driven pilgrims, doing business in the capital of the free world on a rainy Monday morning, doing important work -- bingo. Gone.
Longtime observers are familiar with the phenomenon: As a part of the quest for attention and respect, Entities A, B and C will somehow get Celebrity A to join them, and Celebrity A's presence briefly galvanizes the dreariest, most corporate of events.
In this case, that celebrity is the 27-year-old daughter of an economist and a kindergarten teacher, a slight but not short (or tall) young woman of regal bearing and lively, intelligent eyes who seems almost a little embarrassed that such focus is beamed so brightly on her. Call it good breeding or good genes, but the moment when she enters National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium for her part in the "panel" (I can't stop using quotation marks!) you sense an audible gasp, the oxygen level in the room seems to dip as everyone sucks up an extra-large lungful of raw air, and then the flashbulbs start cracking off.
Standing nearby is Dan Glickman in a very nice suit as bespeaks the president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, and, guess what, nobody cares. He's a very important guy, but right now he's just another Joe Doakes with his mouth hanging open. He's also something he's never been before: He's in the way. Get out of the way, big boy, so we can see her!
Standing nearby is also the important Chinese official Zhang Pimin, bearing the exalted rank of China Film Bureau deputy director general, also in a very well-fitting suit, a man of dignity and power and prestige, and nobody cares. And it would help if the general would amscray, too; he's in the way.
Yours truly was sitting about 30 rows back, doing his usual imitation of Adlai Stevenson on a really fat day, and as exquisitely self-tuned as I am, I immediately ceased to notice myself, much less brood on my ample, deeply interesting problems.
For Ms. Zhang had come to Washington.
Star of heaven, star of night, blind us with your wondrous light. And she did.
Western audiences first saw Ziyi Zhang (that's her name Westernized, now permanently, from its Chinese form, Zhang Ziyi) in the phenomenally successful "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," of 2000, in which she was a sprite of martial-arts energy, all adorable, headstrong cuteness and ambition. To see her was to love her instantly, forever.
Oh, it gets better.
No one else from "Crouching Tiger" stayed big for long -- including poor Chow Yun-Fat, once the biggest star in all the world except the Americas -- but Zhang continued to prosper. She zoomed through "Rush Hour 2," she appeared in "Hero," then two years ago she blew the roof off in a romantic knife rhapsody called "House of Flying Daggers," in which she cavorted with a dancer's grace and a wood fairy's magic and a siren's beauty and won the hearts and minds of millions. Hollywood beckoned; soon she was fronting Steven Spielberg's production (Rob Marshall directed) of the phenomenal bestseller "Memoirs of a Geisha," at the very center of a major advertising campaign that featured her perfect features behind a pair of blue contact lenses.
Now she's here, lifting a wan wave and a brave smile in her Washington premiere, offering soporific quotes from behind the dais at the actual event. Other Ziyi obligations of the week included lunches and dinners, a screening of "House of Flying Daggers," standing still for the eternal pressing of flesh and unwanted eye contact that is at the heart of an official public appearance. And somewhere in there a sit-down with all the Johnny Reporters of Our Media Age, of whom there is, for unfathomable reasons, only one.
This lucky fellow finds himself alone with her -- but for a translator and a photographer; and next to her on a couch where she proves surprisingly warm and funny, yet at the same time a committed saleswoman for her client, the Chinese film industry.
She's wearing -- if you must know -- a black taffeta knee skirt, full and billowy, almost like a crinoline petticoat; a kind of tan tunic over a tank top; some discreet diamonds around the neck and on a big-faced wristwatch. Her hair is a thick cascade almost down to the waist, raven black. Her skin is unbearably flawless, her legs lithe and muscular. Are we missing anything? Sigh. Yeah, she also smells really good.
She looks -- well, a humble newsroom hack could try for years and never get her right, so let's turn to poets, who know a thing or two about adjective-slinging.
Ezra Pound, before he went mad as a March hare, played with the Japanese form of haiku and came up with: "Petals on a wet, black bough."
That gets the extraordinary clarity of her beauty, the way it cuts through fog and light and buzz to assert itself. The neck has vaselike grace; the skin must be silk, the face, with its fine porcelain bones, suggests another tiny perfect dynamo, Audrey Hepburn, though intensified by virtue of the Asian DNA information at play throughout. Who knew they made waists that tiny, limbs that smooth?
"Beauty can pierce one like a pain" -- Thomas Mann, expressing in seven words what the above dozen odd paragraphs grope toward.
"I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -- the humorist Jean Kerr.
She knows all this, or at least she must.
We have to speak. It is part of the "interview," is it not, the idea that the reporter throws Q's and the subjects responds with A's?
Of course, my mind goes totally Zen. Empty of all. A perfect stillness, otherwise known as the Big Duh. I am no longer the doughnut, I am the hole.
Then finally a Q: Everywhere you go, lights, attention, flashbulbs, people pressing toward you. Yet there must be another you who looks at all that with suspicion.
Wait a second: She is not asked that. She answers that, but what she was asked was something like, "As a film star, you're a citizen of the world; yet you appear here in an official capacity as a representative of your country. Do you see any contradiction to the roles?"
"When I walk on a red carpet," she says, in English, though at times she diverts to Chinese for the translator to handle the subtler ideas, "and there's all the excitement, I am thinking only, 'It's a part of my job.' But I know: it's not me . It's for my work. It's part of what I do, and what I really enjoy is the process of making film. Every single shot, I give my best effort. That is my true self."
The process is not easy.
"Every time I accept a role, I have to feel I'm right for it. I like to take a long time, two months, sometimes, to get to know the character. On paper, it's flat; the character doesn't jump out. I think of it as a dress; you have to find the right person to wear it. Every time I put on a dress, I hope I can carry it well. So it is with a character; you have to try it on, get comfortable with it."
She is not a trained martial artist, but is a trained dancer, and in her two biggest successes, she says, her dance background has been quite helpful.
"I had six years of dance. . . . I can express myself through movement very well. But it was perfect timing when I stopped. I was ready to find something else."
The something else occurred when she was chosen in a blind audition by the great Chinese director Zhang Yimou for a hair commercial, of all things. But quickly enough, she'd caught the eye of Ang Lee and made her international debut (her second film) in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as the feisty, young Jen Yu.
She'd work with Zhang Yimou, of course, in "House of Flying Daggers."
But now, "I'm looking for something I have never tried. Something new for me." She has nothing set. Perhaps this is a reflection of fatigue after the rigors of "Memoirs of a Geisha."
Next question: Speaking of things you've never tried, have you ever considering giving up your career and running off to Idaho with a fat, bald man 30 years older than you with a very nice gun collection?
No, no, no. Of course not. It was something hopelessly banal like, "Could you tell me about how hard that experience was?"
"It was a very long-lasting process. There were so many expectations from all the people involved. I could not let them down. There are so many Asian actors and to give us, three Chinese women [Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh were the other two], a chance made us very conscious of our responsibilities."
As for the controversial casting of Chinese women as Japanese, when memories of World War II in Asia have yet to disappear, she says, "I didn't think of the politics. I just thought of it as a great chance for us as artists. It was hard to learn the Geisha ways, to be another person so different from myself. I'm proud of what we did. We did pretty good work."
Since then she's made but one film, a Chinese version of "Hamlet" called "The Banquet."
"I hope you like it," she says.
Big Critic thinks: I will. Oh, I will!
The offers since haven't been fabulous. "They now offer me stereotypical roles -- waitresses, victims, the poor girl who is sold. I want something else, which is why I take my time."
And she's wary of the Hollywood system, where the flattery quotient is higher ("Chinese directors never praise you") but so is the treachery.
"You have to have a balanced view, a neutral view of what's happening. People flatter you. You have to maintain integrity. I don't feel as though I'm a part of Hollywood. I feel like I'm just passing through."
And on that note, the adventure of Ziyi Zhang is over. She is fetched, she must return. Swarms of men and women in suits sweep down like Brooks Brothers ninjas to take her away, and as she steps out in public view again, the flash strobes begin to pop, a hungry public begins to press inward.
I watch her swallowed by the crowd and I think: God, what an adorable pancreas. |
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Global TimesApril 24, 2006
Really proud of being Chinese
Famous Chinese movie star Zhang Ziyi was in Washington recently for her first visit to Washington D.C. with the Chinese movie delegation to attend the "2006 Chinese Film Festival" in the US. Zhang expected to pay a visit to the White House as an ordinary visitor, but was overjoyed to receive an invitation letter asking her together with other members of the delegation to participate in the US President GeorgeW.Bush's welcome ceremony for the visiting Chinese President HuJintao in the south lawn of the White House on April 20.
The Western mainstream media has paid even more attention to Zhang's visit to Washington D.C. than the Chinese media. Many big news agencies around the world including Associated Press and Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported her participating in the White House ceremony. Washington Post reporter Stephen Hunter conducted an exclusive interview with Zhang.
Many Chinese reporters have asked their American friends the same question: "Do you know any Chinese mainland actresses?" The answer is the same: "Zhang Ziyi". Zhang does attract the Westerners' attention. Some people even call her "Hollywood's Yao Ming."
It is just because the Western mainstream has paid such close attention to Zhang, Zhang no longer represents only herself in front of the press. According to the comments found in the Internet: "when the 'China threat theory' prevails across the world, China could use culture representative figures such as Zhang Ziyi and Yao Ming to promote the country's image. These figures can greatly reduce the distance between the Chinese and American people."
Right after the White House welcoming ceremony concluded, Zhang went back to Marriott Hotel and accepted an exclusive interview by Tang Yong and Li Xuejiang, correspondents of "Global Times" and People's Daily Online.
Zhang told Tang and Li that although she hasn't got any opportunity to say a few words with President Bush, she regarded the activity as a valuable experience. When she saw the five-starred national flag fluttering above the lawn in the White House and the huge welcoming party, and when she saw President Hu and President Bush joining in the welcoming ceremony, she was really proud of being a Chinese.
Zhang said that she was born in a new era with frequent and popular foreign exchange and cultural exchanges. She never thought of participating in such an important welcome ceremony before. Although she has been extremely busy, she found time to participate in the ceremony which she believed would bring her special experience and understanding that cannot be bought by money. She said that as a Chinese citizen, she has very strong sense that she should "do something for my country" and play a bridging role for the cultural exchanges between China and the US.
Zhang has played in a total of 11 films since she became an actress. Almost all of them are ancient costume films or foreign films which rarely reflect present life in China. In response, Zhang said that within the past few days she has been discussing it with Chinese film director Lu Chuan. Zhang stressed the importance of selecting or writing a good script in making modern subjects films. China is no better than the US in making modern movies, said Zhang.
"If we want to shoot one, we need to stress the Chinese flavor in it".
Zhang attached even greater importance to the roles she played.
"To find a suitable role for me is a difficult thing." she said.
Perhaps just because of the difficulty in holding out realistic themes, Zhang's latest film "Night Banquet" is still a piece of historical tragedies. This film was directed by the famous Chinese director Feng Xiaogang and was just finished by early 2006. It is expected to be on the theatre in September.
There is no doubt that Zhang Ziyi is now one of the most famous Chinese actresses in China, but she is also one of the most controversial performers in the country. Her famous movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" was prohibited in China because some Chinese audiences are dissatisfied with the role she played which is a Japanese geisha. The movie "Jasmine Women", which reflects a woman's fate in Shanghai for half a century and was originally set to be on show for April 26 this year, experienced indifferences in the biggest theatre union in Shanghai.
In regard to the experience of "Memoirs of a Geisha", Zhang said, "I am only an actress. What I am doing is to create different roles in the movie and I have been enjoying the whole process. I don't want to be thrown into a political turmoil.
On April 17, 2006, Zhang made a joke in English about Chinese directors at the press conference for the Chinese Film Festival. The short sentence "Chinese directors are too selfish" brought Zhang endless trouble. Zhang revealed her helplessness:
"I am shocked when I read the news. In fact, what I wanted to say is that Chinese directors are more implicit. They do not like to praise people. But all I want to do is just making a joke. I never expected that the correspondent just translated it directly. Really, I feel especially hard."
When Tang and Li mentioned her English has been improved a lot, Zhang concluded it as a result of "growing up under the pressure". When talking about Chinese movie stars, Zhang said that there are many older generation of artists in China.
"We young actors and actresses respect them so much."
When asked about her favorite Chinese actress, Zhang did not hesitate to answer, "Gong Li". |
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Eastern HorizonApril 27, 2006
Narrator: Zhang Ziyi, 27, was born in Beijing. Her father named her Ziyi in the hope that she would always find inner peace and control no matter how her life will be in the future, that she would enjoy what she has in life despite the pressure of daily worries. Zhang Ziyi began systematic training as a dancer at the age of 8 and found nothing else in her life but dancing in the following nine years. In 1996, she was enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama.
In 1998, director Zhang Yimou chose Ziyi to play the leading role in The Road Home, the very first movie she has ever worked in. Recently, she told DFSK during an interview that, in the early days at Central Academy, she was so scared of being a laughing stalk on stage that she even contemplated quitting.
Host: I read in the latest reports that you have been invited to join the Cannes Film Festival judging panel. Has it been confirmed?
ZZ: Yes.
Host: Now you will be judging others' performances, how different does it feel?
ZZ: I think this is a kind of responsibility, because in many film industry workers’ mind Cannes is a sacred place. To me, I think you have your own angle of appraisal when you see a movie. Ten people means there will be ten different views and I expect some kind of discussion at the end of the day.
Host: Are you going to maintain your opinion?
ZZ: I will. In fact, as an actor, I usually insist on my own treatment of a character.
Host: I need you to confirm this: is it true that you once thought of quitting college in your freshman year?
ZZ: Yes. Because I felt I had no future (in acting) whatsoever, like I had no idea where my future was. And I really felt acting was beyond me, totally.
Host: You thought you couldn't act.
ZZ: Right. And I was scared. The stage terrified me. So many people were watching me, it scared the senses out of me. I started shaking all over once I was in the spotlight and my mind went totally blank. It was that horrible. At that time it felt like mental torture, enough to make me think of quitting. I had no confidence in myself in those days, nor in my teachers (laugh).
Host: Neither self-confidence nor trust for others.
ZZ: Exactly. I thought it was a huge mistake.
Host: You thought you chose the wrong trade.
ZZ: That's what I felt. Then I told myself being a professional dancer would be so much easier. You know, it's kind of funny. We were students of performing art, but our teachers sometimes gave us topics to develop into short plays on our own. So, we were playwrights, directors and actors all at once. For a while I couldn't understand why we had to direct and write scripts as well as act. Now I think that's how the foundation of our career was built. It was really tough. At that time I slept in the upper deck of a bunker bed in the dorm.
At night I often stared at the ceiling and prayed, please God let me have a dream about a short play. But, as it turned out, the harder I prayed the sounder my sleep went.
The next day I would tell myself, ‘OK, I'll get up at 5 AM tomorrow.’ But it was actually 6:30 when I woke up the next day. ‘Oh God, another one and a half hours wasted, and still no script.’
Sometimes I would go jogging around the Houhai Lake, which is near the academy, when I felt really bad. I ran really fast so that I could sweat a lot. Afterwards I would stand on a small bridge and cry my heart out, asking myself how I could finish my homework. Desperate as I was, there was no one to help me. I could only urge myself to beat the odds and hardship.
A year later, I became more confident as I gained more experience in preparing my acts. As I gained courage, my teachers also offered me more support. Then I gradually became aware no one was laughing at me when I was on stage.
Narrator: Zhang Ziyi had never acted in a movie before Director Zhang Yimou chose her to play the leading role in The Road Home. Nor had she had any experience in rural life. So, it was a tough job for her to fully grasp the feelings and emotions of the country girl in that movie.
Host: You were chosen by such a great director of international renown. How did you manage to become the character while working with him?
ZZ: We were sent to the countryside long before filming began, living there for two months. I remember it clearly, every morning I would leave the small dormitory and walk for about 20 minutes to a rural household in a village. My job was to cook meals and clean up the house. Then I'd have to fetch water from a well (shouldering two buckets of water on both ends of a pole) some distance away from the house, fed the pigs, peel potatoes and so on. I did all this everyday for more than two months. The family sometimes joked they had hired a maid from the city.
Narrator: It was during her stint in a rural village in Hebei Province that Zhang Ziyi identified with the character's down-to-earth personality and was able to portray her naturally on screen.
ZZ: I realized this kind of pre-production experience is especially necessary for making any movie. I just need that two months to let myself become the character. And I would try my best not to take part in activities that have nothing to do with the movie. That way I won't be distracted. I need this kind of setting for myself to gather materials (for playing the role). I believe this is extremely necessary, because it is so easy to get distracted these days. You know, in this business, there is so much temptation around an actor that it is very hard to keep oneself grounded. But I think if you want to do it, if you really want to accomplish something as an artist, you just have to work the old-fashioned way, like I said just now. It will never fail you.
Narrator: The Road Home went on to win the Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival, making Zhang Ziyi another celebrated “Mou girl” (after Gong Li) almost overnight.
Host: With The Road Home, from the ordinary audience's point of view, your very first movie gave you more fame than anything else. People got to know you through that movie, a “Mou girl”. Personally, what do you think is the biggest gain from this experience?
ZZ: I think that movie helped me realized, more than anything else, that I actually can be an actor. They taught me a way to act and create in this art form. You can't do it by simply donning a costume. I don't believe anyone can act just like that. Maybe you can, but definitely not the right personality.
Host: But there are geniuses, are there not?
ZZ: Not me. I don't think I'm a genius in anything, but I'm willing to devote as much effort and time as necessary (to do my job).
Narrator: Six months after The Road Home, Zhang Ziyi got another opportunity – joining the cast of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
ZZ: I was a small potato on the team. Everybody else around me was a big star, such as Director Ang Lee and cinematographer Pao, who is the best known cameraman in Hong Kong, while I had no one to look after me.
Host: Was it hard?
ZZ: Very hard. My weight was worn down to less than 45 kilograms.
Host: How much do you weigh now?
ZZ: More than 45 kilograms (giggle).
Host: It's supposed to be a secret, isn't it?
ZZ: I'm not saying I'm fat now, but at that time I was really out of shape. When we were shooting in Xinjiang, I shared a tiny room with two other actresses. Everyday after work, the first thing I did back in the dorm is to have a hearty cry.
Host: Everyday?
ZZ: No exception. It was definitely one of the more trying experiences in my career.
For six months I practically fought through it non-stop. I received numerous injuries during filming. Some of them have remained in me ever since. Just one simple example. Now when I have Mongolian hotpot (one of Ziyi’s favorite Beijing dishes), I can only manage to raise my arm (to dip some sliced mutton into the boiling hotpot and then take it back out with a pair of chopsticks) about a dozen times. It's because I practiced sword play everyday on and off the set of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
I often saw Ang Li encourage Michelle Yeo after filming a scene, with a pat on the back and words like “very good”. Then I thought, if I did well today, maybe he would treat me the same way. I always stayed for five more minutes everyday after filming my scenes, waiting for him to come over and hug me. But it never happened. It really hurt me pretty bad. I thought: OK, today I'm gonna work harder and see if he would give me a hug. Still none coming my way. Day after Day I repeated the routine, until one day – the day we wrapped. At the dinner party that night, I sat next to him. I still remember, soon after the dinner began, Director Ang Li turned to me and said: Ziyi, I know you worked exceptionally hard for this movie, and you did very well. I've never told you this, I am really satisfied. And then he gave me a long hug, till I was all tears.
Narrator: The movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a tremendous international box office success. It was nominated for 10 awards and won four, including the best foreign language film, at the 73rd Academy Awards Ceremony in 2001. It also let more people throughout the world remember Zhang Ziyi, especially her determined look.
Host: After making this movie, what do you think is the biggest reward for you?
ZZ: My biggest reward is that I found out I have this explosive strength deep inside me. I realized I have a kind of power I can use. It may sound somewhat casual, but what I mean is that this kind of inner power can push you forward. It's not something you can see in my eyes or in the way I speak, but hidden in my heart.
Host: You had not realized this before (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)?
ZZ: Not before. Just imagine, I was dangling in midair, and Director Ang Li told me to let out this grunt to show I was fighting really hard. I really wanted to utter the required sound but I just couldn't while acting out the stunts. I was too nervous. It was so embarrassing. So many people were staring up at me, including those big stars I mentioned earlier. I was nervous as hell and they were all watching. How could I utter a sound! I was really embarrassed. Then Ang Li told me: “You have to act like this. It's an action movie.” So I said to myself, what the heck, I can do this. And you saw the result.
Narrator: If we see Zhang Ziyi's movie debut in The Road Home as “freshman” performance, then Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon should be taken as a sign of maturing. She won the best new comer from the Asia-Pacific region recognition, the Future Star nod from American Movie Theater Association and the best actress in a supporting role from the LA Film Critics Association for her performances in the two movies.
After making a few action movies, she found herself faced with another important film in her career – 2046. From martial art flicks to art-house movies, less physical dangers but more difficulties for an actor's mantel – acting skills.
Host: I read in some interviews where you said Wong Kar-wai taught you how to act. Did you really say that?
ZZ: I don't think it's true to say Wong Kar-wai taught me how to act. It's more like I learned what real acting is through working with him. I spent six hours making up everyday in those days and, when the director arrived at the studio as I was almost done making up, he would have a couple pages brought to me by someone, hand-written in Hong Kong style traditional Chinese (mainland schools only teach simplified Chinese). Then someone had to explain to me what scenes the director wanted to shoot and how the story went in them.
I learned there and then you don't have to be thoroughly prepared to give a really good performance, because it depends mostly on your mood at that moment. It depends on how much the mood affects you and how much feedback you display in acting. That's what I call performance with minimal acting.
Host: After these films, did you feel you can act, know how to act and is a good actor?
ZZ: That's correct. I realized I would use what I have learned in my next creative project. So, I don't think I will wish to prepare mentally for the right mood before filming a scene in the future, like I've somehow reached a certain level of enlightenment. I no longer see the need to memorize every word in the script and then rehearse every move and how to deliver my lines. I just don't like to work like this any more. I like unblemished naturalness, which sometimes gives you the urge to cry, or smile.
Narrator: Zhang Ziyi's performance in 2046 has been described as a breakthrough in her acting career. The film won her the best actress in a leading role honor at the 11th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award Ceremony. Meanwhile, her progress also drew attention from celebrated Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg, who signed her up to play Sayuri, the leading character in the period drama Memoirs of a Geisha he was producing. Because all dialog in the movie is in English and recorded simultaneously, it was yet another tough challenge for Ziyi, who could hardly speak a complete sentence in English at that time.
Host: I heard you talked to Director Zhang Yimou after accepting the role and he said it was very difficult to portray a character in a language other than your mother tongue.
ZZ: Director Zhang said it would probably be extremely hard. I don't know why, but it just etched in my mind that it would be next to impossible to portray a character in a second language.
Host: But you took the leap of faith despite the looming challenge, didn't you?
ZZ: I had a chat with the director, Rob Marshal, of Memoirs of a Geisha. I admitted to him I could not speak English and had justed started learning it. He really warmed my heart when he said : Ziyi, you just do your best to learn English and don't worry about anything else. At that moment I felt myself suddenly some pounds lighter. I met him in New York for dinner, where I spoke all the English words I knew, about 50 of them I guess, then I just kept eating when I was left English-less.
Host: Repeated those words many times, I assume.
ZZ: There was nothing I could do except tell him the food was really good. But I was honest with him. I told him I couldn't speak English but was willing to learn. And I would let him know when I ran into any problem.
Narrator: After Memoirs of a Geisha was released worldwide, Ziyi's acting skills won recognition from many critics around the world. On December 13, 2005, the organizers of the 63rd Golden Globe Awards announced the nominees. Zhang Ziyi was nominated for the best actress in a leading role in a drama movie for her performance in Memoirs. However, she saw the Golden Globe go to someone else at the award ceremony held on January 17, this year.
Host: You were nominated for a Golden Globe but didn't win, and you didn't get nominated for an Oscar. Were you disappointed?
ZZ: No. I thought, as a foreigner, I made a movie with your language and won recognition from your critics. That was enough for me to give myself a thumbs up already.
Host: What was the biggest gain you made through making Memoirs of a Geisha?
ZZ: I proved it was not impossible to portray a character in a second language.
Host: You felt you can do it.
ZZ: Yes.
Host: Do you think you have thus found yourself a place in Hollywood now?
ZZ: I don't really care. Even if everybody says I'm now established in Hollywood and many people now recognize me, I still don't see it a big deal.
Host: So, entering Hollywood is not part of your current plan?
ZZ: No. I'm very easy to be pleased. Just give me a good role in a good movie. I don't care if it is shot in Hollywood, India or Malaysia for that matter. I don't see any difference there. The catch for me is to be able to live my character's life. That's greatest happiness I can have (as an actor).
Host: Have you thought of settling there (Hollywood)?
ZZ: Not yet.
Host: Not even in the future?
ZZ: I like Beijing best.
Host: A Beijing girl.
ZZ: Right. I think nothing compares to staying in Beijing. That's why I am reluctant to leave as it is time again to go somewhere else.
Narrator: It has been eight years since she appeared in The Road Home, Zhang Ziyi has won kudos from the judges at Cannes, Oscars, Golden Globes and other major international award committees. She has grown from an inexperienced college student to one of the most watched movie actresses of Chinese descent.
Host: Many people would say you have been exceptionally lucky. It seems as if you are not walking or running forward on your own, but actually pushed forward by many people, some of them big shots in the business who line up to give you a lift.
ZZ: I don't see it that way. How much effort I have made for the characters I portrayed? I'm probably the only one who know best, maybe those around me at work, too. Movie audiences are not likely to find that out in my films. I'm very grateful to all those who helped me throughout these years, as you mentioned just now, so many great people who helped me. But I believe I wouldn't have made it this far without giving 100% myself.
Host: Any plan for your future?
ZZ: No long-term plan at the moment, because I don't know when I can really take it easy. Have a home of my own, get married and have children. I don't know when that will come. Maybe someday in the distant future. But right now I think my life is quite enjoyable as it is, especially when I'm making a movie. I just want to make good movies.
Host: I was talking about your career.
ZZ: Oh! So I was fantasizing.
Host: Really no plan at all?
ZZ: No. After all, I have no idea what movie I will make next. I'm taking one step at a time.
Host: OK. Thank you very much.
ZZ: Not at all. Thank you. whenever I had time to spare, sometimes alone. I made it through by telling myself you have to prove to people the director was right (to cast me). This actor can do it better than you guys thought she could. I had this will to win a hug from Ang Li. |
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Face to Face/CCTVApril 30, 2006
Zhang Ziyi: A Chinese LookNarrator: Late last month, Jasmine Women was finally released after being shelved for three years. In this Hou Yong-directed movie, Zhang Ziyi portrays three women living in different eras and is considered the most attractive feature in it.
Already a much sought-after actor in the international movie industry, how does Zhang Ziyi evaluate her performance three years ago? From a pure and innocent girl to dazzling international movie star, what did she rely on to succeed? And what does she have to say about those controversies that have been following her around?
Zhang Ziyi, who rarely speaks to mainland media, accepted our request for an interview on Face to Face after attending the Jasmine Women press conference.
Wang Zhi: I heard about Jasmine Women a long time ago. What took it so long to come out?
Zhang Ziyi: Probably because there were too many bosses. They had a lot of differences, which led to such a difficult birth of the movie. I once thought of buying its distribution rights and releasing it myself.
Wang: What does it mean to you? This movie.
Ziyi: For me at that time, it should qualify as a highlight of my career. It fully reflects my professional standard three years ago, my experiences up to then crystallizing in the quality of acting, and the challenges from portraying three characters. I gave all I had to the characters.
Wang: How hard was it for you to play three characters?
Ziyi: It was a huge challenge. I thought I must portray each of the three characters with unmistakable personality, including every aspect of her physical presence.
Wang: Did you take up the roles because of the challenge?
Ziyi: I did it because of what Hou Yong said to me. He told me he would not make the movie if I pass it off. Realizing he trusted me so completely, I said OK, knowing there would be difficulties.
Wang: I know Jiang Wen and Joan Chen are also in it. Working with actors like them, did you feel pressure from them or the other way around?
Ziyi: I didn't want to give anybody pressure, neither did I feel any pressure from them. Initially I was a little nervous because I didn't know Joan Chen. Later, we got to know each other better. She plays my character's mother. We filmed many scenes together. After a while, I realized good actors can really compliment one another, like you give her something more and she will give you something more in return. Jiang Wen is also an experienced actor. I felt very comfortable working together with him, because you knew nothing could go wrong.
Wang: Compared to them, you apparently have less experience in acting than they do, but you seem about to surpass them any time now as far as fame is concerned.
Ziyi: This so-called renown or fame means little to me. Be it praise or snub, it's nothing compared to what kind of actor you really are and you attitude toward your life and your career. I think the fact that I was able to come this far, step by step, and appeared in some quality movies probably has something to do with my mindset. I'm not in a hurry to make so many movies a year or earn so much money. It's not my life. What I want in my life is to be really creative in a movie and give it soul.
Wang: How did you rise above so many beautiful actresses?
Ziyi: I wanted to be a good actor and make significant movies of high artistic value. That is what has motivated me to advance one step at a time. Maybe a lot of people still can't let go of the idea that I' have been had so much luck and landed so many good roles which should have been their's. I believe everything happens for a reason and I have not come this far just by luck.
Wang: Did luck have anything to do with it?
Ziyi: Of course it did. I think I probably had more luck than capability when I was cast in The Road Home, my first movie and first co-operation with director Zhang Yimou, and then Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, too. But I stopped saying that afterwards. I believe opportunities are for those who are capable and prepared.
Wang: Do you remember the first time you met with Zhang Yimou?
Ziyi: I was late that day. I knocked on the door and it was Zhang Yimou who answered it. I was surprised. Then I apologized for being late, because I had got the address and time all wrong. But he said it's OK. The first impression he left to me is that he seemed unable to straighten his back. I wondered if he was always like that or just for that moment. Anyway, he seemed very courteous and easy-going to me.
Wang: Why did Zhang Yimou chose you for the lead in The Road Home?
Ziyi: I think it was because my age and disposition at that time fit the character in his mind.
Wang: Some people figured it was because Zhang Ziyi reminded him of Gong Li.
Ziyi: I don't think that was the reason. I'm sure he cast a particular actor because he saw potential in her (him).
Wang: What was your wish at that time?
Ziyi: How not to let him down. That was my top priority in the beginning. Besides, I wanted to prove myself. I was a very strong-willed girl. I hated to see myself fail. I always gave my 100 percent. Maybe I could fail, but I would not regret it, because I did my best.
Wang: How would you evaluate your performance in The Road Home?
Ziyi: I think The Road Home is a movie that means a great deal to me. It shows me at my most wonderful age and in my best condition. I can always recall the scene where I stand at the door like, like a beautiful oil painting, and the way my two braids swing back and forth as I run. All those images have been recorded on film forever. As for my performance, I was totally the person the director wanted to show to the audience. I still remember one of those days, we were filming the scene where I brought a bowl of dumplings to the teacher and later sat on the hill crying, because I dropped the bowl and ruined the dumplings. At that time I did not have the experience and ability to produce the right emotions, including shedding tears, when needed. It was really a big challenge to me.
Wang: We would probably think your performance in The Road Home that has calved your image into our memory, and also because you were labeled a “Mou girl”.
Ziyi: I believe, without Zhang Yimou being the director, it wouldn't have been so easy for people to reckon my presence and accept me as an actor. I was still a simple college student at that time. I had never thought (of landing a leading role). I remember I often said to my classmates how much I wished the four years of college could finish sooner, so that I could find a suitable man and form a family with him. Even after TRH wrapped I was still thinking that way. I didn't expect myself to become famous one day and be a movie actor, neither had I imagined I could be so successful. I couldn't help feeling lots of what happened to me were more accidental than otherwise.
Wang: What were you wishing for when you were making your second movie (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) with such a director and those famous actors?
Ziyi: All I hoped for was director Ang Lee would not say 'No' to me and would not kick me out because I wasn't good enough. I knew he was meeting with other actresses and was looking for the one perfect for playing his Jen. In the end he picked me, and that's why I just had to prove he was right, even if it meant I had to risk my life doing that.
Wang: So you proved it with action?
Ziyi: Yes. Everyday, I practiced the sword when I wasn't filming. It did permanent damage to my right shoulder, but I had no idea at that time.
I struggled through the six months of filming under director Ang Lee's command. It was quite a depressing environment. He never praised my acting, not even a word of appreciation. I was only an ordinary young actor, practically unknown after making only one movie (The Road Home). That put a lot of pressure on me, because the action director and the director of cinematography were famous, and there were such big stars as Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh. I felt like I was trapped in a cage struggling to survive. I also lacked confidence at that time, because Ang Lee said 'Let's go with her' when he picked me.
Wang: What does that mean?
Ziyi: That means 'it's pointless to keep on choosing, since no one else is better.' That's why I was under pressure throughout the filming phase because I sensed he was not satisfied with me. So I reminded myself all the time he was not satisfied with me and I must convince him with my work that I was not his problem, because I knew he was under a lot of pressure, too. It was the first time he got to make such a big-budget movie, which was aimed at the world market. It wasn't so hard to see he was also under pressure. He was not a smoker, but he started smoking while filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on location. I felt really bad for him. I thought I was a major part of the heavy pressure on him.
Wang: Is he a reluctant hugger?
Ziyi: I believed it was his way of pushing me to do better, because on the day filming wrapped...(we already know what happened at the dinner table.)
Wang: Ang Lee seems to be a courteous and mild-tempered man, but you once described the relationship between you two as cat and mouse.
Ziyi: He was this big and fierce cat, while I was the mouse. As a matter of fact, I was not sure about my acting at that time. And I was afraid and nervous. I should say I learned to have confidence in myself and let it out in acting through filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Ziyi: When I stepped on to the red carpet on Oscar night for the first time, I asked myself: What on earth has happened? Why am I standing here? I couldn't understand why, all of a sudden, so many US movie scripts were handed to me. Did something happen? I don't think even Director Ang Lee himself had expected Crouching Tiger to be so successful and have such an impact on the world.
Wang: If you are asked to compare Zhang Yimou with Ang Lee?
Ziyi: They are both very important in my career. They will be my excellent teachers and friends in need forever. And I will be indebted to them as long as I live.
Wang: Which one of them played a bigger role (in your professional experience)?
Ziyi: I can't place either of them ahead the other. They are equally important in my mind.
Wang: Why did you choose to work with Wong Kar Wai?
Ziyi: I trust him, because he is Wong Kar Wai. He is well-known for “filming rehearsals”. I thought who's to know it won't do me any good? I was able to perform so much better than before because of my cooperation with Wong and because there was no script. I was actually very nervous in those days, so nervous I had to drink a little sake before filming. I'm not saying I was scared, but rather worried what would happen if I couldn't deliver what he wanted, as he had no script and gave us no clear instructions. And he always hid himself behind an enormous pair of sunglasses. It just makes it even harder to understand someone if you can't see his eyes. So I decided to drink a little to fortify myself. My character drinks a lot in the movie anyway. It helped me know her better.
You learn a lot of things through every movie you make. Some of them teach you more, some less, but they are all building blocks of your professional experience. Though I have just about 30 minutes of appearance in 2046, it is enough to show people the kind of transformation I made professionally. It was one of my better performances so far.
Wang: There are many famous faces in 2046, including Gong Li.
Ziyi: Yes. But we didn't work together.
Wang: Have you ever compared with each other?
Ziyi: I don't think so, but some people and the press certainly did, such as who is better known internationally and what not. To me, Gong Li is always No. 1.
Wang: You are being modest, I guess.
Ziyi: No. When I just started in showbiz, people called me "Little Gong Li", while I said she was the kind of actor I wanted to become. She was my idol, a fantastic actor.
Wang: Which of her strong points is beyond you?
Ziyi: We are separated by so many years of experience, after all. What she has experienced so far, since she was 20, is nearly 20 years ahead of me. There is no way I can ever catch up with her on that count. My professional accomplishment so far is the best my age allows me to achieve.
(The narrator shifts the topic to Hero.)
Ziyi: Director Zhang Yimou told me this story needed me. He hoped I could do him a small favor by playing this insignificant role, because he needed as many big names as possible to break into the American movie market and the world market. I didn't need any persuasion to say yes. I knew I would just serve as minor trimming, but I thought they would be so happy if I stepped forth when they needed my help.
Wang: Did you take the role in Hero out of gratitude (to Zhang Yimou)?
Ziyi: Mostly, yes. But it was really hard, though. When we were filming the fight between Maggie Cheung and me in Xinjiang, we had to wash our faces, nostrils and mouths after every shot because the sand was everywhere, even in our eyes. But I believed we Chinese could endure any hardship. Later on, when I was in the US for movie shoots, I told my American colleagues you guys are totally pampered, with all the material comforts you can afford. If you ever get to work in China, you would know how devoted we are to our job over there.
Wang: You could have asked the director for better working conditions, because you were not the young girl a few years back.
Ziyi: I am just an actor when I'm on the set. I care much more about the director's commitment to the project and if the crew take it as seriously as they should. I would definitely speak up if I find something amiss in that department.
Wang: To the average audience, an actor's job is all glamour, no sweat. How do you see it?
Ziyi: They should definitely go to a movie set to see and feel it for themselves if they have a chance. It's really not that easy as they think. I had thought action movies were fun and easy to make before I was cast in Crouching Tiger. Now I know otherwise, so will anyone who has experienced what I did. And you would be a little more considerate and less selfish every time you put yourself in someone else's shoe.
(Turning to Memoirs of a Geisha)
Wang: Why did you accept this role?
Ziyi: I I really feel I have been wronged. I discussed this with Gong Li, too. They spent so many years on picking the cast they wanted and ended up choosing two mainland Chinese actors for the two most important roles. I think it's a kind of honor. So many people trusted us, the director, the producer, and such a big investment. When all this was put before the two of us, what else should we do but make it a success.
Wang: How do you think the audience should view this national feeling thing?
Ziyi: Personally, I am very proud of my country. Being on the cover of an influential US magazine such as Time, I feel it was a show of respect for the Chinese people, or to china. As a Chinese actor, I believe it is my responsibility to let more countries of the world get to see more of China.
(Turning to her private life)
Wang: What is Zhang Ziyi like in everyday life?
Ziyi: In private I am still quite child-like. I mean I 'm still rather carefree about things. I know there would be paparazzi out there ready to follow everywhere, but I'd put on whatever I feel comfortable in, be it sneakers, gym tights or really loose sweatshirts. I won't change my own lifestyle just because they are picking on me.
Wang: Would you be more careful with what you say and do because of the media attention?
Ziyi: I think I've lost as much privacy as I could let go, with so many of them on your back all the time. But, on second thought, this is what you have to deal with, or part of the price you have to pay. The only thing I think I can still protect is my inner self and private life. I respect those I love as well as myself, which is why the person who loves me is probably the only one I'll let know of my inner feelings. As for others, I don't believe I must let the whole world know what belongs to me only.
Wang: But Zhang Ziyi is the subject of sexual innuendos anyway.
Ziyi: Just some frivolous gossips when you are bored, like that no-big-deal thing with Jackie Chan (during filming of Rush Hour 2), which I have almost forgotten. When I was in the States filming that movie, Jackie Chan, his wife and son all treated me like a member of the family. I never thought anything between Jackie Chan and me could become tabloid fodder. What is more ridiculous is they even spread rumors of an affair between Jackie Chan's son and me. So, I didn't bother to explain, because I had no time for such trivial things.
Wang: Some actors probably enjoy such controversy, because it gives them more exposure.
Ziyi: Not me. I can never be so pathetic as to rely on innuendos for publicity.
(Turning to the upcoming Cannes Film Festival)
Wang Do you think the invitation was for you or the Chinese film industry?
Ziyi: I think they offered a place to the Chinese as a whole rather than me alone. I think anyone who gets to stand on that stage, being the only Chinese surrounded by foreigners, would feel quite proud of himself, as I would. |
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Le FigaroMay 24, 2006
In private with... Ziyi Zhang
At what moment were you most happy? I cherish every day that passes. Each day offers something new, something different. I’m very happy at the moment.
What do you think is perfect happiness? To be loved and to love.
The last time you laughed out loud? Last autumn, I took my puppy Teddy shopping. I found him a magnificent warm coat and the salesman put some thick socks on him. As soon as they were on his paws he shrank back and then lifted up each paw, one at a time. I burst out laughing and couldn’t stop. Teddy looked at me with the air of defeat. I nearly died laughing!
The last time you cried? Watching Hustle & Flow a few weeks ago. When Terrence Howard prepares to go to prison and goes in his house to say goodbye to the woman that he loves. I was so touched by the tenderness in this scene that the tears flowed.
What’s the principal trait in your personality? Perseverance. In spite of hurt and my frame of mind.
What is the first thing you do in the morning? I turn all my phones on. I have to stay in touch with all my friends around the world.
Your hobby? Listening to music. Massaging my feet. Cleaning my room. I love that, I find it very relaxing.
What has been your biggest success? Learning another language.
Your favourite drink? Watermelon juice.
What do you most treasure? My relationship with my family. It’s very strong and full of love.
Your favourite writers? I love reading children’s books in English. I can devour six in half an hour. The classic Chinese writers will always be in my favourites too. In particular ‘The Dream of the Red Chamber’.
Cult film? Dancer in the Dark. Bjork is excellent in this film.
Favourite actress? Sophie Marceau. Her acting inspires me. I had dinner with her in Paris and she was so funny, I really liked spending time with her.
Your heroes? Ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
What scares you? Rats. That’s all.
What talent would you like to have? To play the piano. With virtuosity.
Your favourite word? ‘All right’ and ‘ludicrous’.
A sentence which disturbs you? When people say to me: ‘We’ll be ready when you are’. That frightens me.
What do you hate the most? Being misunderstood makes me feel very uneasy.
Have you kept a part of childhood? Yes, it comes out when I’m happy and relaxed.
What is the next dream that you would like to achieve? To learn how to cook snails like they do in restaurants in France.
Your favourite activity? Watching programmes on the Discovery Channel, I find it all very inspiring. |
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Interview MagazineJuly 2006
Ziyi: she's spirited, she's in demand, she's starring in big American movies, and oh, yeah, she's from China, talking to the woman who may just be the first Chinese actress to become a household name in America
Ingrid Sischy: Where would you say you are in your life at this moment?
Ziyi Zhang: It's just beginning, hopefully.
IS: And a lot has happened. It seems like you're in a good position to be the first Chinese actress to truly cross over to Hollywood, that's if you want, of course.
ZZ: Because of movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2000] and Hero [2004] and Memoirs of a Geisha, a lot of people in the United States have become interested not only in me but in Chinese and Asian actors in general. Because of these movies, maybe there will be more opportunities for Asian actors.
IS: What I find so interesting is that this is happening at the same moment that America and Europe have begun to realize how much they need Asia. I can think of many influential people in fashion and art who feel that the way to extend their work in the 21st century is by understanding and expanding into both China and India. Perhaps it's a coincidence, but I think Hollywood knows that its survival is dependent on a bigger worldview. So having said that, given how vast China is together with the incredible reputation you have there already, why is America a draw for you? At least I'm assuming it is. But is it?
ZZ: [laughs] Working in America was interesting because I got the opportunity to work on a film like Memoirs of a Geisha, I loved the script, the role, and the subject. I don't really care where I make a movie or that in Hollywood they pay you in dollars or give you your own trailer.
IS: So for you what matters is the content?
ZZ: Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles, poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that. That's why I really appreciated Geisha, because it allowed us to show the world what kind of actors we are and what kind of characters we can play, not just action, kick-ass parts.
IS: Well, that leads to something I'm sure you were asked to comment on a lot last year, especially when Geisha came out--the decision by the director, Rob Marshall, to cast Chinese actresses in the geisha roles, even though the geisha is unique to Japanese culture. Was this simply about political correctness or something deeper?
ZZ: A director is only interested in casting someone he believes is appropriate for a role. For instance, my character had to go from age 15 to 35; she had to be able to dance, and she had to be able to act, so he needed someone who could do all that. I also think that regardless of whether someone is Japanese or Chinese or Korean, we all would have had to learn what it is to be a geisha, because almost nobody today knows what that means--not even the Japanese actors on the film.
IS: Besides, isn't becoming someone else what acting is all about? Ultimately the protesting does come down to some kind of tyranny of political correctness, doesn't it? It was like saying that black men could play Othello but not Romeo.
ZZ: Geisha was not meant to be a documentary. I remember seeing in the Chinese newspaper a piece that said we had only spent six weeks to learn everything and that that was not respectful toward the culture. It's like saying that if you're playing a mugger, you have to rob a certain number of people. To my mind, what this issue is all about, though, is the intense historical problems between China and Japan. The whole subject is a land mine. Maybe one of the reasons people made such a fuss about Geisha [which was officially banned in China but was a big hit in the underground-DVD business] was that they were looking for a way to vent their anger.
IS: For as many people who were stuck on the issue, I'm sure there were just as many who found it liberating, because it showed how we can all exchange roles and imagine what it is to be the other person. Let's move on. I know you can't go anywhere in China without being recognized. In America you seem to have a much more anonymous existence. Why?
ZZ: If you'll excuse me for saying so, I think it's because to many Americans, Asian girls all look the same, so people don't really recognize me. And I think only certain kinds of people here are interested in seeing the types of movies I make.
IS: So you're saying that the audience here in America is very stratified. What words would help me to understand China today?
ZZ: Changing. Multileveled, in the sense that rich people are very rich, and poor people still have it very hard. Satisfied. Reality. Exciting. Loyal to the government.
IS: In America some of us don't like our government, and we say it.
ZZ: I think the Chinese do support theirs. Twenty years ago, under Deng Xiaopeng, our country was totally different. The standard of living wasn't as great as it is now. People today are happy and excited but keep the old traditions and continue to work very hard. More Chinese are making money and can read, but they still try to live with their feet on the ground.
IS: I always imagine China as full of culture.
ZZ: Some cities are, particularly the big ones like Shanghai and Beijing. They're changing so fast, and people are seeing a lot of new things now. It's making people very perceptive, because they're exposed to a lot. But inside they're still very traditional.
IS: I know China is your home. But do you feel that experiencing American culture allows you to see China in a new way?
ZZ: I feel like I'm still very classic Chinese. Even though I'm around a lot of foreigners, I don't think the way I view things has changed.
IS: But you could help change views. Now, didn't you attend a school for dance when you were very young?
ZZ: Yes, when I was 11. It was a school where you study traditional Chinese dance.
IS: Did you want to go away to school?
ZZ: It wasn't my choice. But by the time I was 14 or 15, I really wanted to leave because of all the catty fights and jealousies. I even tried to run away once.
IS: How far did you get?
ZZ: [laughs] As far as the garden. I just wanted to lie down by myself and look at the sky and feel freedom--the air, the stars, the moon. There was so much pressure, and I couldn't stand it. I remember lying there crying, trying to hide in the grass even though it wasn't so high. But someone noticed that the door was unlocked and called the teachers. I could hear them shouting my name, and they tried to find me. I didn't know what would happen; I didn't want to think about it. Then they called my home and asked my morn to come; when I heard her voice, it made me cry. I jumped up and yelled, "I'm here!" That's the only thing I did that was very brave. The next day I thought, Oh, I'm a hero. [laughs]
IS: And then at a certain age you decided to apply to the drama school in Beijing, right?
ZZ: Yeah. I knew I didn't have a future in dance. I wanted to do something else, and a friend suggested I try the drama school because a lot of great actors had come out of it.
IS: Did you have to audition?
ZZ: Yes. It had a written part and an acting part. It took one whole week because there were so many different things to do.
IS: And this was competing with hundreds of other applicants?
ZZ: Yeah, they accept eight girls each year.
IS: How did you react when you got in?
ZZ: I was laughing and just really, really happy. I think my parents were very nervous, though, because my family is not in this business. When I decided to leave the dancing school, they told me I had to continue my studies because I was only 16. The first year, I couldn't get used to rehearsing because there were always so many people around, plus you had to do things like be a monkey or an old lady or a beggar. I was so shy I'd cry during class.
IS: So how many films did you make before Crouching Tiger, the movie that made you famous?
ZZ: It was only my second project, which is why they say it happened so fast for me. The Chinese couldn't understand why overnight I was suddenly famous in America, too. Crouching Tiger didn't do well in China--before we released the movie in theaters there, a pirate version came out on DVD; plus, this kind of big Chinese movie that's so popular in America is not so appreciated in China. A Chinese person is like, "So what? It's just action."
IS: It was received as a new thing in the U.S. But there's also a whole emotional component to the film. Were you shocked by the sudden fame? Was it difficult to handle?
ZZ: At that moment I wasn't really aware of what was going on. Now I watch how my movies do at the box office and what people are saying about them. Back then I knew nothing, because I had no English and had no ability to communicate.
IS: So they just dragged you around the world from one premiere to the next?
ZZ: Yeah. I began to understand that people loved the movie; I just didn't know how big it was going to become. And then I ended up walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards.
IS: What did you think of that?
ZZ: Oh, my God! Julia Roberts! Tom Hanks! [laughs] I walked by all of my idols. That was my first impression of the Oscars, and I still think of them that way.
IS: Did they speak to you?
ZZ: Yes. Tom Hanks said something like, "You're the girl from Crouching Tiger--I love that movie. You did a great job." [laughs]
IS: I know you've done three films with Zhang Yimou. Have you had a lot of close relationships with your directors?
ZZ: I think so. I've been lucky these last few years working with Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar Wai. I keep them as my friends because they each helped me so much. If any of those people ever needed me to help them out, I'd be there like that. [Zhang snaps her fingers] Sometimes if I'm having a difficult time making a decision, I'll go to Zhang Yimou, who I consider my best friend and who is a great director and someone I always trust.
IS: There's a story they tell about you in connection with Steven Spielberg--
ZZ: I met him, like, five years ago--for no project in particular. I didn't know any English at the time, so my agent told me to say, "Hire me, please." So I did, and he said, "Oh, my God, who taught you that?" It was really funny.
IS: Now there's a line at your door. Does it feel like there's a wide-open horizon before you in America?
ZZ: I'm pessimistic, actually, because I just don't think there are that many opportunities for us Asian actors.
IS: America, though, is supposed to be a melting pot of different cultures, and people have begun to realize that our cultural products must reflect that reality.
ZZ: Oh, I hope so. But look how long it took from The Last Emperor [1987] to Memoirs of a Geisha.
IS: Have you shot a lot in Hong Kong?
ZZ: No. Mostly in Beijing. I did spend two months in Hong Kong making 2046. I was so scared of Wong Kar Wai because he always wears dark sunglasses, and I didn't know him at all, and the whole group spoke Cantonese, whereas I speak Mandarin. Every time I went to the set, I'd drink a bottle of sake. I'd make myself tipsy.
IS: Well, it was a good decision, because you're unforgettable in the movie.
ZZ: A lot of scenes were improvised, and we didn't have a script or lines. You just had to be in character. It was hard and totally awkward. I tried to be relaxed, so one day I decided to wear sunglasses, too. I thought, Oh, they can't see my eyes, so I won't be nervous anymore.
IS: And since Geisha?
ZZ: I shot a Chinese historical drama called The Banquet.
IS: Was this with a well-known director?
ZZ: Yes, a very famous one, known for comedy. But this was the first time he did a big project with a big budget and an old-period setting. It's quite exciting.
IS: And when you're not working?
ZZ: I try to spend time in Beijing with my family.
IS: So here's my last question: If you close your eyes and picture where you feel happiest and most relaxed, where would it be?
ZZ: On an airplane going anywhere for a long trip, no phones, only myself, and if I stop thinking, everything is very quiet and peaceful. |
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Sohu
September 3, 2006
Venice Film Festival “I felt reassured after watching The Banquet”
My interview with Zhang Ziyi was on the first day (Sunday) of her promotional work for The Banquet in Venice.
She had to attend the screening of The Banquet with Director Feng Xiaogang and other cast members at 11 AM. In the afternoon, she was booked for interviews by electronic media reporters from the host country Italy. Sohu.com was able get hold of her by squeezing a little time out of her packed schedule.
Sitting in the hotel's out-door cafe facing the picturesque seascape, Zhang Ziyi looked naturally relaxed. She succinctly talked about how she had made it so far on the way to success, in a quick-paced manner befitting her current status as an international superstar accustomed to making Q&A brief.
On Venice (Film Festival): “I'm proud of Chinese cinema!”
Sohu: This is your first visit to Venice, isn't it?
Zhang Ziyi: Yes. I received an invitation (from the organizers in Venice) to be a judge. I'd always wanted to come here, the city on the sea with a film festival to boot. Though I've been to many film festivals before, the one in Venice is too important to pass. So I promised to come no matter what.
Sohu: Will you take this opportunity to look around here?
ZZ: (Laugh) Not very likely. I've been giving interviews all day today, from morning till now without stop. I certainly hope to have a look-see in the city if I have time. This is my first time here after all.
Sohu: How do you compare the feel here with that of Cannes?
ZZ: Very different. It feels much more homely over here. The feeling is stronger (than in Cannes). Though I've not been around so far, I can sense it is more down to earth.
Sohu: With The Banquet being only for exhibition this time, does it make you feel less pressure than you do as an award presenter or a nominee?
ZZ: Not really. However, that doesn't mean I felt pressure when I was in competition before.
Quite a few Chinese directors are in competition at this Venice Film Festival, including Director To Kay Fung from Hong Kong. I was very happy when I learned his movie was entered in the race (for the golden lion), because it is also an encouragement to Chinese cinema. There are on average about 20 Chinese movies in competition at various international film festivals each year, which I believe is a very significant fact.
Sohu: Why do you feel particularly proud (about this fact)?
ZZ: Now the European and American markets are increasingly interested in Chinese movies, the number of Chinese productions shown at the top three festivals (Cannes, Venice and Toronto, I assume?) have grown noticeably. This in a way shows our country is becoming stronger, whether for its economy or global status. Every Chinese, being in the movie industry or not, should feel proud about this. I think we have opened the door to the international market, but that's just the first step. The key lies in how we keep it open to us in the future.
On acting skills: “I didn't know how to portray my character in the first two films I made.”
Sohu: So far I haven't seen The Banquet. But Jasmine Women is one of my personal favorite.
ZZ: I feel blessed with every film I've made so far. If the characters I portray in Jasmine Women had not given me so much room to show what I was capable of, people probably would have found little in terms of my acting skill. Take The Banquet for example, this character (Queen Wan) gave me so much space for acting. I felt as strongly as I had done while watching The Story of Qiu Ju. This film is about one woman, who is the essence and soul of the story. That's why we all gush about how fortunate an actor is to be given a role like that, because you can thoroughly enjoy the whole process with your character.
Sohu: How can someone so young to express so many different feelings?
ZZ: (Laugh) I've experienced quite a lot myself. The accumulation of experiences in life and so many things I've encountered. That’s not to rule out the importance of intuition in an actor. To tell you the truth, I didn't know how to portray my characters in the first two movies I made. Only now I have learned the right way to flesh out a character with the right means and feelings.
Sohu: The foreign press now knows who Zhang Ziyi is and even treats you as synonymous to Chinese cinema. Does this give you a lot of pressure?
ZZ: I certainly feel responsible for my the movies I am in, knowing that many people will see them, and I feel compelled to give all I have to them. I'd will myself to do my very best and make each movie the finest it can be. This probably sounds too hard on myself, but I just have to stick to a principle like that. For instance, many reporters asked me earlier today if I go to the United States to just to make Hollywood movies. As a matter of fact, I really don't see making Hollywood movies as that important. What is truly important is not making movies in Hollywood but making what movies. It's not important at all where to make movies. The key question is what movies you make.
On The Banquet: “I felt reassured after watching it.”
Sohu: Have you seen The Banquet?
ZZ: Of course! (Laugh)
Sohu: How do you feel about it?
ZZ: Honestly? I felt very reassured (laughing heartily)!”
Sohu: By your own acting or the film as a whole?
ZZ: Both.
Sohu: Some critics have commented that this character shows your real mettle as an actor. What do you think?
ZZ: Actually, I always aspire to do my very best in every film I make, whether the role is action-heavy or requires more acting skills. Being an actor is a process of accumulating (experience), through your roles and anything else. My performance in The Banquet would have been beyond me if it had been made three years earlier. Really, being an actor is definitely a process of accumulation.
Sohu: People gave your performance very high marks after watching The Banquet in Guangzhou.
ZZ: I'm deeply grateful for this movie. This character provided a very big stage for me and Director Feng Xiaogang gave me a lot of freedom to show my acting. He allowed me to work quite freely on interpreting this character without minimal pressure.
Sohu: People all say your Queen Wan is full of feelings and the way she reveals her deeper feelings is very gratifying.
ZZ: When I am acting, I cry whenever it is required (by the script), but what really moves the audience is not a tear or two, but the story behind them. Nowadays, what I emphasize most is the inner feelings. I have been aspiring to do my job steadily rather than hurriedly.
Sohu: Even now some people still believe Zhang Ziyi has had nothing but good luck.
ZZ: There is no need for me to deliberate on whether I'm a lucky person or not. I've come this far step by step, maybe following certain practical examples also helped, one movie at a time. If I had worked for money, I would have made many movies a year. But I see no need in do that. I respect my career, my roles and my works very much.
Sohu: Today's newspapers all carry your picture on the front page. What does that make feel?
ZZ: It gives me a strong sense of accomplishment. But is not just for me the individual, but for a Chinese movie. Though the papers print only my image, it is a recognition of our efforts as a creative group.
On fame: “I'm grateful to those who understand me.”
Sohu: I feel intimate with and very real the Zhang Ziyi I meet today. You are so different from what many reports have said about you.
ZZ: I'm really helpless in this kind of situations, as there are two sides in many things. I have been subjected to numerous controversies and I've managed to survive all that by being myself. The fact cannot be denied. I don't care very much what others say about me.
Sohu: That really demands a very healthy mentality.
ZZ: Absolutely. Otherwise I'd have no way out except hanging myself (laugh).
Sohu: Ever cried (for being wronged) before?
ZZ: You bet. No one's made of steel.
Sohu: Not any more, I assume. You look tough enough to me now.
ZZ: These days I just try my best not to think about it. Not long ago I attended an event with two foreign guests. We talked to each other courteously, but the press reports claimed I was speaking poor English. Then I though what if I kept my mouth shut? The reporters would probably say I could not understand a word in English. You see, it's just a matter of how you make of it. You're much better off taking it easy. I'm really grateful to people who understand me. As for those who don't, I take it they have their own reasons.
Sohu: Looks like your story can go on forever.
ZZ: I guess I'm the only one who will write a book about myself, because only I can tell it as it is.
Sohu: Are you willing to do that?
ZZ: Not now. It's just a matter of when. I don't think many people in this world know me well enough. (End of Q&A)
Reporter's note:
After the interview, Ziyi did not put down the microphone immediately and said sincerely: “I'd like to talk with you after the show if there is time. I really want to hear what other people say about (The Banquet). Any one, be it an actor, director, producer or screenplay writer, we all need to face the feedback from viewers. Negative or otherwise, I believe anything is acceptable as long as it's objective. Criticism is a kind of power in itself, as is compliment.
As we watch the Chinese movie industry step onto the world stage, I see in her (ZZ) the quality of an internationalized movie industry worker from China. |
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China Movie ReportSeptember 5, 2006
Zhang Ziyi Discusses "The Banquet"
[On September 5, 2006, CCTV-6, China's national TV movie channel, broadcast an interview with actress Zhang Ziyi on its nightly program "China Film Report." The focus of the interview was her latest film, "The Banquet," which had just premiered in Beijing. A loose adaptation of "Hamlet," directed by Feng Xiaogang and also starring Ge You and Daniel Wu.
In the transcript which follows, "Tu" before a statement refers to the program host and interviewer Tu Jingwei , and "Zhang" of course refers to Zhang Ziyi. Italicized sections are Tu's voiceover comments, and comments in brackets, like this paragraph, are translator's comments, added where it was felt further clarification might be needed]
After wrapping up four months of shooting on "The Banquet," the simply but tastefully and youthfully dressed Zhang Ziyi seemed an entirely different person than the complex and multi-faceted empress she portrays in the film. Feng Xiaogang told "China Movie Report" that Zhang was the key to his movie's success or failure, so when she accepted your program host's request for an exclusive interview, my deep feelings of joy at this would be impossible to describe.
Tu: We know that the story is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Was this the first time you saw this story?
Zhang: No, it wasn't, because when I was at the Cannes Film Festival last year, [producer] Wang Zhonglei told me they had this story and wanted to gauge my interest in doing it. After that, I felt that while the role of the empress mother presented quite an age gap for me, there were so many layers to the character, such a richly layered woman, that I said I'd try it. We consulted on how it might be done, and when I made my suggestions the director Xiaogang was quite enthusiastic about them, and quickly agreed to my changes. After the script was revised, we very quickly reached agreement on what we wanted, and hoped we would achieve that.
Tu: So you're saying that the role of the empress mother was not like this in the original script? And these revisions were made afterwards because you were set in the role?
Zhang: Yes, that's right.
Zhang Ziyi has played 10 different roles in her 7-year film career, ranging from a simple and pretty peasant girl to a stubborn, beautiful "dragon," an impetuous younger sister, the world-weary Bai Ling, and three different women in "Jasmine Women," distinct individuals with differing personalities. Now, at the age of 26 she has again accepted a personal acting challenge, and in "The Banquet" portrays an empress.
Zhang: She has a violent side, but also shows initiative. But I feel this woman is actually very pitiful, in that her love encompasses her own self-preservation and apprehensions about her own position, and these things put her under considerable pressure. So while on the outside she is very gorgeous and moving, on the inside she is very complex, someone not at all clear in what she says. I always felt if someone tried to explain her in words they could never quite capture the essence of her. To me, portraying her was a great challenge. Because while she had this fierce and malicious side, she also had her fragile, feminine side.
Tu: That's a very complicated character.
Zhang: Yes, very complicated.
But while she says that this sort of role is unclear, Zhang Ziyi still set out step by step on the road to getting into the empress's heart and mind, and was willing to sacrifice her own image in order to do this.
Zhang: My makeup this time was very much in character, because my eyebrows were shaved off.
Tu: Completely shaved off?
Zhang: Right. They left half of a brow.
Tu: And then the brows were drawn on?
Zhang: When going outside they were like this, but later she used red. The use of red makeup was typical of the Tang dynasty, and in "The Banquet" they made up the whole person in red.
Tu: It was very far away [from the real you]?
Zhang: Yes, my whole person was like this. She didn't say anything.
Tu: But your eyes looked very scary.
Zhang: Yes, and since she doesn't say anything, you wonder how she can be so scary! Actually, the character uses her external appearance and image to suppress any sort of rebellion from the rest of the household, and her reaction to anything is to suppress it, and she even tames the emperor, so her whole facial appearance is very small, very red. Every time the makeup was completed, I didn't even recognize myself, but that's good, because I believe that sacrificing myself for the film is something I should do, because it helps you get inside your character's condition. Although I might not like myself much, being so scary, still, someone who could be that stoic and fearless, but so complex inside, I think the character was correct.
In the hands of makeup artist Ye Jintian, an image emerged of a queen who is honorable and dignified on the outside, but coldly beautiful, aloof, arrogant, and diabolically cunning inside. This gave Zhang Ziyi confidence that she could accurately portray the character.
Tu: The image was so well made up, so well costumed, it really made her the image of a queen mother. Could you discuss a bit your portrayal of her? What you needed to make her so fearsome?
Zhang: To portray someone I feel I have to really get into her, and I felt with this woman that I didn't want to be a 20-something, I wanted to get into her as a 30-something. But sometimes, when I would discuss her light-colored costumes with [costume designer] Wu Chanzu, I would think about maybe settling into her as a young girl, for I believed that this woman was so multi-faceted, her emotional world was such, that she could present a variety of images to others. But she was really just one person, and her true self would only show when she was with her lover.
While bridging the age gap to portray a 30-something woman was one challenge for Zhang Ziyi, another was presenting a three-dimensional portrayal of the empress's complex emotional world.
Tu: Her romantic entanglements should be with the two characters played by Ge You and Daniel Wu.
Zhang: Yes.
Tu: These are very complex romantic entanglements.
Zhang: Right. I feel she can be described with colors. To me, the queen mother can be described using dark reddish purple that describes her. But when she and Daniel Wu are together, she can look like she did back when she did not bear any burdens, when she had no feelings of pressure. This gave her an aura of being very pure and tender, so her color then was a light yellow.
The queen mother that Zhang Ziyi portrays in "Banquet" and the crown prince played by Daniel Wu has a mutual affection. Because he has returned to the palace seeking revenge, in order to save the life of this man she cares for, she confronts the emperor, played by Ge You. With the crown prince she is a simple woman, but with the emperor her character's feelings turn more complex.
Tu: In speaking just now of this role, you said she could be described in colors; what color would you use to describe Ge You's emperor?
Zhang: It would definitely be a deep color, because in my contacts with Ge You I've always felt that is what he is like. But in the movie, when I decide to kill him, I felt those old feelings again, especially complex feelings, and so I think that the most complex emotions in the whole world are those of women.
Tu: No one can figure that out.
Zhang: That's right, that even though she, she understands where her love is coming from, still, when things happen which involve her, or when she confronts these things, she's confused. Because I feel that women are weak, while she is so brave, her innermost being is still fragile, and that is the time you are most vulnerable, you might say when you are most likely to make a mistake. Although outwardly she gives everyone the impression she's in total control, her emotions have worn her down and weakened her.
Tu: I note that you talk quite a bit about this character's complexity; is that what attracted you to this role?
Zhang: Yes. I feel it's a bit habitual. I wanted this because I felt that there was an empathy between this character and me, and during the time I have been performing in Japan and the US, I have all along wanted to come back to act here.
Tu: Following your heart.
Zhang: Yes. I felt I wanted to return, I wanted to live in her world. When I become a character I am paralyzed in that person, and she was like that. It's much like putting on a disguise. You become paralyzed in the character, her clothing, the properties, are all there; you become this person, and this person lives.
Tu: Actually, I've interviewed many actors, and many of them have expressed this kind of passion for a role when talking about it. Do you hust feel that way about this role, or does Zhang Ziyi have this passion for every role?
Zhang: That's basically how I am, yes.
By relying on her own efforts and desire to succeed, Zhang Ziyi has achieved worldwide success as well as huge opportunities, but in her films, her acting, she still maintains a pure heart.
Tu: What specific plans do you have for your next step?
Zhang: Choosing from among the scripts I receive.
Tu: So, if you receive a script from overseas, and a domestic script, how do you choose between them?
Zhang: I first consider whether it will improve me artistically, whether it will be a new acting challenge for me. It's like the Korean movie "My Wife Is a Gangster 3": they kept asking me to be in it, I thought about it a long time, and actually it was unfortunate because from a monetary standpoint they really offered me a lot, a lot of money, you couldn't imagine how much they wanted to pay me to be in it. But at last I decided that I shouldn't do it. That is, I'm not saying it wasn't a good movie, it was just that I felt that looking at it artistically, I just felt it was not something I wanted to do.
Tu: So do you think that each film you make offers you some new artistic breakthrough?
Zhang: Yes. Because I am very serious about acting, I don't consider the five roles I might play are equal to the five paydays they bring. For me, the work I am doing is what I want to be doing, and I don't rely on it to satisfy my material needs. I want to do what particularly inspires me, much like "The Banquet," which really inspired me to want to do it. So I feel that audiences should see that enthusiasm when they see the product, the degree of enthusiasm we put into making it. But that might not always work out in every case.
Tu: That's right. Ziyi, we were really moved by your views on the motion picture art and your very high requirements. I thank you again for being our guest on "China Film Report."
Zhang: And I thank you for the support "China Film Report" has always given me.
Tu: Thank you, Ziyi, thank you. |
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SinaSeptember 5, 2006
Ziyi on Venice, The Banquet, and Hua Mulan
“Venice feels pure and simple”
Sina: Ziyi, the peach red gown you wore to the premiere of The Banquet is so beautiful. Could you tell me more about it?
Zhang Ziyi: The dress I wore yesterday was custom-made for me by Giorgio Armani, but we chose the color together.
Sina: You seem to like the color red a lot. The red evening gown you wore at Cannes is also gorgeous.
ZZ: Sometimes I wear red because I'm in a good mood, but not always. I'll also pick something black or other dark colors every now and then.
Sina: I guess you have been to Venice several times, how do you feel about this place?
ZZ: This town feels relatively pure and simple to me. Though it was on the sea and has advanced transportation facilities, it has taken very good care of its ancient properties, such as ancient buildings and culture. They are very well preserved.
Sina: How would you describe the Venice Film Festival this time?
ZZ: I feel quite relaxed because our movie is not in competition. As for the festival, it feels somewhat different from the others I've been to, probably because Venice is unique. Here you get to see so much exotic scenery when you go to places by boat. It's so wonderful to able to experience the pure and simple local way of life.
“The Banquet makes me feel reassured”
Sina: You saw The Banquet for the second time last night. Could you tell me how you felt after the first viewing?
ZZ: That was in Beijing. Director Feng Xiaogang invited me to a special screening for his relatives and close friends only. I remember clearly Ge You's father (a celebrated movie veteran in China since the 1950s) was there, too. Some time after the show Director Feng called me and told me that Mr. Ge the elder, who had never praised any of Feng's earlier works, gave a thumbs-up to our movie this time, including the actors' performances. That made us feel really reassured.
Sina: You said that after the premiere last night, too. Does that mean you were a little nervous before the show?
ZZ: In fact I always felt a bit nervous before I saw the result of any movie I'm in, because I had had no idea how the director cut it, like how many scenes had survived and if they were the best or not. You only get to know how good your work is after seeing the whole thing. Then you'll feel better.
“Queen Wan is a character consumed by love and hatred”
Sina: In this movie (The Banquet), which scenes do you think are the hardest to handle?
ZZ: The most memorable one is when Queen Wan decides to poison Emperor Li. While lying in his arms, she is tortured by both love and hatred for this man. I like particularly the scene when she holds the emperor and hits him in an emotional outburst. That moment reveals the sense of helplessness she feels about the reality and her surroundings, compounded by the maddening mixture of love and hate. The scene where Ge You's Emperor Li is overcome by poison and collapses into Queen Wan's arms is another of my favorite moments. And there is the long monologue delivered by Queen Wan at the end of the story, because it's rare in feature movies and quite difficult to bring out well in terms of dramatic effect. It was a real test for my acting skills.
Sina: The Banquet has been shown twice so far in select cities back in China and one of the issues people are arguing about is why Emperor Li drinks the poisonous wine willingly. One interpretation is that the director intends to show his sincerity in his love (for Queen Wan). We asked some western viewers this questions last night and they said they understood why, while so many folks back home found it unacceptable. What's your take on this one?
ZZ: I'd think it's Emperor Li's way of escaping the reality, which tells him he is losing both the power to rule the country and the love of his life and he can't help it. So he chooses to leave it all behind.
“I trust Director Feng Xiaogang”
Sina: We know language is a very important element in Director Feng's movies. Unfortunately many people found some “faults” on this issue in The Banquet, such as this line delivered by Emperor Li that some say is too modern for an ancient head of state: “We as a mighty empire thrive on honesty and sincerity.” What do you think?
ZZ: I believe this movie is extremely important to Director Feng and I trust he had thought over each and every word or phrase of the script thoroughly before filming began. We didn't see any objections to the dialogs from the audience. As actors we should respect the script as well as the director.
Sina: Many people are eager to know what your next movie is. What's going on with Hua Mulan these days?
ZZ: Hua Mulan is basically a sure-go now, but it's not expected to start any time soon, because of hassles with the script, cast and what not. I'm going to make another English-language movie by the end of the year (presumably before Hua Mulan starts filming). Hope you guys out there keep an eye on it. |
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CNN TalkAsiaOctober 28, 2006
Hello, I'm Hugh Remmington, and for the next half hour I'm in the company of an actress who has been described simply as the most beautiful woman on earth, Zhang Ziyi!
This is Talk Asia.
So rapid has been her rise, Zhang Ziyi now rates among TIME Magazine's most influential people on earth. But the one-time aspiring kindergarten teacher stumbled into her breakthrough role, in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
"I didn't know it was such a big role and such a big story, film, I knew nothing."
Even now, with Hollywood at her feet - the Beijing native says her heart -- and future -- are back where she started...
"I still think my career, my home, my friendships, still in China!"
Hugh Remington: Zhang Ziyi welcome to talk Asia.
Zhang Ziyi: Thank you.
HR I know you've been studying English. How's that been going?
ZZ: Um, it's great.
HR: well you're here, you are promoting another film again set in historic times, The Banquet. Tell us about this movie.
ZZ:This movie's loosely based on Hamlet and I play the empress in the film. That role is very complicated. And the story is kind of sad, it's a tragedy.
HR: It's full of lust, betrayal, people being sneaky. It's a great role for an actress to bury her teeth in!
ZZ Ya, when I get the script at the beginning I was really, really happy, because you know, for actors, no matter who, when you get a great role you feel treasure! But at the same time I felt quite nervous because you really don't know how to handle it.
HR: Well you've had gigantic roles, you've had great films, still you are so young in your career, just 27 years old! You're selling and starring in a big budget epic film. Did you dream of this when you were a girl?
ZZ: No, never.
HR: What did you dream of?
ZZ: When I was young I thought one day I could become like a kindergarten teacher, or an air attendant.
HR: A flight attendant?
ZZ; Ya.
HR: Really? That was your ambition?
ZZ: Ya, flight attendant, ya. And because my mom was kindergarten teacher and I spend a lot of time with her at her work, so I really like kids, I love to play with them, tell stories, and dance, kind of...ya, I just enjoy a lot. And for the flight attendant I thought, they are...no, still I think they are gorgeous! They are pretty and they speak English and Chinese, and they, you know, they are elegant. One day maybe it's good if I can learn English and become one of them.
HR: So if all this falls apart you think a career as a flight attendant might still be available to you?
ZZ: Maybe one day I can play some roles.
HR: Maybe on snakes on a plane 2.
ZZ Oh yeah. Want to play the snake.
HR: Your first performance skill was dancing wasn't it?
ZZ : Yes, I think that wasn't my, how you say, that wasn't my dream to become a dancer. When I was 11 years old, my mom... you know they always said I'm so skinny, so little and they want me to build my muscles!
HR: So you started dancing essentially to build up your strength?
ZZ: Yes.
HR: It obviously worked, one of the things about your acting is that, so often, especially in action films, it's very physical. Do you find that you draw a lot on what you learned in your dancing?
ZZ: Ya I think my background really helps me, I can say that I'm good student, so no matter what the master taught me I just learn. So I'm not a martial artist, but I'm good student.
HR: Ya. When you were dancing, when you were young, I'm interested in where all this begins. Did you get a thrill, is there a moment when you just got a thrill out of performing?
ZZ: I didn't like it...doing the whole like 6 years. I couldn't find myself and I didn't enjoy.
HR Have you found yourself in acting?
ZZ: Yes
HR : That's curious isn't it, because acting is being someone else so ...
ZZ: Ya because to be honest I'm not a good dancer, I wasn't the best in the class. I wasn't the best in the class, so I couldn't find my confidence.
HR: Did that come when you started acting straight away?
ZZ: No, after Crouching Tiger.
HR: Not till then.
ZZ: Ya.
HR: Because many people in the United States might not be aware of your early start, but you met the director Zhang Yimou?
ZZ: Yes.
HR: What happened there?
ZZ: Oh, I met Zhang Yimou when I was 18 and he wanted to make a commercial and asked all the students from different colleges like Central Drama Academy, Beijing Dance Academy, you know, a few colleges. And I remember the first time when I met him, I was late because I got the wrong address and I went somewhere else. And I called the assistant of Zhang Yimou and I said I know I'm late so I don't want to go to see him because I will be so, I will be very tense! And he said "No, no, no, you have to come! I told him there is a girl who is so unusual."
So I just went, and I didn't know, there were all the girls sitting in the room and that was quite a surprise, a lot of pretty girls. And Zhang Yimou was really nice. And I said, "I'm sorry I'm late." And he said, "It's okay, it's okay, come in." And then they took some photos and we wrote down our address and phone numbers. And that's it!
HR: Have you ever wondered what might have happened to your life if they had said don't worry if you can't make it, don't bother coming? Your life would be totally different!
ZZ: Maybe! Who knows? But when I was in the college, I never thought one day... even I already started acting, I never thought one day I could become actor! I just think okay, after 4 years, I could find somebody lovely and nice and just get married and have a nice family!
HR: Not a bad ambition.
ZZ: Ya, I still have the dream.
HR: We're with Zhang Ziyi, when we return the blockbuster breakthroughs, Crouching tiger Hidden Dragon, and Memoirs of a Geisha.
Block B
HR: Welcome back, we're with Zhang Ziyi. Your breakthrough film really was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. How did you get the part in that?
ZZ: I remember Ang Lee had audition for like couple months, and I was, I think I heard someone called me and said Ang Lee is doing audition why you don't send some pictures? And I can't remember. I went to see him he asked me the first question was, "I heard you can dance, is that true?" I said yes, I had the background, I had 6 years. And he said okay.
HR: Did you have hopes after that stage?
ZZ:No. it just, you know I think its normal for director to see different actors, actresses. I had my normal life, study, school, and one day, the first AD called and said, "Ang Lee want to see you!" And I went to see him again and he asked me to do some movement and learn some martial arts.
You know, he gave me like 10 minutes, so I just tried my best to show him I can do those things. And I remember he asked me to do a little bit of acting performance and he told me, "it's very dark! You are in a dark room! What smell can you feel?" I'm in the hospital, and I can feel all the doctors walk around, you know I tried to make story to him.
HR: How badly did you want the role?
ZZ: I didn't know. By the time I didn't know what he want me to do, I didn't know it was such a big role and such a big story, film, I knew nothing.
HR: When he hired you for the film, he trained you in a whole number of things that seemed to be almost on the edge really of what an actor normally does -- calligraphy, and etiquette lessons. What did you think of his methods, what was he trying to get out of you?
ZZ: He want, he wanted to build another person, the role, Jen in his mind. And that's why we had martial arts training for almost 2 months. He hired different teachers, taught us how to walk, how to sit, and how to you know talk like old period, from that period of time.
HR: Now this was about the time you started to think that maybe you were an actor, that you could act?
ZZ: No, no.
HR: Still not yet?
ZZ: No because I, something happened during my training. I saw a lot of girls come to see him since I was already started my training. So I was confused, totally just lost. I said why the director still, you know...For me, that means that he wasn't confident about this actress. And it really put a lot of pressure on me and I just think I have to do a better job then others and make him confident and trust me.
HR: Did you predict, did you have a feeling that that film would be as big a success as it was?
ZZ: My only goal was, don't let him down. I want to, you know, I want to make him feel that he was right to pick me. Because the process was really hard. When he decided okay that's the girl for the role, that was hard and I went through a very difficult process.
HR: Were you surprised by what came out of that film in terms of the sudden international attention.
ZZ: Yes, I think not only me, I think everybody from the crew felt that way. That was a big shot, a big hit.
HR: And so how did that change your life?
ZZ: Um, I started being confidant, and I started thinking I can act.
HR: Suddenly being a flight attendant wasn't the top priority. You appearing on that stage, magazines started to call you, you know one of the most beautiful people in the world.
Is there a point where it just seem to crazy?
ZZ: I had very hard beginning, even though people think I was very lucky, very fortunate to get to work with the best directors, Zhang Yimou Ang Lee... But the beginning was difficult because people always think you're lucky and they ignored how much effort you put into your movies. And that's why no matter how famous I am now, I still think my focus is on my characters. And each time I will just give all my best into my characters.
HR: You then, not long after that, you had the pressure, beautiful films, well received films, but then you were headlining Memoirs of Geisha, a Hollywood film based on a best selling novel. So lots of expectation going on there, and you were having to speak English and you were having to do it with a Japanese accent. How was that? Talk to me about the pressure of that.
ZZ: That was, that was really hard. The movie is beautiful, but the training, the process, was like nightmare. We had intensive training for like 6 weeks and we had to learn everything.
But I learned a lot from that movie because I think for me, and for all the Asian actors, we got a great chance to show the whole world that our Asian actors can do. We can act, because people think Chinese, Japanese, they can fight on screen they can kick ass, they can do all the martial arts, but we don't know, we're not sure about acting skill. But this time really, that's why I'm very appreciative to Rob Martial. He gave us the chance to show people we can do much better then just kick ass!
HR: We're going to take a short break. Our guest is Zhang Ziyi. When we return, Hollywood! And the difficulties of landing a husband.
Block C
HR: Welcome back to Talk Asia. Our guest is Zhang Ziyi!
On the back of your success you've now twice been a presenter at the Academy Awards. What did it feel like to sit at the holiest of places and look out upon all those faces, the great directors, the great actors?
ZZ: I think the first time I walk on the red carpet and then the second time, was very different. The first time I went to the Oscars with Ang Lee, with the actors. I didn't know what does the red carpet mean, what does all the cameras means, and what just the Oscar, just the word, you don't know what that mean. And I was like, went to a party you know I see Julia Roberts, I see Tom Cruise and I say Oh my god, I see them in person, and you know, you didn't understand what they were talking. It was just totally very strange world!
And the second time I went because of Geisha, after Geisha, ya. And then I started to... people, you know, like some movie stars, say "oh I love your work, I love crouching tiger, I love hero, I love the Geisha!" You know, they started calling my name and they tried to talk to you. And um, you know that feeling oh, now I can understand a little bit and I can have a conversation with them!
But still for me it's a totally different world, maybe just go and you know do the work, but I still think my career, my home, my friendship still in China.
HR: It doesn't make you want to conquer the world of Hollywood?
ZZ: No, not really. Because sometimes I feel sad about what Hollywood offer you. For them they have a certain role in their minds, they think Chinese, they can play poor girl, or prostitute or someone who is sold to America. I just think it is hard to find the right role especially you know you can do a better job, you can act! So I don't want to repeat like Rush Hour 2, that kind of role. Its fun, but once is enough.
HR: Because in China, you're playing empresses, you are playing powerful women, you are playing mysterious women, and that must be much more satisfying.
ZZ: Ya I feel much you know, I can play with my role.
HR: Do you also think Chinese movies are just more beautiful then other movies at the moment?
ZZ: I think because our culture, we have such a long history and we have a lot of details in our costume. There's a lot of things you can do with, you can play with.
HR: So you said that you wanted to um, maybe wait a few years and find a nice man and maybe settle down and become a kindergarten teacher or an air hostess. Is this life that you are leading now, taking you away from that?
ZZ: I think acting is my work, my job and I enjoy. But one day if I have my family, my kids, I would love to do something else.
HR: Well fantastic to talk to you Zhang Ziyi. Thanks very much for joining us for Talk Asia. |
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New York TimesFebruary 20, 2005
A Star Rises in the East
Four years ago, Ziyi Zhang, who had literally soared to the attention of Hollywood as a nobleman's beautiful daughter in ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,'' arranged to meet Steven Spielberg. She knew he was interested in directing the best-seller ''Memoirs of a Geisha,'' and though Zhang is Chinese and geishas are Japanese, she recognized the scarcity of great parts for Asian actresses and wanted him to consider her for the title role. It was a peculiar meeting. Aside from the question of nationality, Zhang did not speak English. Ang Lee, the director of ''Crouching Tiger,'' had suggested that she learn the language, but she ignored him. Although she's ambitious, at the time she was not concentrating on the West. ''In China, they don't care about American films,'' Zhang reasoned. ''And no one thought 'Crouching Tiger' would be so successful.''
So when Zhang met Spielberg, she understood only three sentences (''Quiet, please,'' ''Action'' and ''Cut!''), and she knew how to speak just three words: ''Hire. Me. Please.'' Spielberg laughed when she repeated her hire-me-please mantra, but did not hire her. Eventually, Spielberg ceded the direction of ''Geisha'' to Rob Marshall, who was nominated for an Oscar for ''Chicago.'' And Marshall conducted his own global search for the lead, eventually choosing Zhang. ''The word 'geisha' means 'person of the arts' in Japanese,'' Marshall explained. ''And that means everything from the art of conversation to dance to escorting men. Geishas were the supermodels of their day, and Ziyi has that unusual combination of strength and grace. She has a great spirit, but outwardly she can seem fragile. And,'' Marshall said, laughing, ''her English had improved.''
Although Zhang is physically tiny, there is an overwhelming sense of quiet confidence about her. ''I'm not scared easily,'' she said, as she ate breakfast at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles last December. Zhang, her full name is pronounced Zee-YEE Zhong -- looked like an alert teenager, wearing jeans, a pale green sweater and a newsboy cap pulled low on her forehead. She moved with great delicacy, pouring my tea when the cup ran low, tearing apart a small corner of her croissant without producing a single crumb. Zhang was accompanied by her manager, Ling Lucas, who translated. When speaking to Lucas, her voice would become animated, and she would suddenly seem less serene, but her composure would return immediately. ''I learned to be disciplined and organized at an early age,'' Zhang said. ''I can take a lot of hard work, perhaps more than most. And as a result, I am not surprised when things go well.''
Zhang is the youngest of a generation of Chinese actresses (Maggie Cheung, with whom she starred in ''Hero,'' and Gong Li, who is also in ''Geisha'') to become known outside of China. She recently starred in ''House of Flying Daggers'' as the blind dancer Mei and will soon be seen in ''2046,'' Wong Kar-wai's stunning new film. Chinese actresses, like the Chinese movies that feature them, tend to be reminiscent of old Hollywood: gorgeous faces in a sumptuous setting. Zhang is the most childlike of the group, but she has a toughness in her gaze, a look of complication that is striking. As Ang Lee told The Los Angeles Times, Zhang, after all, was ''the hidden dragon, the untamed nature in all of us.''
When Zhang was only 19, that expressive combination of interest, intensity and, of course, sexuality caught the attention of the famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou as she was auditioning for a shampoo commercial. For years, she had been preparing for that moment, Zhang had begun studying Chinese folk dance at the age of 11. ''I decided not to continue with dance,'' she said, eating a single raspberry. ''I challenged my teachers, which is a dangerous thing to do in China. One day, when I was 13, I disappeared for just a few hours. I went and lay down in a field. When they found out I was missing, they called the police, and my mother and I went back.'' Zhang sighed. ''Later I realized that dancing had no future, so I decided to go to drama school at China's Central Drama Academy. That required one week's worth of tests. Dancing, writing stories, singing and improvisation. I was scared: thousands of students try to get in, and there were only eight slots for eight girls.'' And here Zhang smiled and confided her secret advantage. ''I got along with the teachers,'' she said.
Although they never made the shampoo commercial, Zhang began a professional liaison with Yimou. Their first movie together, ''The Road Home,'' the story of a girl's first romance set against the Cultural Revolution, was applauded in the West. They went on to collaborate on ''Hero'' and ''House of Flying Daggers,'' both of which were hits in the United States. ''But I never really thought about America,'' Zhang said. ''I never considered, how do you enter into this culture?''
Marshall, who comes from the musical theater, was particularly impressed with Zhang's background in dance. ''It gives you a discipline and a way to walk and move,'' he explained. ''We rehearsed for six weeks, I had six rooms working at all times.'' Even during filming, the rehearsals were particularly rigorous. Said Zhang: ''On a typical day, we shoot from 9 to 6 and then have training for everything we need to do in the movie. I usually start at 6 a.m. and, with all the classes, work to midnight. The language scenes are the hardest for me. You can practice the rest.''
Zhang touched her eye, which was a little pink. ''I wear blue contacts in the movie,'' she said. ''And they are not easy.'' It is difficult to imagine most young American actresses adhering to this kind of training, especially in another language. But according to Marshall, ''Ziyi's focus is only on trying to perfect the role.'' He is also aware that ''Geisha'' was easy compared to filming in China. ''There, they shoot from 7 a.m. to midnight, six days a week,'' he said. ''And they consider themselves very lucky.''
Taking a sip of orange juice, Zhang politely explained her sense of purpose. ''I remember when I dreamed of having this time,'' she said, looking steely but sweet. ''Not just this time, but still more like it. And more, and more. I think I now understand America. Hopefully, they will understand me.'' |
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New York Daily News
July 31, 2005
In the Mood For Zhang Ziyi
The fighting, flying, dancing Asian superstar becomes a love goddess for the ages
Imagine a young, virtually unknown movie actress stealing a blockbuster out from under Denzel Washington and Catherine Zeta-Jones. And then, a few years later, she shines so brightly that her co-stars - let's say Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt - are left in the shadows. And by the time she reaches her mid-20s, nearly every major director in the country has lined up to work with her.
Sound unlikely? Welcome to the extraordinary career of Zhang Ziyi. Of course, the 26-year-old actress hasn't taken on those Hollywood stars yet, but she has outshone China's and Hong Kong's equivalents.
A Beijing-born dancer and student discovered during an audition for a shampoo commercial, she started out in Zhang Yimou's lyrical drama "The Road Home" in 1999. But she made her first big impact the following year, in Ang Lee's period epic, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
A Hong Kong action film with an arthouse sensibility, "Dragon" should have been the vehicle that enabled long-established Asian superstars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh to become fixtures on the American movie scene.
Instead, all eyes were on Zhang, whose ethereal beauty and balletic grace only enhanced the strength and ferocity of her martial-arts moves. And when "Dragon" became the biggest-selling foreign film of all time, few gave the credit to Chow or Yeoh.
Since then, Zhang has made box-office smashes like "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" in China and "Rush Hour 2" in America. But her heart, she insists, remains in small films that tell intimate stories.
Next Friday she stars in "2046," a smoky, nostalgia-tinged anti-romance directed by Wong Kar-wai. The cast features some of the biggest names in East Asian cinema, including Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Gong Li and Faye Wong. But once again, it is Zhang's intricate performance that will electrify audiences. It is, says Nick James, editor of the British film magazine "Sight and Sound," "the perfect evocation of erotic mystery."
GIGGLES AND TEARS
Zhang plays Bai Ling, a young woman who makes ends meet as best she can. For a single girl in 1960s Hong Kong, that means finding generous boyfriends. It is her great misfortune to fall for a womanizing writer (Leung) who has been destroyed by love once (in Wong's 2000 "In the Mood for Love") and has no qualms passing his heartbreak on to someone else.
The actress captures Bai Ling's vulnerable dignity and immense pain so precisely, it's difficult to reconcile the character with the Zhang who bounds into our interview wearing a denim miniskirt, tank top and flip-flops, and who might pass for 18.
Zhang, who giggles a lot and exudes much warmth, freely acknowledges the contrast between herself and "2046's" Bai Ling.
"For me, this role was most difficult," she says, speaking in halting English for part of the interview, and through a translator at other points. "I'm not like this woman. My friends are not like her. I have never experienced her kind of disappointment. The only way I could act this character is from using my imagination, what I think she's supposed to be like."
Grady Hendrix, a founder and programmer of the New York Asian Film Festival, observes that it is this deeply felt immediacy that allows Zhang to stand out, no matter how illustrious her co-stars.
"She goes up against icons and more than holds her own," he says. " '2046' is full of good actors, but she's so present, so much more magnetic than everyone else, that she comes across as the most alive human being in the movie."
Eventually, Zhang built such an intense bond with the role that, she says, "I could not separate the character from myself. In the last scene, I started crying and I couldn't stop. And I heard that they said 'Cut! Cut!' but I just lay against the wall crying. I couldn't get up. Her pain was my pain."
Ironically, it is the disconnect between her characters and her own life that usually drives her choices. "I always look for roles [lives] I wouldn't lead myself," she says. "I have a very simple life. I go to school, I come home, I make a film, I come home. These movies allow me to experience different kinds of living. Because in my own personal life there would not be the possibility to feel these kinds of experiences."
Zhang's life is not quite as low-key as she protests it is. She is a major celebrity in Asia, and a favorite of fashion photographers in the West. But though she has become, as Hendrix puts it, "a significant red-carpet presence," she rejects the idea that she's drawn to the more glamorous aspects of her profession.
"It doesn't feel real," she says. "Each time, when I'm wearing the gown, the diamonds, it feels like a part of my work, not my life."
Her next film, "Memoirs of a Geisha," is being produced by Steven Spielberg. If that's a success, surely it would be hard for Zhang to resist the siren call of Hollywood?
She shakes her head, answering carefully. "I'm a very practical person," she says. "I never think about what could happen in the future, as long as I have one good script. I want every character I play to give me the opportunity to contemplate. I like drama, deep, hard - " she smacks her open palm with her fist - "difficulty."
FEELING LONELY
She could be referring to challenges of both the physical and emotional kind. As Nick James says, pointing to Zhang's varied resume, she is "equally poised whether standing very still or flying across the room."
Zhang's deceptively restrained performance in "2046" offered her the chance to meditate on relationships. The night before our interview, she says, she was walking through the airport and realized that "our profession is very lonely. Because you can't have the common human life. You can't be with your love, your friends. I always go around this city for a few days, that city for a few hours. Sometimes, suddenly, I just feel that it's really sad. So I think right now I just [can't] have any life. Well, a young girl's life."
But is the tradeoff worth it?
"Yes!" she says. "The movies can give me a lot of things, a lot of happiness, a lot of confidence, a lot of - " she looks to her translator to make sure she's choosing the right word, and nods, "satisfaction." |
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CCTVSeptember 1, 2005
Zhang Ziyi: "All I Wanted Was a Hug"
"My success was not by chance, instead, it's paved by hard work, pains and tears," said Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi said here Wednesday. During a media interview after she won the title of the "best actress" of the Huabiao Award, China's government film award, Sunday night, Zhang said "I want to tell you I didn't rely on luck."
Hailed by Time magazine as "China's gift to Hollywood" and included in People magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People", Zhang has been regarded as a child of fortune during her seven-year career. Since her first film, "The Road Home", she has cooperated with many prominent directors, including Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai and Spielberg. Zhang has not only become one of the most famous actresses in China, but has also risen to international stardom. "But you didn't see that I overcame many failures on my way to success," said Zhang, in a white, plain T-shirt.
Enrolled in the Central Drama Institute in 1996, Zhang felt like a fish out of water on the first day of class. "She was very nervous at first, and didn't know how to perform," recalled Chang Li, a teacher in charge of Zhang's class in the institute. "I lost myself and felt pain for the whole year," said Zhang. "Teacher Chang was very strict with us. I usually prayed to God before going to bed to tell me how to accomplish my homework the next day."
"When I went to school, I cried in front of the gate, telling my mother I didn't want to go in. I wanted to go back home."
"I was so scared at class. I stood on the stage and trembled. I should have performed an old lady and then some kinds of animals, but I didn't know how to act," said Zhang. "If I failed in the examination at the end of the first year, I would have quit school. So I set my teeth to force myself to go on studying," Zhang said. "When I was in the second year, I suddenly began to find the direction of performance, and was not that scared," Zhang said with a smile.
During the performance at the graduation ceremony, Zhang acted as a wife eager to meet her husband. When she rushed to the stage,she crashed into a large piece of glass, seriously wounding her hands. "My father and mother cried off the stage, and I cried on the stage. And then I was sent to a hospital," said Zhang, showing the deep scar on her hand. "But I discovered my passion in performance at that time," she said.
Since then, Zhang has always been inspired by the passion in her career. In the big hit "House of Flying Daggers", Zhang left audiences with a deep impression with her dances. In order to achieve the best performance, Zhang practiced for two months carrying sand bags weighing 30 kilograms on her legs. Ang Lee, director of the Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", has said that Zhang Ziyi is the most enterprising girl among the actresses he has cooperated with, and she would bear any hardship.
"I was only 20 years old when I performed in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', and it was the hardest film for me. For six months, I worked so hard in the desert for only one goal, the recognition of director Ang Lee," Zhang said. "All the pains under the burning sun were nothing to me. I onlywished someday after work, Lee would come and give me a hug and say 'well done', because I had seen he had done so to another actress," Zhang said.
Lee didn't do that during the six months. But stubborn Zhang just wanted to wait until that day. "I could feel the toughness in my character, and I exerted the utmost strength to let Lee not be disappointed in me," Zhang said. At the ceremony of the completion of the film, Zhang sat next to Lee, and she would never forget that day. Lee said "Ziyi, you worked very hard. You are excellent. I'm very satisfied with you." And then he gave her a hug. Zhang cried for a long time over his shoulder.
"Everybody thinks I got quick success. I hope you understand me that success is really not that easy," Zhang said. |
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Interview Magazine
October 2005
Ziyi Zhang by Natalie Portman
Up until now, she's kicked, sliced, and flown her way through her remarkable film performances. But for her next chapter, she's out to pulvernize audiences on entirely different level
Six years after her debut in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home (1999), Ziyi Zhang has made an international name for herself thanks to her high-flying, sword-wielding performances in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002), and House of Flying Daggers. Collectively these films helped to raise the worldwide prominence of the martial-arts genre, not to mention the actress's own profile. But as Zhang's dramatic, scene-stealing turn in Wong Kar Wai's recent 2046 suggests, or as her much-anticipated performance in the forthcoming Memoirs of a Geisha seems likely to confirm, the actress has more in her arsenal than just physical grace and lightning quick moves. Here she goes head-to-head with someone who knows a thing or two about delivering an emotional wallop onscreen, actress Natalie Portman.
Natalie Portman: I understand you're learning English.
Ziyi Zhang: Yeah, I go to school for five hours a day. When I was in college in China we learned English, but it was just what the kids learn--we didn't really know how to speak.
NP: Do you have a favorite word?
ZZ: The swear words! [both laugh] Today in class I said something like, "What the hell?!" and the teacher said, "Oh, you're really getting into it!" And we have this class called ... e-e-idim?
NP: Oh, idioms!
ZZ: Yeah, idioms, I love to learn those, but it's hard to figure them out.
NP: Do you have a favorite idiom?
ZZ: "Drive me on the wall" [both laugh], learning English is driving me on the wall!
NP: That's great. So tell me, if I were to go to China, where should I go?
ZZ: You have to go to Beijing. There are so many good things to see, like the Imperial Palace, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace where the famous empress lived. China is developing and changing very fast, I can go home to Beijing after being gone for two months and not know the roads anymore.
NP: How has life changed there?
ZZ: I think the big political picture is better than it was 10 years ago. Also, people have more money, so they can see movies or buy things.
NP: I read that most people in China watch movies at home more than in the theater.
ZZ: I think people are getting more used to going to movie theaters, but the big market in China is TV. People love to stay home, they're couch tomatoes.
NP: Couch potatoes! [both laugh] And you've never done TV there?
ZZ: No. I don't know why. I enjoy TV. But I only do one movie a year. There are not many good scripts, and I just try to pick the right one and do challenging things I've never done before.
NP: What kind of projects do you prefer?
ZZ: I love tragedy, I love drama and serious stories. I don't like action so much, even though I've done a lot. [laughs]
NP: When I was in school I took a class with Cornel West, who's this amazing African-American Studies professor, and he would say that in America there's this sort of racism against Asians where they say, "Oh, you know, they all look alike." He believed the reason is that Americans don't take enough time to look. Yet that's actually proved beneficial because you can play someone who's Japanese, as you do in Memoirs of a Geisha.
ZZ: But I know the difference, and because I do I have to get the details from the different cultures right. Regardless of whether you're Chinese or Japanese or whatever, when you're playing Japanese, especially a geisha, because they have so many rules in that world and it's so mysterious, you have to learn the proper etiquette, like exactly how to sit.
NP: So, what did you do to prepare?
ZZ: We had very intense training for two months, and we rehearsed every single scene before we started shooting. I have a solo dance performance in the movie, so I had to learn a special dance called the "Winter Dance." It's like a little theater within the theater. It's quite dramatic. I had to dance in like 12-inch platform shoes. The first time I saw the shoes I thought maybe they were a prop. And then they told me, "You have to dance in them." I said, "No way!" [Portman laughs] But I got used to it.
NP: I understand you started studying dance when you were 11. What kinds of dance did you study?
ZZ: Folk dances. [In China] we have 56 different minorities, and each group has its own dances, music, and instruments, so I studied those.
NP: And why did you choose dance?
ZZ: I don't know. [both laugh] I was young, my teacher took me to the dance school, and I passed the exam. I didn't know what that meant, but I remember my parents were ecstatic and had a big party and invited my teacher. I didn't know it meant I would become a professional dancer--all I knew was I couldn't live with my parents anymore because it was a boarding school. It helped me become very independent, and to learn discipline because of all the physical training. So now when I'm working and feel tired, I can still keep going.
NP: You've obviously worked hard your whole life. How do you relax?
ZZ: I love to go to see movies. I love to stay home and just clean my room. [Portman giggles]
NP: Can you walk down the street when you're home without being mobbed?
ZZ: I still love to go to the supermarket with my mom, but I've had to tell her, "Please, when we go out don't shout my name." [Portman laughs] But mothers are used to shouting your name, so then I say to her, "Maybe you can call me 'Little Dragon,' or 'Little Flower.'" [both laugh]
NP: Has your fame affected your family?
ZZ: Not big changes. Of course, they're proud. I remember the first time I was on the cover of a magazine, my dad was so shocked he bought a hundred copies. I said, "What the hell are you going to do with all of the copies?" and he said, "Tomorrow, I'm going to give them out at my office." But I'm from a very normal family. Their lives have changed in the sense that we can have the things we want, but they still go to work in the morning and take the bus. They're from the old generation where they don't waste. I really appreciate it because they influence me.
NP: Why did you make the choice to switch from dance to drama school?
ZZ: I realized I didn't have much of a future in dancing, and I didn't know if I liked it that much. It's really hard, and there's not that much of a market for dancers. My friend told me about this acting school and suggested I try that, so I did.
NP: You've worked with [director] Zhang Yimou three times now. What's it like working with the same person that many times?
ZZ: I think we know each other better and better. It was very different on the first movie because I didn't know how to act, I just gave my natural performance and followed his direction. If I wanted to cry, he had to tell me some sad story. But by our third movie I'd already made a few other films so I had a little bit more experience. He's the one person who really knows how much I've grown up and advanced.
NP: I also read that Seijun Suzuki was 82 when he directed you in Princess Raccoon [which premiered this year at Cannes]. What was that like?
ZZ: With him I learned the word eccentric. I watched him shoot one scene in which a prince and princess die and everyone is so upset, but he didn't shoot anyone crying, just a glass bowl filled with a liquid that was rippling. And I said, "Oh my God, that's the tears." And they used a black cloth to cover everyone, something like that is just so memorable. I don't think anyone else would have the bravery to do that.
NP: And with Wong Kar Wai you did a lot of improvising, right?
ZZ: Yes. We didn't have a script. I kind of enjoyed that because you don't know what will happen, and you don't need to prepare anything. But I love to do homework [both laugh], so working with him is a totally different experience. I wouldn't feel like I was acting, it was just very natural. I didn't prepare, and as I spoke the line the tear would just go down my face. I spent a long time getting used to that way of working, but slowly I got into it. Now I think I can use both ways to act, which is a really big step for me.
NP: I read that when you went in to meet director Rob Marshall for Memoirs of a Geisha, you just said, "Hire me, please." [both laugh] Is that true?
ZZ: That was a long time ago. And it was with Steven Spielberg. At that time I only knew how to say simple things, so my agent taught me how to say, "Hire me, please!"
NP: It's a good line! [both laugh]
ZZ: The first day we started shooting, Steven said to me, "I hired you, right?" And I said, "Yes, many years later!" [both laugh] And then he said, "But now you can speak more." So that was funny.
NP: What was it like working in English?
ZZ: We had a dialect class, and we had to work with a coach every day to remember all the lines. That was really hard, because you had to memorize them and perform them naturally. My mentor once told me, "It's unlikely someone can perform in a movie using a second language," but I always believed in the impossible. After I finished memorizing the lines I said to him, "You are wrong." I broke his rule. [both laugh]
NP: What is the next rule that you're going to break?
ZZ: I don't know, I should ask him to give me another one!
NP: What was it like working with Ang Lee?
ZZ: It was great. That was my first martial-arts movie. The way things turned out people think I'm a martial-arts movie star, but I'm not! [Portman laughs] I did Crouching Tiger by chance, and I didn't know what martial arts meant. For two months I intensely studied how to use a sword. It was really hard. And he asked me to shout and do the action while I was hung from wires. At the beginning I was just, "I can't do it," and he started shouting at me, "Why can't you?" Normally he's so quiet and gentle, so then I said, "Okay, forget everything, I'll just do it!" And then the strength came out, and I discovered more power. If I hadn't done martial-arts movies I don't know if I would have learned how to shoot scenes in which I'm angry.
NP: Do you ever shout in real life?
ZZ: After that I started to. [both laugh] For girls, it's easier to play a housewife or a soft girl, it's hard to portray a very strong personality, but it's something you have to know, and I think that Ang Lee really helped me to do that. I will always be grateful to him for that, and not only because the movie brought me to the States and helped my career. During the six months we worked together, I only had one desire, which was that he would give me a hug. I waited and waited, and every single day when I finished work I promised myself I'd do better the next day so he'd hug me. Then the last day we had a wrap party, and everyone was so happy and so tired, and he told me I worked hard and did a great job. And then he hugged me and I started crying. I will always remember that hug.
NP: One last question: What do you think is the biggest misconception people in the U.S. have about China?
ZZ: [both laugh] That we look the same. Or they think a particular Chinese restaurant has such good food, and then I go and try it and say, "That's not Chinese food--we have much better food than this!" [both laugh]
Natalie Portman is currently filming Goya's Ghost, directed by Milos Forman. |
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Memoirs of a Geisha Press Conference
November 23, 2005
Ziyi spoke to the press while in New York City to promote Memoirs of a Geisha
Ziyi: Good morning.
When we last interviewed you for 'Rush Hour', you didn't speak much English. It's much better now.
Ziyi: I've been learning English very hard. Actually, I'm doing a Chinese movie right now in Bejing and just every day I try to find five hours to study outside at the hotel. I just try to learn more.
What was the biggest challenge for you in this movie, playing a Japanese character or being a geisha?
Ziyi: I think, for me, the biggest obstacle is the language because English is my second language and when I got the news that I got this role, I wasn't sure I could do that because a long time ago, some friend from the film business who is Chinese, told me that it's impossible to act in a second language because the language would be a barrier. You just can not get into your character deeply. I trust this person. It makes sense. After filming this movie, I have to say that's not true. Really I could get into Sayuri's mind. What the person said to me made me really push the work extra hard and I think I should thank him if my efforts show in my performance.
Was it hard getting into the mind-set of the character? What were the challenges?
Ziyi: You have to really understand what you are saying. That's why I really think Rob did a great job. He made some very intensive training for us. Before we started shooting, almost two months, every day we had to learn how to walk, how to bow, all the small, subtle gestures. To become a convincing geisha, we had to spend time to learn. Also, we had a very intensive dialect class.
Is the movie romanticizing the slavery aspect of being a geisha? How do you see that?
Ziyi: I didn't know geishas before I made this film. We did a lot of research and I think geisha are artists. I think they are very strong women and very independent. Of course they live in a very special world and have a very strict code of conduct. If they love somebody, they had to hide their true feelings. It's really hard. I think, if it were me, I couldn't do that. I'd just tell the person [laughs]. I couldn't wait for ten years! They are very brave. I don't think they are like servants. They are very well respected in Japan.
How is this character different from the one you played in "House of Flying Daggers"? Is it similar? You were entertaining men and dancing in that one at the beginning.
Ziyi: In 'House of Flying Daggers' I was not like a hero. That was my character's job. She had to hide her real motives.
How do those women in China compare to geishas?
Ziyi: I think, in 'Daggers', the story was made up. But geishas are real.
How would you describe Sayuri?
Ziyi: I think, at the end, she became the greatest geisha in the Hanamachi but I think because she had a very difficult childhood, she was psychologically and physically abused by the people who took her and she had a very tough start. But, because of The Chairman, who showed her kindness, from that very small act of kindness, she found strength to survive and, for the rest of her life, she became very determined and she tried to find that same kindness again. In the film I had many chances to cry aloud but, for who she is, she always held back. She didn't like to show people her sadness. That's what Japanese are. They don't like to show people their happiness or sadness so, for Sayuri, like that scene when the Baron undressed her and she was so helpless, I think because of who she is, she's very strong inside. She doesn't want to beg. She doesn't want to show the Baron her tears. When we shot that scene, I talked to Rob about that and I think, 'which way is more touching? Which way will the audience be more moved or sympathetic?' I just feel like that whole night I was just shaking. I couldn't stop shaking but I didn't want my tears to come out. I just felt maybe I could move the Baron. That's why he left. Otherwise, he could do something elsemore.
Could you relate to the character of Sayuri?
Ziyi: Yeah. Last week I watched the movie in L.A. and, at the end, I cried. I just couldn't stop. I was so embarrassed. My agent, my manager, they are all there. I just had a runny nose and tears. I wasn't just like the audience. I felt like Sayuri sitting there watching her whole life. Finally, I could cry for her.
How was it working with Michelle Yeoh again? Were you two ready for another sword fight?
Ziyi: [laughs]. We talked about that but, unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to fight. She only cut my leg using a knife [in a scene]. When I heard the news that Gong Li and Michelle were going to be in the movie, I was really, really happy because Michelle and I have known each other a long time since 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', she has been like a big sister to me. I was so nervous doing that movie because I had to much pressure on me. Ang Lee was very strict and I was totally intimidated by Ang Lee and Michelle was a big international movie star. I was too shy to talk to them. But, for this movie with Michelle the relationship was much more relaxed and she's very friendly. We had a great time.
How did you get started in movies?
Ziyi: I had a dancing background. When I was 11 years old, I went to the Bejing Dance Academy and I had six years training for traditional Chinese dance. When I was 17, I had to decide to continue the dance or go to another college and, for me, I just felt I couldn't see the future for myself because I have to say that, in my school, I wasn't a good dancer. [Smiles] In my movie, I'm kinda good [laughs]. In my school I was in the middle so I think I couldn't become a very good dancer so maybe I'd try to learn something else. Some friends said 'why don't you try to do to the Central Drama Academy. It's a very good acting school'.
In your dance in the film, you wear those very tall sandals. Was that the most difficult part of the dance?
Ziyi: Yes! When I first walked into the rehearsal room I saw the 12-inch platform shoes and I said to myself, 'oh, that must be a prop' and John (DeLuca) our choreographer, told me 'Ziyi, you have to dance in them' and I said, 'No! You've got to be kidding'. He said 'yes. That's our goal. You have to dance in them'. I didn't have any choice. I had to listen to him. I tried every day. I had to practice six hours a day for almost two months to learn that dance. But, I'm very happy I did that because that dance, for me, wasn't that easy. It's not just a dance but it required a very high degree of acting as well. So, for me, it's a big challenge. It's funny. When we really started shooting, I realized I had to dance in a darkened theater. I said, 'oh my God. I prepared everything but I wasn't prepared for dancing in the dark'. After spinning a few times on the stage I totally lost my balance and that was quite dangerous. I could have fallen off the stage. Fortunately, nothing happened but that was pretty scary. I didn't tell Rob. If I told him, he would probably add some lights for me.
After having done this film, do you want to do less action films now?
Ziyi: Oh, actually I'm quite happy with what I'm doing now. I like, for myself, tragedies, dramas. I like no action. For me, it's much easier physically but I think I still have the ability to do action movies. I don't mind doing both. If I have a good script for an action movie, I would love to do that.
How surprised are you by how successful you've become when you didn't set out to be an actress originally?
Ziyi: Yes, I think so. I've never felt that one day I could become an actress. My only dream was to become a kindergarten teacher. That's the only dream I had. When I was at the college, the second year, I was so lucky. Zhang Yimou discovered me and I did my first movie. The next year, I did 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and suddenly I just became an actress. A lot of people had an interest in me. After I finished my college I just started my career as an actress. I think I will be always grateful to those great directors who helped me before. I think today I have results because of those great directors. Working with them, I really reached my acting ability.
What do they think of you in China for doing American films? Are they proud or do they think you sold out?
Ziyi: Both. If they like me, they're happy for me. If they don't like me, they don't.
It's a very strange movie. Was it strange when you were making it?
Ziyi: Yes, very strange. I had a very sad scene one day. The Prince laughed at me and then I cried. It was so sad. I felt the sadness and said, 'can I see the playback?' and the director Suzuki said 'of course'. It was such a wide shot, I said 'where am I?' I couldn't find myself. I thought next time, I'm going to give him my emotions I'm going to ask 'is it a close-up'?
Will it ever be released here?
Ziyi: I don't think so. It's too small and too atypical.
Are you ever going to do a movie where you don't suffer?
Ziyi: I'm Chinese. I'm very tough. Working in Hollywood, we have weekends off. We have trailers. We have a lot of snacks. In China we worked six months every day non-stop.
But what about doing a non-suffering character?
Ziyi: I would love to try a princess. I like 'Roman Holiday'. I like Audrey Hepburn. She's so sweet and she's very elegant. I love that movie because I had thought if I could make the same story, I would love to change the ending. The end would be somehow they get together. Maybe she could do something different. She could run away with the guy.
So you're a romantic?
Ziyi: I am very romantic.
Is there's a little 'Gone With the Wind' Scarlett and Ashley in this movie with Sayuri and The Chairman?
Ziyi: I heard somebody say there is a connection. For myself, I think they are different.
What do you think audiences should take away from seeing this movie?
Ziyi: I think never give up if you love somebody or you want to do something, never give up. You have to have perseverance.
What are you working on now?
Ziyi: I'm working on a Chinese movie called 'The Banquet' loosely based on Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.
Are you driven mad in the movie?
Ziyi: No, I'm the queen, the empress. I kill myself. |
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The London TimesDecember 2005
Amazing Grace
From kung fu to geisha boot camp to wearing Armani, Zhang Ziyi retains her perfect poise
Hard to believe, but Zhang Ziyi’s childhood ambition was to be an air hostess. "It was my one dream. They have to be pretty, have a nice personality and know a second language. I thought that was the perfect woman."
Somehow you can’t imagine the star of worldwide kung fu hits Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers pointing to the emergency exits. Perching on a sofa in front of me, she is even more doll-like than she appears on film and so tiny that she probably wouldn’t even meet the height requirement. Dressed in a green chiffon skirt teamed with a demure camisole and cardigan, and wearing a delicate gold necklace, she has the flawless skin of a five-year-old, but projects a calm intelligence.
At 26 years old, her career trajectory has been remarkable. Born in Beijing to a resolutely unstarry family (her father is an economist and her mother a kindergarten teacher), she was nevertheless sent away to dance school at the age of 11 to "build up her muscles". After graduating, she auditioned on a whim for Beijing’s prestigious Central Drama College and won a place. In her second year, she was cast in Zhang Yimou’s 1999 film The Road Home. Just a year later she won a role in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger. Since then, a series of roles have built on her reputation as an actress who can balance ethereal grace with uncommon intensity on the big screen. And, as these pictures of Zhang dressed in Armani prove, she has a unique grace that seems destined for even bigger things.
Still, after having learnt English in the past two years, she has the second language, and if she had any residual ambition to pour tea and pout prettily, her latest role in Memoirs of a Geisha gives her ample opportunity. Adapted from Arthur Golden’s 1997 bestseller, Zhang plays the heroine Sayuri – a young girl sent away to be a geisha. To learn about their exotic, shuttered world, the actors had to go to a six-week intensive "geisha boot camp" in Los Angeles. "We had to learn the subtle gestures, how you fold a handkerchief, how to walk in the high shoes." This helped Zhang become Sayuri, who as a picture of restrained emotion is quite a departure from her earlier, more kick-ass, roles.
"It was difficult for me to play a submissive character. Sayuri is so conflicted, she has to refuse her feelings. I tried to hold the strain and the power inside. Sometimes I finished a scene realising that my whole body was just shaking."
The film is directed by Rob Marshall, whose first big film was the 2002 musical Chicago. The snapshot of geisha life is compelling, but the book’s mass-market appeal rested on its reworking of the Cinderella story. The film keeps to this formula: stunning visually, it remains at heart a love story. The cast is a roster of A-list Asian actors, Gong Li, mainland China’s first international star as the scheming Hatsumomo; Michelle Yeoh, another face from Crouching Tiger, who was a Bond Girl (Tomorrow Never Dies), and Ken Watanabe, the Oscar-nominated warrior of The Last Samurai, as the Chairman, Sayuri’s Prince Charming. Undeniably a glamorous line-up, but the fact that the three main geishas are played by Chinese women speaking English has caused massive controversy in China and Japan. Chinese bloggers have been perhaps the most enraged, with one website attacking Zhang for playing a "Japanese prostitute". Such vitriol might scare off the faint-hearted, but Zhang shrugs off any complaints. "Any actress, no matter from which culture, has to train hard and do research. The world of the geisha is so unique that even the Japanese actresses had to learn with us. They might be Japanese but they don’t know geisha."
One thing that did help her get into character were the elaborate costumes worn throughout the film – from an embroidered pink kimono to a red silk dressing gown. "The kimonos in Geisha are so sumptuous. They are hard to wear and keep on during the day – yet they give you the right feelings and attitude. They hold you tight and you feel that you really are the character."
Zhang obviously loves fashion.
As well as attributing some of Sayuri’s presence to the kimonos she wore, she has a natural poise that means clothes look gorgeous on her. She particularly likes wearing Armani: firstly because he "isn’t crazy like some fashion designers", but also because his designs are "simple, yet very feminine". But she also has a penchant for Ferragamo (indeed, when we meet she is teetering in a pair of black patent Ferragamo wedges), and, like any twentysomething visiting London, has plans to visit Topshop. And Zhang hasn’t turned her back on traditional Chinese clothes: "I love to wear a cheongsam. They are so tight and they make your body so curvy. They add boobs, they add everything. It’s great."
She finds dressing for film festivals hard to gauge, "The Oscars, Cannes, the Baftas, all have different requirements", so it is Armani she often comes back to. "It’s important that you feel comfortable in your garments. You know when you have a chemistry with your clothes: they can’t talk but they can give you good feelings, I get that with Armani." The admiration is obviously mutual. Armani even offered to decorate when Zhang buys a house. "It’s great but I realised that it could become an Armani Casa showroom." His support of her is shrewd: Armani has plans to expand in a vibrant Chinese market, and with her success in Asia and Hollywood, Zhang embodies a crossover appeal that could be lucrative.
She refutes any claims to this herself. "I don’t want the pressure of representing East meets West. I don’t want to represent the young generation of China. It’s too much. I’m proud to be Chinese in many ways, but I want people to talk about my work." Despite such statements, it will be hard for her to avoid being touted as one of the faces of a new China. And with her name regularly cropping up in "sexiest" lists (from Teen People and FHM to Harpers & Queen) it’s clear people aren’t just talking about her acting abilities. Zhang laughs off any suggestion of her own sexiness. "Angelina Jolie, she’s sexy, no question. I’m not sexy. I think Asian women are still quite conservative and of course we don’t have those great bodies to show off." Anyone who has seen her act, or seen her pictures, is bound to disagree. |
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Beijing Youth WeeklyJanuary 2004
When the interview took place, she's just called it a day, they've been filming Ziyi's action sequence in YongChuan bamboo forest recently, the hardship is beyond description. But after dinner, while waiting to watch the replay of footages been shot that day, Ziyi happily accepted our interview.
I want to perform the flower fist and embroidered kick better
Watching replays everyday, that is what Ziyi's been doing for months. Nobody asks her to do it, but she thinks that will help her to pick out some problems, and take some precautions in future. "Beside, the film's not been wrapped up yet, any flawed parts may be reshot, I want to minimize any regrets. I am not capable of anything else, but making some good movies. That's why I am specially focused during filming, trying my best to handle the character, to perfect the portrayal of my character."
Seeking confirmation from Ziyi about injuring herself in Ukraine and Beijing. She smiled genially, making lightly of the matter: "It was quite serious, I crashed my head in Ukraine, but......it doesn't really matter, I don't want to talk about it anymore, because......it's part of the inevitability for film of this genre, I was injured, so were others. Takeshi Kaneshiro suffered a more serious wound falling off a horse. I am quite unperturbed about injury now, it's my profession, I should be injured, which actor could remain unscathed after filming action films? Just get on with the work afterward."
In recent time some reporters snapped a fews pictures of SMMF on the set of YongChuan bamboo forest, the real life action doesn't even come close to what's in the movie, "it's dull", sighed the reporters, actors ususally only pose for the camera. Asking Ziyi about her comprehension of filming action sequence, she reticent for a moment, slightly helplessly: I wouldn't boast it's 'one minute of performance on stage, ten years of hard work off stage', but I never cease training on martial arts, including this time I've attended some special training session in preparation for SMMF. In fact if one's not a trained martial artist, all can be done is posing some "flower fist and embroidered kick" for camera. But even for phony martial arts, there are good ones and bad ones. All I am pursuing is more realistic fight scenes, be more emulative, a few notches closer to professionals.
Ziyi continued: honestly I am not doing this for anybody, but myself. Nobody demands perfection for performing action sequence. "But you want perfection?" I asked. "Yes, I often speak to action choreographer Ching Siu-Tung : 'May I repeat this, I want better results.' I don't think any directors will say no, all choreographers want actors to give their best go at the choreographed fightings, the more you demand for it, the merrier they get. This is what I am demanding from myself too--though I am no prefessional, but I always give it all as an amateur.
"You are at least capable of self-defence now?"
"I don't think anybody will harass me anyway". Ziyi giggled.
Filming fight scenes in a bamboo forest, it's not the first time for Ziyi. In CTHD Ziyi's duel with Chow Yun Fat is dazzling. Facing a bamboo forest again, Ziyi finds it affectionate. Though they are filming fight scenes, bamboo strikes Ziyi the most as an emblem of peace.
"Can you feel its beauty when flying over the bamboo forest?"
"I guess I can only appreciate its beauty in movies. During filming, specially all we are filming are fight scenes in the bamboo forest, I have to be hung in mid air all day, no food, no water, how can I appreciate anything be it of excessive beauty? My body doesn't have any spare stamina for it." On the day of interview, all Ziyi had was a pear.
Ziyi mockingly said she was in a relationship with wire. Not only in her recent few movies she's been hung from wires, even recent commercials give their goes at wires. In SMMF Ziyi's been hung up-side down several days in a roll. I couldn't help but asked Ziyi what did it feel like. "Well, numbing legs, swelling legs, bulging eyes, feels like the eyeballs are dropping out of sockets, brain swelling outward. That's how I feel. So you asked me was the bamboo forest beautiful? How can I appreciate anything in such a state!"
"What's the longest time you've been hung from a wire?
"Fifty minutes." Ziyi laughed, sound like it's something irrelevant to her.
Ziyi is most impressed with the increasing of room for creativity in SMMF. "What I feel different from the past is now I have the courage to speak up some of my understandings about characters, I have my opinions now. Maybe this is one of my bigger changes. My character in SMMF is seasoned, vicissitudinary of temperament, altogether making her a very attractive personality. I think, the creativity does help greatly to the portrayal of my role.
The two months Ziyi spent filming in Ukraine is very memorable.The filming location is called LiWaFu(a direct translation of its chinese name, I just can't find its english name), 10+ hours of drive from Ukraine's capital, they arrived at the time of deep autumn. Different from what Ziyi's expected: "The autumn is really beautiful there, yellow flowers are blossoming all over the hills, my first impression about Ukraine is 'green', 40% of the country is covered in forest. We arrived at the harvest season, orchards are abundant of fruits, I would sometimes pick a few apples, quite fun. Sometimes I would go for a jogging in morning, a walk at night, it's been two months of quiet life, no distraction what-so-ever. Maybe because we were shooting in a remote location, people there are plain and honest, no pollution as well.
"You should really give Ukraine a go if opportunity is granted." Ziyi couldn't help but started advertising for Ukraine, "the young girls are very pretty, and its chocolate is cheap and tasty."
I wish to build a channel of sincere dialogue with my fans and audiences
Which visited country does Ziyi like the most? :" Every city, advanced or backward alike, you will discover its merits." If speaking from a tourism perspective, Ziyi likes Australia(hehe, very evidently she's got some great tastes). She's been to there with her family. "Australia is scarcely populated, the scenery is beautiful, I particularly like its sea. I grow up in Beijing, chance of laying glimpse on the sea is a rarity, I really like the profundity and vastitude of the sea."
"You've been to different countries, do the locals know you?"
"Most of them have watched my action movies, because of its international appeal, like Rush Hour 2."
Which country's fans impress Ziyi more? Her answer is america. "I've been to America for a few times already, though many people recognize me, they can't pronounce my name, maybe it's because I never have any english names. 'Zhang Ziyi' is a bit too hard to pronounce in english, instead they refer me to my character's name. Most interesting is their admiration never convert to request for photo or autograph, but talking to me nonstop."
"My American agency receives lots of letters from international fans every month, among them Americans, Japanese, European, and African. Apart from asking for my autograph, more of them show curiosity in chinese cinema and interest in chinese culture. I am very pleased whenever reading these letters, because I feel my movie is more than an entertainment to them, it's also of unusual significance. Maybe it's a medium, igniting their interest in chinese, China's ancient culture, chinese costume etc. Usually their interest is expressed in a straightforward and sincere manner.
Up to this point of the conversation, Ziyi suddenly showed a tad of melancholy: "I also hope to have more intimate interactions with domestic fans, maybe it's because I've been absent from tv screen in recent years, a feeling of estrangement about me is common among audience, most of them get to know me by entertainment news or tabloid rumours."
Ziyi feels sorry about this barrier, but she never quite get the chance to express herself, because she's whole-heartedly bent on her movies in recent years. "In the brand new year, I wish to build up a dialogue with my fans,wherein people can see a genuine, truthful Zhang Ziyi. I wish such a dialogue will be like the conversation between you and me now, you can pen down every sentence of my words, because they're from the bottom of my heart."
Zhang Ziyi is out of reach in the eyes of press and many audiences, people are no longer surprised by sporadic reports of her being arrogant. In regard to this, Ziyi didn't deny: "You wouldn't think I am a out of reach, self-conceited person. I am not desperate to come clean on this, anyway explanation is sometimes futile. I am not stuck-up as some articles say, such a behaviour is pointless! I love my role, and devote all my vigours to the character, this is my only joy."
"But if you don't offer any clarifications, others' misunderstanding will only stem a deeper root."
"I dont' care. I've been in movie for few years already, the negative publicity never stops. I was upset about it, I felt uneasy about it at some points of stage. But 'what can I do?'(Ziyi spoke in english) When the film releases, people can see my passions for the character. For people who trust me, they wouldn't be swayed regardless of what's been said about me; and for people who don't, no amount of good reports will persuade them. I can understand the hyper-competition between media institutions nowaday, I can be their sacrifice, I don't care(Ziyi laughed). I think it's better to be more optimistic. I am very thankful of the press, whether it's positive report or negative one, even they dash a sh-it pot in my way(hmm, a very lively analogy), it only shows people are craving for my news."
"You can think of it in this way, it means you are growing up."
"I think I am, you've witnessed my ripening. The future is a process of time, I will keep refining myself, people will gradually come to see it."
I am X in many people's eyes
Actresses of youth and beauty is usually deemed 'idol', but rarely people categorize zhang Ziyi as either "idol" or "skillful acting". Ziyi is quite pleased about this. "I seem to be a particular exception, in many people's eyes I am a X--unknown variable. I may not be where I am today withou CTHD, I am clueless about how I got this far, I am full of question marks to others. So I think it's very nice that I have not been typecast."
"But some people say you deliberately remain enigmatic, in order to incite people's querying desire about you?"
"I am not that clever, I will rather place my ingenuity on acting."
In contrast to the other three of "four famous actress" 's 'vivacity' in second half of 2003, Ziyi seemed rather 'quiet', is she a bit frustrated? Ziyi answered peacefully: "No, I think every actor has his/her own brewing or cultivating phases. My most wished state is, away from the limelight in usual time, but when my movie comes out, people will pay attention to my character, my performance, this is my happiest time. No news is not bad news to me, I even think being hermetic is indeed a very nice thing, I don't feel like to making headlines everyday, doing interviews everyday."
Though being relative quiet, Ziyi still pays close attention to her peers. For example, she really admires Xu JingLei(one of the four famous actress)'s resolution to join the rank of film directors. "As a young girl, carrying so many burdens, she's outstanding. I dont' think I am capable of these, I maynot even pull off a quarter of what she's been doing, so I think Xu's a very energetic actor. I really respect her, whether her work will be recognized(I think Ziyi means Xu's first directed movie), at least she has the confidence, the courage to try something new."
"Are you interested in other fields now?" It's rumoured zhang Ziyi is going to invest in korean movie "My Wife's a Gangster III".
"It's completely wind chasing and shadow catching. I want to be a good actor first, nobody can be perfect, I dont' have that much energy to cross into other fields. I enjoy the process of being an actor, I only want to dedicate to every one of my roles, and making some good movies. This is what I am most interested in and enthusiastic about at this moment."
Ziyi's had a "flashy" appearance in "My wife is a gangster II", Is it a preparation for the third instalment?
But Ziyi said she hadn't made up her mind yet, the cameo appearance in the second one is meant as a small favour for her friends. "I made some korean friends while filming Musa, they always hope to work with me again, so agreeing to a cameo appearance is giving them a hand, friendship transcends principle on some occasions. Beside, I want to have a ride with korean action movies."
Ziyi talked with great relish about her impression of Shin Eun-gyeong: "she's cute, a very outgoing person. At the time I arrive at the press conference, she received me with a bundle of flowers by the door, she said it was surprising to see such a legion of reporters swarming in, and very appreciative of my patronage. It't not usual for other actors to say something like this, but she's very sincere, and exudes a sense of big sister. That day she also told me she was gonna to get married."
Apart from joining the cast of this movie "without principle", last year Ziyi's accepting of Hou Yong's Jasmine Blossom is also against her established principle, accepting his offer without even reading the script. "This is based on a trust, I know he wouldn't hurry into this project. Last year I've watched all the workds directed by three cinematographers: Hou Yong, Gu ChangLe and LvLe, because they have their ideas, they are doing movies fully prepared, their motivation is more of love for the craft than anything else."
Getting zhang Ziyi into the cast, that self forebodes a success at the box office, it's already a undisputable fact. "In some degrees it's a recognition to you, placidly you've already become benchmark for many young and aspiring actors." "If this is a goal, I think our generation of actors are of particular good fortunes, we are in a time of booming opportunity, we can choose from a rather exuberant themes, there are lots of chances ahead of us."
In the last few years, every student at central drama college dreamed to be the next GongLi, now the next Zhang Ziyi is what they are aiming for. "Do you have a say to these illusionary teenagers?"
"Just like in real life, when you are really craving for a person, or a dinner to be in your dreams, it will often be bedashed. Dream doesn't come when you are fully prepared, it often catch you off guard, I am a typical example of this. Many chinese kids are often demanded by their parents for lofty ambitions. What do they want to do when they grow up? they often answer: scientist, pilot etc. We are all dreaming about these in our childhood. But as I grow up, I realize we need real goals, not dreams, of course this goal can't only be fantasy."
"Really curious about your childhood dreams."
She was a bit shy, :"I had two dreams, one is kindergarten teacher, another one is stewardess."
Ziyi never board a flight in her childhood, in her eyes "stewardess" is a divine profession, "because the criteria for stewardess is particularly harsh: college degree, tenderness, prettiness and mental toughness."
"What's your dream now after becoming an actor?"
"Playing a goold role I guess. But this is not my dream, it's only a wish. Just like I want to play Snow White, but nobody will film a Snow White movie anyway, how can I play that role?(Ziyi laughed) Back in my college days, we were asked to present our blueprints for future, only one guy said he wanted fame, nobody was thinking about it. I was quite simple at that time, a deputy director came to me once about arranging a meeting with a director for me. But I told him I had some homeworks to attend to. He found it incredulous, telling me director is more important than homework, I said the tutor was most important."
"What a innocent time it is." I sighed. "If I was hell-bent on what I wanted to be, maybe I would lose concentration on my study, and hence losing any possibilities to portray my roles today."
It's amazing that the little girl once pestered by schoolworks is now a scintillating star. "What's your goal now?" "Keep raising the bar for myself, it maybe beyond me, but it's always there." Ziyi said so.
"Let's talk about this year." Ziyi shift our topic to 2004 with great ease. She's already got two big productions on her schedule this year: one japanese movie, another one american. Though no further detail about her new movies has been revealed, one thing is ascertain, her roles are much more than a mere "showing of face" as in Rush Hour II. "Once is enough for that genre." She said.
What's her plan in the new year, Ziyi answered without hesitation: "learn driving." Ziyi is yet to have a car, she said she rarely tend to "facades" such as what car to drive, or what luxurious brand to wear, under the influence of her parents' rather simple and modest lifestyle. "my parents admonish me not to be flaunty and pompous, it's best not to stand out from others."
The car-less Ziyi laughingly said getting a taxi was quite handy, and she could have a chat with the driver, it's quite fun. But she didn't deny that cab drivers could barely contain their astoundment after recognizing her, the biggest question is: why have you got on a taxi? Star of your statue should own several cars."
Does Ziyi expect to meet her white knight in the new year? Unexpectedly, she's unconcerned: "Delivering good performance in my movie is more important than ten white knights combined."
Ziyi had drawn her vision of white knights in childhood, usually the type straight out of QiongYao(a very famous taiwanese romantic novelist, many teenage girls are obsessed with her love story), she's most impressed with QiongYao's "Cai Yun Fei"(literally means colorful cloud flying). She can only envision "to run into someone with mutual understandings in future" now.
"I think to find a bf, without spending much time with him, is quite cruel to him. So I will wait and see."
Ziyi confesses her attitude toward love isn't that "grey". But she doesn't want to be in anticipation of it, "Love may come along when you are least expecting it, then you are feeling in love, it's gone. Love is like dream, unpredictable."
Being actor is more the cherishable in this context. "I am not devoid of love, I've tried all kinds of loves in movies, and dating different guys each time, my fantasy for love is quite contented."
Speaking of the upcoming Spring Festival, Ziyi is very ecstatic about it. Because SMMF is going to be wrapped up before the festival, what then does she want to do the most? Ziyi slipped the word out of her lips: "skiing". She tried it by accident last year, and fell in love with it instantly. It only took her once to grasp the skill, she feels unbridled at the moment of skiiing.
Skiing enlightens Ziyi on the necessity of venturing out into the uncharted territory. "In fact I was really scared of skiing, but I still did give it a go, I then realized I could manipulate my body. As an actor, you never know what your other potentials are, but if you try valiantly, you will give yourself a pleasant surprise. Don't be afraid, this is life, embrace it with passion and without fear."
"Let's go skiing." This Spring Festival, it's the date between me and Ziyi. |
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West East MagazineJanuary 2004
A Striking Look
K. Lee speaks to the beautiful and talented Zhang Ziyi
In Zhang Yimou's "The Road Home", Zhang Ziyi was a village girl staying faithful to love; in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", Zhang Ziyi transformed into Jen, a role in which she played a spoiled reckless woman who rebelled against the traditional restrictions placed on nobility. Although taking place at two different times, the similarity of the roles has brought Zhang from obscurity to fame, becoming an international star overnight.
At the beginning of her career, Zhang had already earned the name of 'Little Gong Li', (the famous Chinese actress), and she had indeed become one of the most popular Chinese stars known internationally second only to Gong Li herself. Moreover by the age of 24, she could be an action heroine or paly a strong dramatic role, placed in the ancient past or in modern time; whatever the case, she continuously widens the range of movies she appears in. As with the antagonistic role in Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour 2", as well as working with two celebrated directors for "Hero" and "Purple Butterfly", in which the tension in her interpretation of the multifaceted roles is evident, and with these she has become a most striking focus on screen.
Three years ago, Zhang, who was just getting on the road to stardom, was sitting with the audience in a Leslie Cheung concert as just another fan jumping and screaming at the sight of her idol. This image is a total contrast to the role she played as Jen in 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'. What's more, the Hong Kong media has continuously portrayed Zhang as a bitchy young woman, and the idea of Zhang laughing joyfully and having fun with friends is difficult to imagine.
The portrayal of Zhang by many may be due to her rise to international stardom, which happened too quickly, and may have made many envious of her success. After all she is the first person with such a reputation in China.
Many people attribute her sudden rise to stardom to luck rather than talent. Being voted as one of th 25 stars having the most potential by "People" magazine, the ambitious Zhang says that oppotunity and an ethic of hard work are equally important. Her initative and hard at the Cannes Film Festival for the film "Purple Butterfly", left a deep imprint of people's minds.
The hectic schedule for the four days, from choosing clothes, trial make-up, the non-stop global interviews, parties, and with the ever changing translators, she never displayed a hint of fatigue. Of the 10 hours of activities from morning to night in her schedule, she never uttered a complaint. Constantly displaying her sweet smile, she made sure to reply to each question posed by media journalists.
A few years ago, the Hong Kong media widely criticized her for her poor English, however today she can comfortably handle conversations in English. Zhang is continuously improving herself through self-learning. While talking with other people, she would always take the opportunity to ask some English-related questions. Her active learning, self-improving attitude and reluctance to give up have allowed her to understand and better portray the characters she plays. "I just know how to embrace opportunities."
In the public eye, Zhang is gradually gaining superstar status, but behind the scenes, she has indeed paid the price for it. During the process of acting in a series of action movies, she often goes into a series of fight training sessions one after another oftern with injuries she gets from working on previous films. The most serious, a shoulder injury that until now still has to be treated regularly, but Zhang Ziyi has never complained.
Currently Zhang has her plate full with work lined until up the end of next year. Upon finishing "Hero", she is perparing to get involved with Zhang Yimou's second martial arts movie. This high budget movie is currently filming in Auckland, New Zealand. Director Zhang Yimou and Zhang, along with two popular Asian actors Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, will soon attract the attention of Asia and the world. For us we must wait and see what Zhang's next step will be, on her road to super stardom. |
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The GuardianSeptember 2004
Flying High
Crouching Tiger made her big. Now Hero looks set to make her a superstar.
Sanjiv Bhattacharya meets Zhang Ziyi
Few understand the hazards of flying through the air while waving a sword better than the 25-year-old actress Zhang Ziyi. She first tried it in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when she emerged unscathed, but in Hero, the latest wire-suspended martial arts extravaganza, she wasn't so fortunate. In an elaborate fight scene between Ziyi and her co-star Maggie Cheung, she discovered how perilous these balletic fight scenes can be.
"Maggie didn't know martial arts, so I was afraid to hurt her," she says, sitting in her publicist's office in Los Angeles. Ziyi is so demure, porcelain pretty and gently spoken that it's hard to imagine her hurting anyone, much less with a sword. "But it happened. I cut her right hand with my knife. I felt so bad. The blood went everywhere."
The scene involved Ziyi swooping in with a sword while Cheung repelled her by whipping up a supernatural wind of autumn leaves. The clock was ticking - they had only three days to get the fight right, since the leaves would quickly darken. To make things even harder, the director Zhang Yimou insisted that Ziyi should not blink, despite the bright sun, so after every take, Ziyi's eyes were streaming. As it turned out, there were tears with or without the sun.
"I started crying because Maggie is my idol," she says. "She keep saying, 'It's nothing.' But it was a big cut. I keep saying, 'Sorry.' But I feel so ... " She chews her lip, and emits a burst of Mandarin into a nearby speakerphone. She has a translator on hand, who promptly pipes up: "Guilty!"
With Hero and Crouching Tiger on her CV, Ziyi has the distinction of having starred in both of the biggest Chinese films to have crossed over to the west in recent history. She joins that list of Chinese actors - Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li - who are stopped in the streets of Beverly Hills and Beijing. Like Crouching Tiger, Hero is a critical and commercial success. Unquestionably one of the most visually breathtaking films ever made, it is also the biggest ever opening of any Asian film in US box-office history, and the second largest opening of any film in a foreign language (topped only by The Passion of the Christ). "If Crouching Tiger opened the door for Chinese cinema," says Ziyi, "then I think Hero can keep it open for a while."
The story begins with Jet Li as "Nameless", an assassin who arrives at the court of the tyrannical king of Qin, in 3BC, the very king who went on to become the first emperor of China. Nameless announces that he has killed the three assassins who most concern the king - Broken Sword (Tony Leung), Sky (Donnie Yen) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). As the story unfolds, through a series of conflicting flashbacks, Rashomon-style, we discover how Nameless found his way to the king's door, and what part Ziyi plays, as Sword's loyal assistant, Moon.
Hero is such a gorgeous spectacle, words like "transcendent" and "poetic" have rarely been so apt. Each version of Nameless's tale is given a vivid colour scheme; each sequence is exquisitely composed. Zhang Yimou has such a particular eye that for Ziyi's fight scene with Cheung, for example, he says: "I had a guy out there [inner Mongolia] specifically to keep an eye on the leaves. He made videotapes of their progress as they turned from green to yellow." Ziyi herself describes Yimou as "the kind of director who knows everything in his mind; the whole picture. He tells you exactly what he wants and if you give it to him, it's done. Even in only two takes."
She should know. She has made three films with Yimou - her first, A Road Home, then Hero and the forthcoming House of Flying Daggers, which premiered at Cannes to rave reviews. She understands his ways by now; she's a muse. Yimou's relationship with the actress Gong Li fell apart when Ziyi came along, though both vigorously deny any rumours of an affair. "I'm too busy to have a boyfriend," she says, "no time, much too rush."
Certainly this is a bumper year for the actress. As well as her fertile collaboration with Yimou, she appears in 2046 in October, the latest movie by Wong Kar Wei, the fabled Chinese director best known for not providing his actors with a complete script. "It was so hard working for him, but I like the challenge. We don't learn the script, every day we had to, erm ... " The speakerphone announces: "improvise!"
"I'm picky about my parts because I don't want to waste time," she says, purposefully. "I'm young, so I want to learn." And she tuts and shakes her head when she remembers how much time she wasted on the set of Rush Hour 2. "I should have at least learnt English," she says, chiding herself.
She begins her next venture in a matter of weeks - the long-awaited adaptation of Arthur Golden's bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha, here in LA. Well aware of the controversy surrounding the book - Nitta Sayuri, on whom it is based, resents the focus on prostitution - the film, she promises, will be "a very different story". It's a prospect that fills her with excitement and trepidation. "It's my first time in a lead and I have to speak English!" She steels herself. "In a Japanese accent!"
Ziyi had never entertained thoughts of a Hollywood career until she had one. She grew up in Beijing, the daughter of an economist father and a kindergarten teacher mother, and trained as a dancer throughout school. She has spoken about having a "dark time" at the Beijing Dance Academy, even running away at the age of 13, prompting her mother to call the police. "I wanted to escape so badly, so I hid in a little thicket of grass," she once said. "I could hear all the teachers calling my name, but it was only when I heard my mum's voice that I came out. It was a fleeting kind of escape."
Her fortunes turned when, at 18, Zhang Yimou plucked her from a line-up of models for a shampoo commercial he was shooting. Out of 40,000 applicants, he cast her in the lead of A Road Home, a breathless and charming love story, that won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear award at the 2000 Berlin film festival. Then Ang Lee hired her for Crouching Tiger, a tumultuous experience by any stretch. Yet again, the shoot was so tough that it made her cry.
"Ang Lee likes to do many takes," she says. "He wants something from one shot and something else from another. So I had so much pressure, I couldn't sleep; I just cried every night. I called my friend saying 'I don't know what shall I do tomorrow'."
Crouching Tiger made Ziyi a superstar. In China, she has notched up a string of endorsements - Coca-Cola, Tag Heuer, Pantene, Maybelline ... (Today, her brother works full time on that side of the business). Meanwhile, she fields a flurry of offers from Hollywood. She accepted her first in 2001 - the kung fu cop caper Rush Hour 2, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker - and she still recalls with a gasp what a culture shock it was. Never before had she been confronted with such an abundance of time and money.
"You have weekends. Two days off every week!" she says, as though she has just discovered the concept. "So easy! In China, we work the whole time, no breaks. Hero was five months. House of Flying Daggers was six months. And I couldn't believe the size of the wardrobe car. It was shocking!" she giggles. "And the food! You can have so many different kinds of food. It was so comfortable. It seemed like people would get lazy! In China, we don't have trailers. For Hero we did, because it is a big project so they spent some money for us, but usually you just sit in your own car."
Though Ziyi describes Hero as a big project - and it certainly seems vast on the screen - the budget was still only $2 million, not enough to coax most Hollywood A-listers out of bed. Ziyi boggles at what Hero would have cost as a DreamWorks production. She's still giddy at the splendour of the Rush Hour 2 set - the well-marshalled staff, the experts in makeup, hair, set design and so on. "It's so professional here. There are 10 people, where in China we have only one - the director is in charge of everything," says Ziyi. "Even the make-up. He will say, 'Why your eyebrow is crooked, not same as last scenes?' Especially Zhang Yimou."
There's much she loves about Los Angeles. She finds the fans "more civilised" and she gets a big kick out of star-spotting about town. "Last night, I saw Sharon Stone having dinner!" she laughs. "But I was too embarrassed to say anything." She has friends here from her Rush Hour 2 days, and she would buy a place here, she says, "when my English improves, maybe". She seems somehow half-hearted. Her heart remains in China. Rather than cash in on the lucrative offers that Hollywood piles at her door, for instance, she has chosen to work with acclaimed Chinese directors for smaller fees. And though she says she is unfazed by the nomadic life out of apartments and hotel rooms - "I'm used to it by now" - her face softens at the mention of her family. "I try to make my room like home, I bring all my toys," she says, bashfully. "You know, teddy bears, a little sheep. Some cute stuff."
It's time for her to leave. Two hours of English classes lie ahead of her. Yet for a moment, all the sword-wielding martial-arts superstar can think of is her little sheep. |
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The London Times
October 2004
Zhang Ziyi - Punching Above Her Weight
Ian Nathan gets a kick out of Zhang Ziyi, the star of the Times gala screening
ZHANG ZIYI, the luminous young Chinese star who rose, quite literally, above all expectations in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, thinks people get her wrong.
Whatever the circumstances, be it Hollywood meetings (and there are plenty of those these days) or when perfect strangers catch her eye on the street, they are always, well, expecting someone different. "People are amazed," she says in mock concern. "They say, 'You are so small, you are so little, how come you can kick that arse?'"
With this she breaks down into peals of eager laughter, delighted at her ease in making jokes in English, which she has been learning over the past few years.
This quick, self-deprecating sense of humour is another unexpected trait from the serious-looking queen of high kicks who emerged so brightly in 2000 and now looks set to become China's most celebrated export since opium. We have just seen her soar across divine, ancient landscapes in Hero, and will again in the Times gala, House of Flying Daggers, both stunning martial-arts epics from the director Zhang Yimou.
"I love Crouching Tiger very much because I didn't know I could play this strong girl," she continues, "a very powerful girl. I think Ang Lee helped me to find that kind of personality. I didn't know I could do it. I am softer. I can't kick people."
When Lee found the now 25-year-old Zhang, she was a young dancer with only one small role beneath her tiny feet. In this exquisite creature, as petite as nature could concoct, he sensed an inner fire and transformed her into a breathless mistress of wushu, the gravity-defying martial art of Chinese folklore.
Certainly the fluid movement of dance helped in the transformation, but it was tough going. Zhang felt enormous pressure to rise to the challenge and injuries were inevitable. "The power is different," she asserts. "Dance is very soft, but with martial arts you have to work with another person. At the beginning I didn't know how to protect myself. You get hurt very easily, but it was OK, I'm here!"
In Hero, and even more so House of Flying Daggers in which she takes the burden of the movie upon her shoulders as the blind warrior Mei, her abilities sing from the screen. Each film reveals ever more miraculous feats, food for both eye and heart, and the full extent of her talents.
"For me, because I can do something, I now talk to the action director," she says, revealing how confident she has become. "I want to do it myself as much as I can."
In the recently released Hero she plays a petulant servant girl called Moon, caught up in political intrigue as a group of assassins plot to murder the Emperor. It's a smaller role, but she still features in one of the most beautiful action scenes yet committed to celluloid, a dazzling duel with Maggie Cheung amid a storm of tumbling leaves. But, as Zhang is happy to report, behind every exalted sequence lie days of hardship.
"That was very hard for the right reasons. To get the right colours we only had three days. For each single shot, all the crew helped us to blow the leaves and the director told us to keep our eyes open, don't blink. It was hard for us because of all the dust in the leaves. After every shot we had to use eye-drops."
This blend of talent and determination has inevitably caught Hollywood's eye, and she has already taken a "kick arse" role in Rush Hour 2, during which she couldn't speak a word of English, relying on Jackie Chan to translate the director's instructions.
"That was so different from how I work in China. In China the director is the one who is hard, he's in charge of everything."
What becomes clear in talking to Zhang is that she is as smart as she is stunning. She is already well able to deal with unwanted attention. While she was in New York to learn English she came down with a bad bout of flu. After a brief visit to hospital she returned home on the subway.
"There was this guy, he saw me," she recalls. "I was so cold I was wearing a lot of clothes, but he still recognised me. 'Are you?' 'No, no.' 'Are you?' 'No.' And then he said, 'Anyway, did you watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?' I said, 'Oh no, not yet.' He said, 'Hey, you just have to watch that movie, you just look like that girl.' I said, 'OK, I will do that'."
Now with her English flowing easily, and fame held sensibly at arm's length, it is time to put this martial-arts thing in perspective. It's all acting and she is only an actress.
"Of course, martial-arts movies are more international, so we have a chance to be seen in more places, like America, like Europe," she says. "However, in China I am working on different things. I am still young, I want to learn other things. I want to work on some characters. I want to become a better actor. So I've worked with Wong Kar-Wai on 2046, that is totally drama, no action."
Zhang has something even more exciting in store. The director Rob Marshall has cast her as the lead in his long-gestated adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha, alongside Ken Watanabe and Michelle Yeoh. When the announcement was made, no one blinked an eye, the choice seemed so obvious.
"I am very excited," Zhang says. "It's my first time in a lead and I have to speak English. With a Japanese accent!" All of which is a long way from the young dreamer from Beijing, wide-eyed at the possibility of acting. Now she has flown above tree tops and looks set to fly high above Hollywood just as easily. Just don't let it go to your head.
With true Chinese pragmatism she laughs again: "I just follow it day by day. If I have the right project I will do my best. That is all. I never think about the next one or the future. Dreams can come true. I just do my best and then I can make something else." |
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The Orange County Register
December 3, 2004
Taking a Stab at Stardom
Ziyi Zhang of 'House of Flying Daggers' is living her Hollywood dream.
Ziyi Zhang never thought about the American Dream. When she was growing up in Beijing, she was more interested in the Chinese Dream.
In a few short years, however, the 25-year-old actress has managed to live both dreams. She already is a popular movie actress in her homeland, and she is about to become a major star in this country.
Sitting in a booth in a fashionable Beverly Hills restaurant, giddy from a combination of excitement and lack of sleep, Zhang can barely contain her enthusiasm.
It's been four months since she's seen her family, but she has been way too busy to think about being homesick. When she's not working up to 15 hours a day in her first starring role in an American film ("Memoirs of a Geisha," directed by "Chicago's" Rob Marshall and scheduled for a Christmas 2005 release), or promoting her new Chinese film ("House of Flying Daggers," which opens today), she's tooling around L.A. in her new Lexus, with the sounds of Usher and Eminem blaring from the CD player.
"I'm so tired. I haven't had a day off in weeks. But I'm having so much fun," she says in quick machine-gun bursts between sips of tea, with her New York-based manager/interpreter by her side to help with words that might get lost in translation.
Not that she needs much help in the language department. After all, "Memoirs of a Geisha" is being filmed in English.
"I love the freedom I have in America," she says with the gush of a new arrival. "I love the freedom to walk around and not be recognized. In Beijing, everybody knows what I look like, and people are always stopping me in the street and shouting my name. The newspapers run pictures of my house, and there are people always standing outside looking for me.
"But in America, I can go to the movies (favorite American movie star: Al Pacino), I can go to Las Vegas (favorite show: Celine Dion), and I can go to bookstores. I love going to bookstores so I can learn more English. That's why I watch so many commercials on television; they help me learn English."
She would be smart to enjoy the anonymity as long as she can because it probably won't last forever.
Although American audiences might be vaguely familiar with her from two previous Chinese films, Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Zhang Yimou's "Hero," or from a supporting role as a villain in the action-comedy "Rush Hour 2," her face no doubt will become even more familiar as strong word-of-mouth spreads on "House of Flying Daggers."
Also directed by the brilliant filmmaker Yimou, the new, subtitled film takes place in 859 A.D. near the end of the Tang Dynasty. The government is locked in a deadly battle with various rebel groups, the most notorious of which is called the House of Flying Daggers. Two local police officers go undercover to try to capture the new leader of the rebel group.
Their first stop is a brothel where one of the new dancers is rumored to be a member of the group. The dancer (Zhang) is blind, but she has many hidden talents, not the least of which is dancing.
As in Yimou's "Hero," the new film features spectacular cinematography, state-of-the-art martial-arts fighting and solid storytelling, but the action is more intense, the choreography more elaborate, and the twists and turns more clever than in the previous film.
"It is a beautiful love story with a lot of martial arts," the actress says with a laugh. "There's something for everyone."
Zhang, who trained as a dancer, insisted that she is not a martial artist in the same league as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but approaches her martial-arts scenes as a dancer. Still, she trains in the martial arts for two months before every action movie. This film required more training than others because she plays a dancer who is blind.
She said she moved in with a 13-year-old blind girl in Beijing to study her movements and had to go into intense training for one particular dance scene. It is called the "Echo Dance" and calls for her to hit drums that encircle her with the elongated sleeves of her dress.
"That scene took two months to train for and two weeks to shoot," she explained. "Those sleeves were so heavy, and I had to throw them hundreds of times each day. I was so tired at the end of each day, but my arms got stronger and stronger, and I became a better bowler."
"House of Flying Daggers" is her eighth movie overall and her third movie for this director, whose film "Hero" was nominated two years ago for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. He won top directing and screenwriting awards for "House of Flying Daggers" at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
"I like working with him because he knows what he wants," the actress said. "Before we start shooting, he knows what the entire movie is going to look like. He cares about details, and I trust him a lot. When you trust your director, you never have to worry about your acting."
FROM CHINA WITH LOVE
Zhang, who will still live with her parents when she returns to China, grew up in an apartment in Beijing with her father, a government economist; her mother, a kindergarten teacher; and her older brother, who now runs his own advertising agency.
When she was 11, she enrolled in a dance school but insists that she had no desire to become a professional dancer.
"My parents sent me to study dance so I could build my muscles," she said. "I was very small and very weak for my age. They were worried about my health."
She left that school when she was 17, took a government-sponsored aptitude test and discovered that she had a knack for acting. Since she didn't know how to do anything else, she auditioned for one of the few available spots in the China Central Drama College and was accepted.
In her second year at the school, she was among a group of budding actresses who auditioned for a commercial being filmed at the school by Yimou. Nothing came of the commercial, but when the director was casting roles six months later for his film "The Road Home," he remembered that exquisite face from the acting school.
A year later, while still in school, she impressed Ang Lee enough to win the role in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
"We were all surprised by how successful that movie was in America, and I don't have any answers to why it was so successful. It helped my career, but even more important, it helped open doors for other Chinese films.
"And it is important that the quality of Chinese films be maintained, or that door will be closing." Zhang (it's pronounced Jung) said the door was also opened for Chinese actresses, and she counts herself as one of the lucky ones who have been able to step through the door to a Hollywood career.
"There usually are not many scripts for Asians in this country. And that is especially true for Asian girls. That's why I'm working so hard. I must take advantage of this opportunity.
"I never dreamed of working in Hollywood movies because Hollywood seemed so far away," she added. "But now that I'm here, I like it, and I want to stay." |
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IGN Filmforce
December 8, 2004
Interview: Zhang Ziyi
Talking to the star of House of Flying Daggers
For most actresses, success typically equals being typecast in the same romantic roles over and over again to a revolving door of suitable suitors, or perhaps at best earning a reputation for chameleonic transformations that keeps them from working too frequently in frivolous Hollywood froth. But Zhang Ziyi has yet to fall into any of the trappings of silver screen success; from her auspicious debut in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home to her turn in this winter's The House of Flying Daggers, the formidable female has encountered a wide range of characters, and proven that she can bring her singular talent and beauty to each of them. In this recent interview with IGN FilmForce, Ziyi explains (via a translator) that whether or not her roles require martial arts, just keeping afloat in the moviemaking industry is a fight unto itself.
"Personally, every role I take, I really put everything I have into it," says Ziyi, who appears to be significantly less tough in person than she does in her memorable physical roles. Ironically, her high profile of late seems to contradict the relative paucity of parts she chooses to play. "I'm not as prolific as some other Chinese actors," she says. "I wait a lot longer for a role and go through a huge amount of screenplays to really find the right role. But once I find one and take a role, I put everything into it a hundred percent because that's all I have.
"When I'm on that role, that's really all that exists. The whole world is that part, is that role, when I'm doing it."
In Flying Daggers, the actress plays a blind girl and expert martial artist who might be part of an underground criminal network. Ziyi says she researched her role with typical zeal. "I lived with a real blind girl who was 14 years old," she says. "We lived together and I would watch her every day. I took her to the garden and to the market just to see different reactions." Ziyi says that she and her companion ultimately learned from one another during the experience. "I taught her some simple movements," Ziyi recalls. "I taught her some martial arts that use bamboo, because I think the reaction is different. I found a really good way to compare when it's correct and when it's wrong; I told the [assistant director] to film at the same time so I could see if some parts are wrong or not fake."
At the same time, Ziyi remembers, her muse proved a little skittish when it came to attempting some of the more farfetched feats her character accomplishes in the film. "She can't run, the blind girl," Ziyi says. "I took her to a very, very big empty space and she was so scared, she wouldn't run. I told her, 'Come on, please!' but she was so scared."
It was the character's disability, she says, that initially appealed to her during the development stages of the project. "One of the great challenges was the fact that I was playing a blind girl," she says. "This is a [difficult] role because not only am I blind but I have to fight blind. I had to learn how to live, how to fight, how to dance and then to do all of this as a blind girl. That proved to be a huge challenge, but I also looked at it as an opportunity."
She says that Mei's physical attributes notwithstanding, the complexity of the character provides unique chances for her to more fully explore emotional elements touched upon in her earlier roles. "It's also a very conflicted character with a lot of contradictory feelings, [whether she is] in love, she's not in love, and fighting these two angles," she says. "Hero was kind of a learning experience for me because I had a small role. I looked at it as a chance to learn from those other big actors, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Jet Li. If you ask what specifically what I learned from them, it's kind of hard for me to articulate, but I can see it and when I watch it I can feel what I learned from being in the company of such outstanding actors."
Ziyi says that part of her confidence in being able to play this role came from the certainty of director Zhang Yimou's vision, which she says was unwavering. "Zhang Yimou really has a very fully-realized vision of what he wants," she says. "When he gives me the screenplay, he already knows at that moment how the whole film is going to look, the editing, how it's going to be, the music, it's all pre-made in his mind and he just has to let it happen and bring it about. So he's very clear about what he wants and how to make it happen."
Ziyi's next role is in Rob Marshall's adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel Memoirs of a Geisha, and it promises to catapult her even more squarely into the center of the international moviemaking community. She says that the opportunity alone was an enormous, and enormously exciting, surprise. "None of us really imagined that Memoirs of a Geisha would have three Chinese actresses playing the lead roles," she confesses, referring to herself, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh. "This took all of us really by surprise, but we also really treasure this opportunity 'cause it's really rare in Hollywood to have such a huge budget, major production of a drama. It's not an action film, but a drama that's focusing on Asian characters. We really think that this is a wonderful opportunity so we're really taking this very seriously."
Despite the abundance of movie work Ziyi's been offered of late, she says that most Asian actresses rarely have the chance to work so frequently in so many different creative arenas. "In Hollywood, actors, directors, the whole industry, everybody always has a lot of opportunities. Every year there are dozens of huge-budget, high-quality Hollywood films being produced, and I think one of the biggest problems facing us in China is that everything's smaller," she explains. "If you look at huge budget, really big movies, there's Hero and there's House of Flying Daggers and there's not much else in between.
"You have to wait a long time to get really good quality scripts because there just aren't a lot of people out there in the industry making it as large and powerful as it is in Hollywood," she continues, explaining that content restrictions keep Asian filmmakers from fully exploring the same range of subjects as Hollywood directors and producers. "In Hollywood you can make any film you want about any subject matter. You can have very sensitive political content, you can have sex, you can have homosexuality reflected in films and nobody cares, no one's going to stop you. You have unlimited possibilities in the creative realm. However, in China there's all kind of limitations, so the room for creativity is reduced to a much smaller circle and the opportunities are really hindered there."
As her profile increases, Ziyi says that she doesn't have a master plan for the future; rather, she's just too happy to be working to predict what's next. "I never even dreamed that one day I'd end up here in America making a film, let alone making a film in English," she says. "That's something that was completely out of my dreams and it's the kind of thing you can't plan for. You can't hope something like this is going to happen, but one day when it does happen you just have to kind of do your best to control your role and sculpt them into the strongest voice that they can be. It's something that I really never anticipated, but now that I'm here I'm just really doing my best," she says. "What's most important is finding good strong roles that I can really devote myself to and pour all of my creative energy into.
"The main point for me is to make good quality films that resonate with audiences and touch people and kind of win them over. That's really all about the films and not about whether you're in Hollywood or not." |
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The London Times
December 12, 2004
Zhang Ziyi: Already An Icon
She’s already an icon at home. Now the West is falling at the feet of Zhang Ziyi
We have come to expect feats of superhuman derring-do from the young Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi after films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. In her latest, House of Flying Daggers, directed by Zhang Yimou (who also directed Hero), she fends off armies of warriors while flying through treacherous bamboo forests as nonchalantly as most people might hop on a 73 bus. In person, thankfully, the 25-year-old is anything but ferocious, seeming, superficially at least, as delicate as a Ming vase, an impression reinforced when she has to ask me for help to unscrew the top of a small bottle of mineral water. “In your films, you are stronger,” I point out, leaning forward to take the bottle, secretly excited by this unexpected opportunity to show off my virility to one of the world’s most beautiful actresses. “Yes, in my films I can do everything I want,” she responds, her voice almost a whisper, glancing quickly at me and her translator to make sure she’s expressing herself properly in English. Unfortunately, going red in the face, I can’t open the bottle either, to her evident but discreet amusement.
Emasculated, I hand her another from the cabinet.
We’re meeting in Los Angeles because Zhang is here filming Memoirs of a Geisha, based on the bestselling and controversial novel by Arthur Golden. She had a part in the less than exalted comedy Rush Hour 2, but this is her first lead role in a Hollywood movie. It’s a tremendous opportunity for her; and, she is aware, a watershed for Asian actors. It’s a huge, lavish production, produced by Steven Spielberg, who is said to have personally selected her to play the young girl who becomes a geisha legend in prewar Japan. The director is Rob Marshall, whose last film was Chicago. Zhang has been living in LA for three months and is grateful to be getting a two-week Christmas break, when she can go home to Beijing to see her family and friends. Grateful, because in China actors are not indulged as they are in Hollywood. “Here we have weekends off,” she says with surprise. “In China, we work seven days; we don’t have Christmas, we don’t have weekends. For House of Flying Daggers, I worked five months. I trained two months. And I lived with a real blind girl, studying her, to get a lot of the details.” Yes, Zhang plays “blind” in the film, to add to the demands of her role. It’s an astonishingly complex performance, requiring physical and emotional skills beyond the range of most western actresses. Talk has started of a possible Oscar nomination.
With Memoirs of a Geisha, House of Flying Daggers and 2046, the sumptuous new film from Wong Kar-Wai, Zhang will become the standard-bearer of a new generation of Chinese actors, an icon of the new China. Despite obvious and, until recently, apparently unbridgeable cultural and language differences, these actors, who include Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, Tony Leung and Andy Lau, are beginning to be able to work with equal facility both east and west. Their success, Zhang’s, in particular, is comparable to the way European stars such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman and Sophia Loren were co-opted by Hollywood from the 1930s onwards to provide American audiences with a celluloid vision of the sexually exotic.
For Zhang, it is a trail specifically blazed by Gong Li, whose seven extraordinary films with Zhang Yimou, including Red Sorghum and Raise the Red Lantern, established her as the most famous Chinese actress of the 1990s. But the older actress, who also appears in Memoirs of a Geisha and 2046, never quite made the jump into the Hollywood mainstream. That Zhang has been able to is in large part because the martial-arts films in which she made her name have had an appeal way beyond the art-house ghetto to which previous Chinese films were consigned. Crouching Tiger took an astonishing $128m in the US, while Hero was also an unexpectedly big hit, taking $53m. But fame has proved invidious to Zhang Ziyi. Many Chinese are distrustful of her success in the West and suspicious that she is playing a Japanese geisha in a big Hollywood film. They resent her for having supplanted Gong as the most famous Chinese actress, as Zhang Yimou’s muse and, rumours swirl, particularly in the overheated Hong Kong press, in his bed. She is often derogatorily called “little Gong Li”. Both she and Zhang Yimou, who is now 52, have refused to dignify these rumours with a comment. She still lives with her parents in Beijing, and claims she is too busy to have a boyfriend. Yet this apparent stonewalling has exasperated the Hong Kong press, which portrays her as imperious and arrogant. Zhang, meanwhile, has no qualms about expressing her hostility to them.
“Why do I have to tell them?” she asks, her voice just as soft, but her eyes showing her inner steel. “My life is my life. Things I feel like sharing, I will share, but the rest I can keep personal. If they ask personal questions and I keep a cold front, and don’t tell them anything, the next day they will say, ‘She is so arrogant’, or ‘bitchy’, or whatever. Then maybe I think, next time I will try to be nice. So, the next time I am friendly, and they say, ‘She had this silly smile.’ You just can’t win. Either way, they are going to make up their stories. Another thing is that, in Hong Kong, they are very snobbish. Hong Kong people often have this derogatory view of mainlanders: ‘How can you be an international movie star? You are only from China.’ For them, China is like the countryside.”
There is clearly an intense eroticism in Zhang Yimou’s use of her in his films, but we, the audience, are its real beneficiaries. The director first set eyes on her when she was 17 and he was casting a shampoo commercial. Although her hair was too short, he remembered her, “I was struck by what a pure, fresh, delicate face she had”, and a year later cast her in The Road Home, about a young woman in rural China in the 1950s, who falls in love with a new schoolteacher. Although Zhang had trained at the Beijing College of Dance from the age of 11, then at the Central Academy of Drama, Zhang Yimou says that she needed a lot of coaching at first. “But in a short time, she transformed herself into someone who can play very complex characters.” Her chief characteristic, he says, is that she is a perfectionist; his too, by all accounts. She claims she gleans what she can from other actors, recently Gong. “She is like my big sister. We talk a lot. She is very nice. Also, she is one of my favourite actresses; she is gorgeous. I spend time watching her on the set.”
Zhang acknowledges, however, that it was Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger that really transformed her into an actress. She says she found it difficult to play a character much tougher than she is, and that she cried herself to sleep most nights on the intensely rigorous shoot. Although Crouching Tiger, Hero and House of Flying Daggers are all set within the strict confines of the wuxia, swordplay and chivalry, martial-arts tradition, they called for quite different skills from her. In fact, House of Flying Daggers is a calculated and controversial attempt by Zhang Yimou to subvert the genre. The tradition in such films, which for many years mirrored the social imperatives in communist society, is that the characters must sacrifice love for social ideals. “It used to be that a heroine has to give up her love for the collective wellbeing,” he says. “House of Flying Daggers is much more like a modern romantic story, in which the characters sacrifice every other thing for love.” The action is set in AD859, towards the end of the Tang dynasty, when a band of revolutionaries known as the House of Flying Daggers is fighting against the corrupt government. Leo and Jin, two government captains, are ordered to capture the band’s new leader by gaining the trust of Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a beautiful blind dancer at a brothel, who they think is the daughter of the old leader. Jin escorts Mei to the secret headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers. On the dangerous trip, the two, against their better judgment and with potentially devastating consequences, fall in love. The film is also an absolutely breathtaking visual feast, surpassing anything that has been achieved with wuxia films.
It has become the second-highest-grossing Chinese film on the mainland, after Hero, and has scandalised many, but clearly thrilled many others, because of its intense depiction of passion and sexuality. As Zhang Yimou points out, its revolutionary, post-communist, message, that individual love and desire should have primacy over the collective imperative, resonates perfectly with the tens of millions of young people who live essentially western lives in China’s booming cities, making money, and love, without the strict social and moral prohibitions of the communist era. “Young people have become much more interested in themselves and their own values,” he believes. For them, there is nothing shocking about depicting Mei as sexually desiring. One scene, for instance, shows her bathing naked in a lake, knowing Jin is watching her. “Mei is modern and unconventional,” says the director; and the actress who plays her “is liberated too”. In 2046, Zhang also plays a sexually aggressive, liberated character, a dance-hall hostess and prostitute.
Although her face has also become a staple of Asian advertising campaigns, selling everything from Coca-Cola to Maybelline, she fends off suggestions she has become a sex symbol. “People in the audience have a strong attraction to my characters,” she says. “I think a lot of that is the gift from the characters, the gift from the screenplay. I am thankful for that.” But it is something more than that. Like many of the greatest actresses, she has found a way to let us invest all our emotions and desires in her face. As Ang Lee said of her: “She allows the audience to pour themselves into her imagination. It’s not really her in the movie, it’s you. That’s beyond acting; it’s cinematic charisma.” |
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Boston Herald
December 12, 2004
Zhang's action career flying high in U.S.
For someone who recently learned English, Ziyi Zhang is having nearly as spectacular a career in the United States as she is in her native China.
Zhang, 25, easily dominates the love triangle and air-flying fights that are at the heart of ``House of Flying Daggers,'' a sequel opening Friday to last summer's Chinese hit ``Hero,'' in which she also starred. Often called China's It Girl, Zhang (pronounced ZzzhUNgh) co-starred in two other hits: ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and ``Rush Hour 2.'' Comfortable handling flying daggers or the attention of two rivals, Zhang now is starring in the Steven Spielberg-produced, Rob Marshall-directed film version of the international bestseller ``Memoirs of a Geisha.''
Zhang had no ambition as a schoolgirl to do martial arts or to act. She had studied dance at a boarding school since she was 11. At 16, she was cast as a crusading peasant in ``The Road Home.'' Since that film scored with local and international audiences, dance became a distant memory.
Zhang couldn't see dancing as a lifelong career. ``If I can't be the best, I wanted to do something where I could be,'' she said. ``I didn't want to always be in the background.''
Now China's reigning female star, Zhang lives in Beijing and Hong Kong and said she leads a normal life. ``I still go out with my parents.'' True, but a trip to the grocery store isn't as simple as it used to be. ``My mom will shout my name at the supermarket because people, they don't think about it,'' Zhang said. The call prompts the sudden appearance of an autograph-seeking crowd. ``Then I have to say, `Mom, will you call (me by) my nickname, Little Dragon?' '' Zhang laughed at the hopeless request. ``My mom is, `I'm used to calling you by your name. How can you ask me to change?' and I'm, `OK, OK, OK.' ''
When Zhang was cast in ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,'' she knew no martial arts. Likewise, she knew no English when she filmed ``Rush Hour 2.''
For ``House of Flying Daggers,'' Zhang trained for two months and spent two weeks filming her dazzling opening sequence: Her character fights off a battalion of soldiers by using her kimono sleeves as weapons, banging on drums and deflecting flying daggers and weapons.
Zhang prides herself on doing her own stunts. ``I know from `Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' the audience loves to watch you do your own action. Also, I think that I have the ability to do that. So I tell the action director, `Just give me more. I want to do more.' I know that I'm better than before, so I can handle more.''
Zhang approached English with the same rigor as she does her martial arts training. It was about four years ago when she met Spielberg, who then was set to direct ``Memoirs of a Geisha.'' ``I remember I couldn't speak any English. I said, `Hire me, please' - that's what my managers told me to say,'' Zhang said. ``But that was simply an actress memorizing a line. When I worked on `Rush Hour 2,' I didn't know it (English), but I thought that I should start to learn English because I wanted to talk to people. My teachers told me, `If you have a dream in your second language, you can speak it.' ''
Starring in her first Hollywood production brought more reason and pressure for Zhang to speak English. ``In the movie, a lot of people cannot speak English, and for me, I have so much pressure to use a second language to act. That's not easy. Rob has tried to let us relax and not try to put pressure on us.''
But the pressure can pay off.
``In Hollywood,'' she said, ``they have a lot more money. We have our own trailers and we have holidays and, of course, the working conditions are much better.
More importantly, Hollywood makes many movies.
``In China, there's only a few, and actually we don't have a lot of choice in China of good subjects, good scripts. I'm very envious of the actors and actresses in Hollywood because every day they can get a new script. There are so many great producers and directors. In Asia, I don't think that we have this much chance. That's one reason why I think that `Memoirs of a Geisha' is such a great chance for all of the Asian actors and actresses.''
As for how the film will differ from the book, Zhang laughed. ``Secret!'' is all she'd say. |
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NOW Toronto
December 16, 2004
Zhang Ziyi Redefines Action
Chinese star combines muscle with acting chops in the glorious House Of Flying Daggers
In the future, we will worship Zhang Ziyi. As Western industries brace for the onslaught of Chinese capital, so Western pop culture must bow to the face of Chinese stardom. Right now that face is the shape of a clean, rounded V, with two dark discs for eyes and a ferocious lower lip.
Zhang Ziyi is global. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with its four Oscars and staggering profits, made her an international star, and she loved the sheer muscle of her role.
"I didn't know I had that kind of power," she confesses. "Ang Lee found that power in me."
Then came Hero, from the director who discovered her, Zhang Yimou (no relation). Its opening weekend topped every other non-English-language film ever released in North America, apart from the one that had Mel Gibson and Jesus behind it.
Now it's House Of Flying Daggers, a bigger, wilder follow-up to Hero.
These three films mark an unprecedented merging of Asian thrills and Hollywood gloss. They have one thing in common: a 5-foot-5 former student at Beijing's Central Drama Academy.
And that's the remarkable thing about Zhang. She's not just an on-screen killing machine. She's an actor. Though her martial arts movies are mainly physical and her countless magazine covers offer an armour-plating of celebrity, Zhang can still pull off the quicksilver emotion of a teenage girl, both onscreen and in person. Her face plays scorn as easily as delight.
In the centre of a buzzing courtyard during the Toronto International Film Festival, Zhang sits in stylish, millionaire-casual gear trying to explain the bullet that brought her here.
"Except for all the luck, I think I'm quite tough, you know?" She speaks in English, a translator perched at her side. "I just work very hard," she continues. "I don't care if I get injured. I just keep doing."
House Of Flying Daggers called for a lot of doing. Zhang plays Mei, a blind brothel girl and lethal fighter. Though she's not trained in martial arts, Zhang had a backbreaking puberty training as a dancer. It's what gets her through the fight scenes, she says.
"You know how hard it is for someone who doesn't have the training? You cannot strain your legs, bang your back, all the hard movements. If you don't have the training, you can't. It's impossible. For me, I can very easily do those things."
Not a boast you'd hear from Jennifer Garner.
When Zhang went to Hollywood after Crouching Tiger to act in Rush Hour 2, she was amazed at the cushy life of American stars. For her, weekends off were tantamount to sloth.
"I'm used to doing hard work," she says. "Since I was 11, every day we had training, very hard."
The fact is, Zhang Ziyi has no American peer. She's brilliant at the wire-fu gymnastics of her big international hits but equally at home in lush, arty dramas like Wong Kar Wai's upcoming 2046. Right now she's shooting the adaptation of Arthur Golden's Memoirs Of A Geisha. It's director Rob Marshall's follow-up to Chicago, and a project Steven Spielberg nurtured for years. Zhang admits she finds it "very difficult" playing the lead role in English, with a Japanese accent.
Such is the price of ruling the planet. But Zhang appears to put diligence ahead of star perks.
"After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers," she recalls. "Sometimes they offer you a lot of money and just want you to be in the movie and do some quite stupid things."
Not that she's above working for money. In China, she spokesmodels for Coca-Cola, TAG Heuer, Maybelline and others. She employs her brother solely to look after her endorsements.
She was discovered by Zhang Yimou when she responded to a cattle call for a shampoo commercial. She got the gig, and then her first movie role – the lead in Zhang's film The Road Home.
That debut showed off the quality that still marks Zhang Ziyi's work – a hard-headed, underdog nobility. It won her immediate comparisons to Zhang Yimou's most famous discovery to that point, Gong Li.
"At the beginning, it was a little bit hard," Zhang says, "because everybody said I was a young Gong Li."
Young Gong Li wasn't just a cute name for Zhang Yimou's latest discovery. It was a snide little suggestion that Zhang Ziyi was also bonking her director, as Gong Li had before her. For the record, both Zhangs deny it, and it's unlikely Zhang Yimou would court the same scandal twice.
Now, with perfectly pitched enthusiasm, Zhang Ziyi says the Gong Li comparison made her "feel very happy, because Gong Li is a superstar and she's my idol, you know. I love her so much."Of course, it helped that "after a half-year, people knew me and they stopped calling me young Gong Li. They know me, they know my name," Zhang asserts. "I never worry about that."
She won't need to. She sells tickets. From Beijing to Berlin to Brampton, Zhang Ziyi wins ardent devotion from audiences, and she does it by instilling her characters with a surprising mix of Confucian dutifulness and individualist drive. She can slip from coquette to skull cracker in a single scene. Because she works at it. |
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Chicago TribuneDecember 29, 2004
15 Things To Know About Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi is petite and fierce, a delicate beauty queen and a force of nature. Three Chinese-language martial-arts films have been U.S. art house crossover hits in recent years, and the young actress has starred in all of them: Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000); Zhang Yimou's "Hero" (released this August after a long delay); and newly released "House of Flying Daggers," in which she plays a mysterious blind dancer with some lethal skills during the Tang Dynasty.
Her next film should raise her profile even higher: She spent the past few months playing the lead role in the adaptation of Arthur Golden's acclaimed novel "Memoirs of a Geisha," directed by Rob Marshall as his follow-up to "Chicago."
The actress, 25, and Zhang Yimou were at the Toronto International Film Festival a few months ago for the North American "Daggers" premiere. Theirs is an evolving relationship that began when he discovered the drama student at a TV commercial audition.
He wound up casting her at age 19 as the lead in her first film, the flashback love story "The Road Home" (1999), and she has been working steadily ever since.
Sitting on a sun-drenched outdoor patio, the Chinese actress, pony-tailed and casual in a big-print T-shirt, chatted breezily in English, which she has been learning, but switched to Chinese, with a translator on hand, when the right words escaped her. In a separate conversation, Zhang Yimou spoke through a translator.
Here are 15 things to know about Zhang Ziyi:
1. Why Zhang Yimou finds her so photogenic: "Her head is small, her face is thin, and that's good for the camera. Beyond that she has this charm on her face."
2. What she's got that almost no other actress has: "It's a rare combination of being sweet, slight and ferocious," Zhang Yimou said. "And she's also very explosive. She could be very quick and expressive with her feelings, especially her eyes. She has those eyes that always have something to say."
3. Why those eyes are important: "There's a difference between the Western and Eastern acting in culture," the director said. "Asian people tend to be more reserved, so everything is shown from the eyes."
4. How she was raised: Zhang Ziyi grew up in Bejing, and when she was 11, her father (a government economist) and mother (a kindergarten teacher) sent her to dancing school, in part to build up her slight physique.
5. What she was thinking when she left her dance training to attend drama school: "I just wanted to run away from dancing school back home," she said. "Very simple, my thoughts."
6. Whether she expected to become such a physical actress: "No," she laughed. "Just happened. I don't know. Step by step."
7. Whether that on-screen combination of sweetness and ferocity is part of her own personality. "I don't think so," she said, laughing again. "Before `Crouching Tiger,' I didn't know I had that kind of power."
8. What surprises her most when she watches herself on screen: "I can jump so high. I can kick them away."
9. How she's different now compared with when she made "The Road Home": "I'm growing up," she said. "I think [Zhang Yimou and I] trust each other, and this time he gave me a lot of space for my role, for this character. The first time he couldn't give me such a complicated character."
10. How Zhang Yimou views her progress: "She has been acting with different directors. She is good with expressing inner feelings and also in action. Her English is getting better. This period of time is very important for an actor to rise up and grow, and she might become international."
11. How working with Zhang Yimou is different from working with Ang Lee: "With Zhang Yimou, everything is in his mind," she said. "When you're shooting you give him two takes or three takes, and if he gets it, it's, `OK, we got it. Let's move on.' Ang likes to see a lot of things, like 10 takes, and he wants to pick [something] from each take. It's very different."
12. How working with iconic Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, who directed her in the not-yet-released futuristic love story "2046," differs from both of them: "No script. You don't know the story. You don't know who's being in the movie. From the beginning you even don't know your character. Everything is secret."
13. Why she's not eager to do another movie like "Rush Hour 2," her 2001 Hollywood debut: "That was fun, but once is enough for me."
14. Why she can't compare Asian actors to American actors: "I only worked with Chris Tucker [on `Rush Hour 2']," she said. "This one [`Memoir'] is no Western actors, all from Asia."
15. The first movies she ever loved: Lars Von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark" and Zhang Yimou's "To Live.'" |
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SinaJanuary 2002
Red, Green, Blue and White Join Four Sections Together
Zhang Ziyi Reveals Her Thoughts About Hero
Yesterday afternoon, this reporter kept the appointment in a certain guest-room in Beijing International Club. The person who opened the door for this reporter was Zhang Ziyi's mother. She made an introduction zealously, "Our current house is about forty square-metres, when Ziyi returned, a cat lodged a complaint that there wasn't enough room to swing it freely. So, she and I have no choice but to waste money staying in the hotel. It's also more convenient for her to talk about certain things. She is also very filial, and has just bought a big house. When she is back in Beijing this time, she busies herself with renovation and buying new furniture."
Zhang Ziyi, of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame, was busy serving a drink to this reporter, "My mother did not know that you were giving her free Jing Hua Time. On the seeing them in the letterbox during the first few days, out of her own will, she sent them to the resident committee." Her mother explained, "What if someone put the wrong address when they subscribed it, wouldn't it be causing them inconvenience?" Thus, began our interview amidst laughter.
As Supporting Actress, She only has 15 Minutes of Screen Time
Reporter: Everyone is paying lots of attention to Hero. Certain media say that in order to keep its information tight under wraps, the production even signed a non-disclosure agreement with the cast and working members.
Zhang Ziyi: I have never heard of such an incident, don't think it's that earnest. As this movie is produced in accordance with the International Films Distribution guidelines, it's quite different from Zhang Yimou's previous movies. When it's not time to say anything about it, everything was kept secret. Yet rumours abounded, to the extent of being too ludicrous.
Reporter: I heard that when Hero was in production, Zhang Yimou kept adding more weight to your role, such that you stayed with the production for half a year and could not accept other film offers.
Zhang Ziyi : Not really. I am only playing the role of a supporting actress, Like Moon (Ruyue). After combining all my scenes in the movie, my total screen time is no more than fifteen minutes. Zhang Yimou is always very purposeful when filming. However, I stayed with the production for half a year of my own accord, for it's such a rare opportunity that I got to work with Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Jet Li. I greatly admire their acting skills and also wished to see how Zhang Yimou make a movie, to learn more about acting and movie production. Moreover, it was a time slot given to 2046, so I didn't accept other film offers in the latter half of the year.
Red, Green, Blue and White Connect the Story of Hero
Reporter: What kind of person is Like Moon?
Zhang Ziyi: She is the maid of Flawed Sword (Tony Leung). Both Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) and her fall for the same person, Flawed Sword. They are entangled in a red-coloured eternal triangle. She is, without doubt, extremely loyal to her master. Flawed Sword, in order to make Flying Snow leave her, intentionally behaves intimately with Like Moon. Flying Snow, on seeing them together, thrusts her sharp sword towards Flawed Sword. To aid Flawed Sword assassinate Without Name (Jet Li) successfully, she commits suicide in front of Without Speech. However, Without Speech saves her in the nick of the time, "Miss, life is too precious; Is it really of less significance than a love affair?" Eventually Without Name, Flawed Sword and Flying Snow bite the dust, leaving behind the lonely Like Moon, crying out her master's name in the big, white land.
Reporter: I understand this is not the whole story of Hero. However, I perceive that you used Red and White to describe the events and emotions the characters are going through.
Zhang Ziyi: Actually, Hero uses the four colours, Red, Green, Blue and White, to tie in four different segments of the story. On the other hand, each of them also contains a different story. Green is the representation of reminiscing, blue is the struggle among the three of them. The layout is very unique; it's unlike traditional wuxia films. It's has quite a bit of artistic love story. In addition, Hero is not a typical wuxia movie - Its main theme is in no way the same as the past wuxia films, which are mostly about the seeking of vengeance or vying for the ultimate martial arts manual that leads to endless fights and killings. It is about the love and compassion of the heroes of the world, their magnanimity, and has a kind of international spirit. The costumes in Hero are also very special: One character, one design, and there are four different colours. I feel that it's something very modern, inasmuch as being avant-garde.
Working with the Director: Zhang Yimou is the Most Outstanding
Reporter: What were your feelings when doing this movie? And what have you learned?
Zhang Ziyi: I have learned a lot, mainly on acting. After shooting the scene where Like Moon weeps very sadly, the sorrow kept a grip on me for the whole day! While I don't have many scenes, they are of great depth. This is something I have never had before. I learned a lot from Maggie Cheung. When she is acting, she is so full of confidence and she sure has a mind of her own. At that time, when shooting the scene where she is on her deathbed, she thought that her eyes should be open while Zhang Yimou believed that her eyes should be shut. And they thrashed it out for half a day, after which two versions were shot. In addition, because of Hero, I trained in martial arts for a month. However, there was once when shooting a scene, my hand was injured by Jet Li's double, leaving behind two scars on my right hand. Jet felt bad about it and gave me a Buddhist rosary bracelet. I have always been wearing it since then.
Reporter: Having spent half a year in Hero's production, you must have understood Zhang Yimou even deeper?
Zhang Ziyi: Frankly speaking, he has always been my teacher as well as my elder brother. He is the most outstanding director I ever have the chance to work with. Back then, when I was in production of The Road Home, I noticed he was reading a wuxia novel. He said that he intended to produce a wuxia pian. Yet, now, some press are saying that Hero is merely chasing in whichever direction the wind is blowing. They don't understand Zhang Yimou at all. He does not mind all these arguments. He is just fulfilling what he had wished to do. Time is an artist's best witness.
Reporter: Did he offer you any sound advice pertaining to your acting career?
Zhang Ziyi: We had plenty of discussions this time. He suggested that not only should I give my best in Hollywood martial arts movies, but should also do some Chinese art movies in Mainland and South East Asia.Being equally dexterous with both brush and sword helps taking control over the world. He told me to be an outstanding actress, be an outstanding China movie star. He says that there are far too few movie stars in Mainland in the recent years. So, right now I am reconsidering doing Lou Ye's Purple Butterfly. |
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Sunday TimesMay 19, 2002
Hero Worship
Ziyi Gets A Kick Out Of Stunts
Gongfu-girl Zhang Ziyi has been kicking some major butt. She did her own dangerous stunts in her latest sword-fighting film, Hero. Do not make the mistake of crossing Zhang Ziyi. This is the formidable Chinese actress with the gravity-defying gongfu and swashbuckling swordplay who first slayed movie-goers 2 years ago in one fell swoop in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She inflicted more pain in last year’s sequel to Rush Hour, in which she showed off ball-crushing high kicks on Chris Tuckers and gongfu master Jackie Chan.
Woe betide any journalist who gets on the wrong side of this diva-in-the-making.
“Don’t worry, I will deal with him,” she says gleefully, when she is informed of a nosey scribe lying in wait to hound her on her closely-guarded love life.
Armed foolishly with only pen and paper, the hapless journalist may not have survived the encounter in one piece.
But more likely than not, his burning questions are still unanswered, for the 23 year old lass does not respond too well to topics that do not please her.
“Not dating”, is her cutting answer to a cautious enquiry about her having time to fall in love, what with her relentless filming schedule and numerous product endorsements, like Visa Card, Tag Heuer watches and Maybelline makeup.
With her beatific smile and angelic air, she may appear to me sugar and spice and everything nice.
But beware, those expressive, dancing eyes – topped with generous lashings of Maybelline’s mascara, of course – can also shoot daggers.
For instance, do not even suggest she is being typecast in gongfu roles, although she has wrapped a 6 month shoot on another sword-fighting epic, Hero.
The long awaited movie, written before Lee Ang’s Crouching Tiger captured Hollywood, is acclaimed director, Zhang Yimou’s foray into the genre.
He was also the one who launched her movie career in The Road Home in 1998, which led to endless speculation that she replaced Gong Li as his muse and paramour, due to the likeness of those two luminous Chinese beauties.
“I’ve only been an actress for 2 to 3 years,” she says rather petulantly. “I’ve only done a few roles”.
“I should not be stereotyped into doing only this type of roles,” she says in her lilting Beijing accented Mandarin.
In last year’s remake of Tsui Hark’s The Legend of Zu, she appears for all of 10 minutes in a sword play scene, so that is not counted.
Conceded, her big screen debut in The Road Home did not require any karate chops, as she played a village lass bent on courting a teacher.
Last year she completed a Korean period drama, Warriors, in which she was pretty much inept in the martial arts department.
For the rest of the year, she would be tied in 2 movies – Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai’s long drawn futuristic escapade 2046, and 6th generation director Lou Ye’s Purple Butterfly. Both roles are of the non gongfu variety.
But Crouching Tiger and Rush Hour 2 are more than enough to brand her a gongfu exponent, especially in the eyes of Hollywood.
This is most amazing, considering that Zhang, the daughter of an economist and a kindergarten teacher, has zero martial arts background.
When Hero is released internationally later this year, it is unlikely to change her chopsocky image, especially since she reveals that her stunt double has been under-utilised.
“I will do my own stunts whenever possible,” she says, her posture perfect as a ballerina’s, thanks to her dance training since young.
Proudly, she picks up a fork and twirls it to show off how she was spun 4 times in Hero, with wires wound around her waist, a stunt that “even the stunt double confided that she would have thought twice doing.”
For a little thing, she packs quite a punch, as she adds, “I did it numerous times to get it right. My back really hurt after that.”
“I’m very pleased with it. You can see my face in the movie.”
Despite reports of battle scars from her movies, there does not appear to be a single scratch on her dewy and flawless skin.
Her slender shoulders, bared enticingly by her favoured attire of a halter-neck top, are never hunched.
“I don’t want to disappoint the audience. They spend money to buy tickets to watch you, not the stunt double,” she says, although she admits to having fears of injuries or disfigurement to that pretty face.
Giggling coquettishly, she adds: “I happen to be heavily insured. I also have no concept of danger, which is good.”
Do not trifle with this feisty little dragon girl. |
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China Showbiz/CCTV-4June 2002
Zhang Ziyi: A to Z
A (Affair) is about Ziyi attending a ceremony marking the establishment of a charity foundation for Tibet Autonomous Region, with Ziyi, in her capacity as Charity Ambassador to Tibet and appropriately dressed in an ethnic Tibetan robe, presenting the check to a government official from the Roof of the World.
B (Background) shows Z introducing the charity fund to the guests: "The most important thing is to spread the word that everybody is welcome to donate to the fund, which will be used for Tibet's development..."
C (Communication) - Ziyi says the foundation will concentrate on helping Tibetan children get better education in the first year of its work.
D (Development): "If I can find time later this year, I hope to go to Tibet in June, July or August, to see with my own eyes the beauty of Tibet and experience life there myself."
E (Eagerness): "After making a few martial arts movies, challenging and taxing as the experience was, I now quite like this genre. But I also look forward to the opportunity to make some good art house films, as people in this kind of situation would say: don't put all your eggs in one basket."
F (Friends): "I have made some very good friends over the years and they have helped me when I was badly in need. This kind of friendship, like family bonds, just cannot be obtained by exchanging gifts or things like that."
G (Goodness): "Charity is something I'll be doing all my life, rather than picking it up only in retirement."
H (Hobby): "Read good books. As many as I can. Imagination is very important for actors. When I was in college, the teachers never taught us how to portray every type of character there is. Instead, they showed us the way (method) to understand a role and become the character. You can imagine yourself as a particular person in the story you are reading. And watch movies, be it on DVD or in theaters, as many as possible."
Here the host says some people are born to enrich others' lives, like Ziyi, who became the focus of media attention soon after debuting in The Road Home and has not been able to escape the spotlight ever since.
I (Image): I like casual clothes, such as jeans. I won't dress up unless the occasion requires it. As for blings, those lovely little ear pins are my favorite. If I get a really good role, I'm willing to shed my hair for it. I've always had this long hair, since I was five years old. When I was in dance school, my hair at one time reached my thighs. We all had to tie our hair into a bun in classes. I remember my bun was so big it looked like it was weighing my head down backward when I practiced ballet postures. My teacher ordered me to cut it short because I looked ridiculous."
J (Job): The reason why I chose to join the National Drama Theater upon graduation is that I hope to portray some characters on stage in the future."
K (Keeping): "I'm the type of person who never pretends in real life. I can talk a lot in an interview if I find the reporter agreeable."
L (Luck): "Many people say Zhang Ziyi is the luckiest girl in this business. I agree. If I had not trained at the Central Drama Academy, if I had not been cast in The Road Home and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, people would probably not be seeing me now. Luck is really very important in one's life. I'm a perfect example of this. My advice? Don't ever waste a chance at good luck when you meet one. If I had let any of my lucks slip by, my role in The Road Home or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would have gone to someone other than Zhang Ziyi."
M (Marriage): "In this big, big world, different people have different views of and attitudes towards love and marriage. I have thought about it, too. I should say my understanding of love, or my criteria for love, is honesty and sincerity. Whether to the one you love, your fans or your parents, the most important thing is to be honest and sincere.
Why do people like The Road Home so much? I think it's because the kind of simple and real love displayed by the characters in the story appeal to people all over the world. People of different races all prefer this kind of love."
N (New movies): "Take Hero for instance, some people have commented that I play only a minor role in the film. I accepted the role because the director is Zhang Yimou, who discovered me when I was only an 18-year-old student and helped me on to a good start in my career. I owe him my success and will always look up to him like a father figure no matter how I'll be in the future."
O (Objective): "I'll work for several charity foundations in coming years. I especially want to help poor children go to school. This is the only wish I have in my life. I hope to do whatever I can to help them, like building schools for them."
P (Parents): "I'm a tough girl and my parents know this very well. But they always worry about me. I know their hearts hurt more when I'm sad. I often had to ask them to take it easy when they read rumors about and false accusations against me and talked about suing the publications. I had to tell them all this is expected in this business and we just have to adapt ourselves to it. In a way it's survival of the fittest."
Q (Question): "(Will you ever make TV drama?) It will depend on the script, the character and the director. People, including my parents and myself, cannot live without television. If there is a good script for me, of course I'll do it. Hope one will be coming my way before it's too late. Right now I don't have a plan for the future. But, if the time comes when the showbiz no longer needs me, or when I feel myself no longer fit to work in it, I might turn to a simple and ordinary life, or pursue something I want to do beside acting."
R (Reputation): "I don't fret about it. I prefer dealing with things as they come and as they are."
S (Singing): "I'm sure I can never sing as well as those pop stars. If I want to take up singing, I'll need a lot of time learning (the techniques). It's not easy at all to sing well. Certainly not everyone who is not mute can do it, as some people claim."
T (Thank): "There are so many people I want to thank I don't think there is one way to do it all. For instance, I am so grateful to my teacher at CDA that I'll contact her every time I come back to Beijing and chat with her on the phone. When the academy needs me for something, such as anniversary celebrations, I'll put down whatever I'm doing to go there and work for my alma mata. It's the least I can do."
U (United-cooperation): "I'm still focused on making movies in China. I'm not looking forward to working in Hollywood just yet. Even if Hollywood is willing to pay me a lot of money and give me a lot of time to prepare for the role, I won't take it unless I'm sure I can portray the character in English."
V (View): "I live with my parents in an apartment owned by the government. Many of our neighbors are my father's colleagues. They still treat me like the girl next door they know for years. They are what I call real people and that's what I call real, normal life."
W (Wound): "There was a while when I was at odds with the Hong Kong press, because they intentionally hurt me for their own profit. They didn't care how I felt when they (verbally) abused me. I couldn't pretend to be friendly to them when they treated me like that. If I can't fight back, at least I can try to avoid them."
X (X-files): Ziyi's personal particulars such as name, date of birth, blood type and movie credits, nothing we don't know already.
Y (Years): "All actors wish for a lasting career. So do I. But no matter what I do in my life, charity will always remain in my work schedule."
Z (Zenith): "I never worry about how I can become a red-hot movie star. The only thing I wish for in my career is a good role in a good script. Other things will happen when they do." |
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Beijing TimesNovember 2002
Ziyi Zhang on Hero, 2046, and Purple Butterflies
Zhang Ziyi just had another interview with Beijing Times. She talked about her experience with Hero, her understanding of the plot of 2046 and her memory of Purple Butterfly.
Hero
You have said you didn't get too many scenes in Hero and hoped for less media coverage for yourself. Is there anything unforgettable to you personally?
It's indeed I only played a supporting role. Since the day the shooting began, I always tried to participate in this movie as a student or an audience. There are many unforgettable moments. If (you are asking for) anything special, it is probably the forest fight scene with Maggie Cheung. We were all hanging in the air. When making the shot with I diving onto (her), I felt my eye almost burst out off the sockets. I was holding the twin sabers. It's very heavy.
Many are not expecting Hero to get anything from the Oscar and say the music is too similar to that of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (note: both were composed by Tan Dun). Do you have any prediction?
Saying they are too similar, because they don't understand Hero. I think there is no violence in it and it is a passionate film which can warm your heart and inspire your soul, and is about a nation's cohesion. The American audiences, have been through the "9.11", will like it.
2046
Are you going to start working on 2046 this month?
Yes. Even my mom could be tired of it, if it was delayed any further. If I remembered correctly, Wong Kar-Wai said he had been working on the film for almost three years. It's probably a new record of the longest pre-production for a film. Design of my character has been finalized and it has been announced at the Cannes Film Festival, but there is just no word on when the shooting will begin.
Do you know the plot line of 2046?
I haven't read any final outline, but based on several conversations with Wong Kar-Wai, I think 2046 is actually the sequel of In The Mood For Love. "2046" is actually the number of the room Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung met. After Maggie Cheung has left, Leung Chiu-Wai stays in the room alone and has many recalls and imaginations, maybe are about the past or the future. Later Maggie Cheung returns to room 2046. I think this is probably the plot of 2046. Maybe only this kind of structure can include more and more actors being mentioned by the media. It's Wang Kar-Wai's improvisation.
Purple Butterfly
Is Purple Butterfly a pure drama?
I don't know. We must judge a film after it is completed, especially for a film made by such young director like Lou Ye. Purple Butterfly has a very legendary main storyline but it's up to Lou Ye - to be a drama or a very stylized film. I don't know his intention. Young directors are often unpredictable and this is the main reason I chose Purple Butterfly.
Will this film be shown at next year's Cannes Film Festival?
Yes, basically. I hope Purple Butterfly can be as successful as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (at Cannes).
How do you judge director Lou Ye?
All Chinese directors I want to work with are talented, including Lou Ye. When I decided to take Purple Butterfly, I got a big support from director Zhang Yimou. He said there were many that I can learn from in this generation of directors like Lou Ye.
The Next
Have you chosen your next project?
I have read some scripts and director (Zhang Yimou) has told me Gu Changwei and Hou Yong were planning their maiden films. They are the best cinematographers among the Fifth Generation (of filmmakers). I think to be a good film director, most importantly, you must show your own artistic style and as the same time, knows how to tell a story to ordinary audiences. Therefore, I think Zhang Yimou is the best |
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The Straits TimesDecember 2002
Zhang Ziyi
WHEN Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi stays at the President suite of the Conrad Hotel, one expects an accompanying gaggle of agents, publicists, hair and makeup people hovering nervously to tend to her every need.
She does not disappoint.
But the mood is relaxed as she sits around the suite's dining table, laughing and joking with hairstylist-turned-friend David Gan.
When asked to move to the living room for her interview, she hops slowly over to the couch.
She looks around with an expression of childlike wonder. For a moment, it looks as if she is re-enacting a scene from her debut movie, The Road Home.
The 22-year-old actress was in town in December to promote her latest Visa commercial which she stars with Mr 007, Pierce Brosnan.
'Pierce is interesting and easy to work with. I was very excited,' she says in slow, halting English.
Every one in the room beams at her effort.
'This is my first time,' she explains of her maiden interview in English, before bursting into laughter.
She started learning English in September last year. Even though the language handicap is painfully obvious, she persists with gungho confidence, like the tough onscreen characters she is used to playing. But ask her about talk that she did not get along with co-star Maggie Cheung on the set of the soon-to-be-released Hero and her reply (this time in Mandarin) turns sharp.
'You actually believe the Hongkong bagua (tabloids)?' she asks dismissively.
Then, switching back to public relations mode, the chisel-featured porcelain beauty says in English: 'Maggie is nice and kind. I learn when I see her work.'
Flashes of sweet smiles and doe-eyed gazes punctuate her pauses between sentences.
She turns philosophical when questions about her love life pop up.
'We cannot control life. I know what I want to eat for dinner but I dare not even think what will happen tomorrow. I don't plan things, who knows what will happen in five years?' she says in Mandarin.
Zhang, who professes to only cook instant noodles and dumplings, then confesses she would like to get married and have children by 30.
But all such mushiness disappears when the interview ends and she prepares for Sunday Life!'s photo shoot.
'It is cold,' she snaps, glaring at her assistant who scrambles to turn up the thermostat. Hairstylist Gan, who has been primping and combing her hair every 10 seconds for the last half an hour, commits a boo-boo when he leaves her alone for 10 minutes to run an errand. Fed up with several strands of hair which get in her way, she commands her minder to 'go get him'.
While he is being sent for, the minutes tick by and she starts to show increasing signs of boredom.
The same assistant puts on an upbeat Shania Twain CD.
But there is no appeasing her, it seems.
Click, click, click. Change, change, change. Half an hour later, the scheduled shoot comes to an end.
The Chinese diva turns round and leaves the room without another word with her publicist and Gan in tow.
She enters the suite's bedroom, turns off all the lights there and goes to bed.
Her publicist creeps out five minutes later, closing the door handle slowly and silently.
She looks visibly relieved. |
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Beijing TV WeeklyMay 2001
Stepping Into Zhang Ziyi's Home
Ziyi's home is located at an ordinary residential building. It is not very big, simple decoration. Scattered around the room are large photos of Ziyi and various trophies. At the corner of the dining room a display board full of pictures from The Road Home. By the wall of the master bedroom, there is a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon movie photo display autographed by Ang Lee. The window facing the balcony has been modified into shelves, holding snapshots of Ziyi taken abroad. At the bottom a photo of Ziyi and Steven Spielberg (the director of Saving Private Ryan), trophies and medals Ziyi won overseas. On the table in front of the sofa, there are some Hong Kong/Taiwan pulp fictions, and one thick book written in English. Ziyi' mom said Ziyi is wasting no time learning English. Columbia Co. is sending her to the US for a month studying English.
Ziyi's mom's Grievance
Ziyi's mom is currently retired at home, and she has kept the relatively small room well organized. Her body is not quite well. The reporter saw numerous newspapers with Ziyi' photos and articles about her in a large luggage right next to the bed in the bedroom. Ziyi's mom said, whenever Ziyi comes back from other places, she will have to collect and organize these articles for Ziyi. Sometimes it takes many hours to look through these reports one by one. On the table in the dining room, there were a pile of recent newspapers and several recent magazines from Hong Kong and Taiwan with Ziyi on their covers. One of the two articles is from the Hong Kong newspapers, it talked about Ziyi's "affair incident." Ziyi's mom felt that it is so unfair, at one point during the interview, she simply can not hold back tears; Another one is a full page article in one of the Capital's newspapers, the core content is still the Jackie, Zhang "affair", accompanied by quite a few opinions from Internet users, they said that Ziyi's behavior in this incident was quite lewd, very wild.
Just by mentioning these reports, Ziyi's mom's eyes started getting red, "the kid definitely has suffered injustice, otherwise why would she cry? Ziyi is usually a child full of life, with an open attitude, and would not shed tears easily. She just laughed it off previously when there were talks about her, Zhang Yimou, and the young guy from Korea. But this time, they have gone too far when they put Ziyi, Jackie Chan, and his son together. I have met Jackie Chan and his son, they were very nice, and looked after Ziyi. This type of reports are just ridiculous. Ziyi's father and I are very strict with our children. You see that our home is on the higher floors, Ziyi for sure would come back before 12:00 o'clock, she is very reasonable." She pointed to the The Road Home display board by the wall, "You can see that Ziyi's little face was still round at that time, by the time she was filming Crouching Tiger, she has thinned down to a bag of bones. I was there when they were shooting the bamboo forest fight scene. The rope that was used for the steel harness pressed against Ziyi's shoulder, leaving a line of purplish bruise. As her mom, I wept upon seeing that. I was also present at the screening of Crouching Tiger at Berlin Film Festival. The foreigners there broke into applause 4 times while watching Crouching Tiger: once during the first fight between Yu Jiao Long and Yu Shu Lien; once during Ziyi's fighting scene in the restaurant; once during the bamboo forest fight; once was at the end of the fim. At that time the applause was so intense that I saw even Michele Yeoh was crying. None of these were mentioned by the media, instead, they choose to report those "affairs." This created a lot of pressure on the kid's mind. In order not to worry us, she still came home in a happy mood." Ziyi's mom said that she feels miserable inside whenever she thinks about it. A couple of days ago, she could not fall asleep at night few hours in a row. "These doggie teams are so disgusting."
Interviewing Ziyi across the ocean
The reporter got in touch with Ziyi who was far away in the U.S., proceeded with the telephone interview across the ocean. The topics involved the recent rumors. At first Ziyi did not really want to talk, but upon hearing that it was her old acquaintance, the reporter from the "Beijing TV" Weekly, she gladly agreed to be interviewed. Rush Hour 2 has been in pre-production, production since February, now they are rushing to finish filming, (we) work 5 days a week, not more than 10 hours per day. The actors also get the chance to observe others at work when they were not scheduled to be in the scene. Ziyi has a very special short silver hairdo in Rush Hour 2. The role Ziyi played in the movie is a cute villain and a demolition expert. In the film, Jackie Chan and his partner just could not bring themselves to beat her up. Supposedly, originally there were quite a few villains in Rush Hour 2, but because of Ziyi's outstanding performance, all the villains were merged into one single villain. Ziyi said that she has never imagined that she would be in martial art or action movies. She has thrown in all her 20 years' worth of energy and physical stamina, it was really tough. The filming will continue into May, Ziyi would not be able to attend the Hong Kong Golden Statue Award Ceremony held on April 29th. She will return to Beijing in early May to start several new projects, such as commercials. Following that would be Wong Kai Wai's "2046."
When inquired about her state of mind, Ziyi said " I would not dwell on those things ("affairs") and feel bad about them because in fact there are many people who do not believe those things are true. Taiwanese medias supported me from from my point of view, I was really touched. After all I have been through, I realize that there are some people who just do not deserve any attention. I am currently single, so it is normal for people to wonder who is my boyfriend? and if I have found someone to settle down with? But the Hong Kong media was so very disgusting. The Mainland media should hold on to their own style, do not drift with trends, regardless of the style being postive or negative. I am now at ease with those (reports of affairs,) because certain media outlets need this type of garbage, I also know that they depend on these kind of stuff to make a living. This is the fact, and it is simple to understand.
"My attitude is gradually changing, I used to like to talk to the media about how I felt, let the readers get to know the other facets of me. I kind of hesitating tp do that now. In Hong Kong, they will take advantage of you when you tell them something real, it is very dangerous, because you do not know what they want. You can tell them 50 minutes' worth of accurate, meaningful stuff, and they may just pick 1 minute to set up a trap for you to fall in. To deal with them is to talk less." Ziyi specifically mentioned: "I truely thank the Weekly for caring about me, irrespective of what happened, as long as there are fans who support me, I will work for them."
There are quite a few trophies in Ziyi's home, many of them have yet to appear in the media. Ziyi said: "Within this half a year, I have picked up a number of prizes along the way. Some of them nobody even know about domestically. Many media outlets do not understand me, they thought my fame is due to hype. If I really wanted to use hype, each prize would generate ten, twenty articles. When I came back to Beijing the other day, a friend suggested that I should hold a press conference, but I thought it is better to remain low-key. Winning awards was more or less the result of convergence of various factors that favor me. It was really no big deal. To hell with it, I should instead focus on my work. At the Rush Hour 2 locations, everyday there are many US medias wanted to interview me, they will even wait late into the night, since sometimes that was when I had time. If I really wanted to talk about it, I could have said a lot, but I decided not to."
"People who understand and know me will no doubt understand this, as for the ones who do not know or understand me, it does not really matter." This is Ziyi's attitude at this time. However, there is one thing both Ziyi and her mom feel the same way. They do not like the way news media always emphasize the word "Luck." Before the cast of Crouching Tiger was finalized, Ziyi had to undergo a month of martial art training, all because of an uncertain opportunity. She rarely mentioned this to people, "if I keep talking about it, then it would seem to imply that I mind the suffering. Suffering is part of the process because I wanted to play that role. During the filming of Crouching Tiger, I cried after going home every night, feeling that I just could not take it anymore. I had given so much, and now I have received a lot, it is all proportional. I do not mind whether people realize how much I have suffered making movies, what I do care about is whether they appreciate my acting. Winning the Hundred Flower Award last year is really the happiest thing for me, because it was given to me by the people. Ziyi said at the end: "My success does not depend on hype." |
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SinaJune 2001
Interview With Ziyi's Brother, Zhang Zinan
Since the popularity of Zhang Ziyi is unbelievable, the discussion of "Zhang Ziyi phenemenon" has become increasingly intense. Just look at the spectacle of reporters "laying seige" on Zhang Ziyi on TV; The name "Zhang Ziyi" splashes across newspapers and magazines, popular products also use Zhang Ziyi as spokesperson. Facing many unfavorable rumors about her, Zhang Ziyi has long ago trained herself to possess fighting capabities similar to those of Yu Jiao Long, she is simply unfazed by them. The other day, the repoter interviewed her brother, Zhang Zinan, who is also her agent, the way he talked about his little sister naturally has a different feel to it.
I Offered Culinary Skill to Little Sister
I am 6 years older than my little sister, there is quite a bit of age difference, I also took special care of my sister, The little sister was very considerate when she was little, very obedient and pleasant to be with, Every uncle and aunt could not help themselves but liked her after seeing her. However, I was the one who was particularly mischievous, the little sister was never the one who made my parents angry. At that time, I did hold a grudge in my heart, All my parents' good qualities are inherited by my little sister, while I inherit all the flaws. My father is an official of the Beijing Telecommunication Company, my mother was a kindergarten teacher, so my parents should not have any literary or artistic genes. I started sixth grade when little sister started first grade, my parents' work units were quite far away, therefore, I naturally had to shoulder the burden of warming little sister's meal at noon, not too long after that, I graduated from just warming food to actually cooking meals, my deft culinary skill basically is the result of all those cookings. Until now little sister still insists on eating the food I cook whenever she comes home, rather than those prepared by my mom, she still finds my cooking especially tasty, even though she has tried every sumptuous delicacy in the world in the last two years as she has more and more social events.
I Gave My "Youth" to Little Sister
Starting at second grade, little sister went to the Youth Palace every Monday afternoon to learn dancing, Not shirking away from the responsibility, I accompanied her to and from the lesson. It took about two-hour riding time on a vehicle from the school to the Youth Palace, little sister's dance lesson also took about two hours, after seeing that my little sister stepped in the Youth Palace, I just sat quietly by the roadside waiting for her. When applying for the Beijing Dance Academy, there were about 2000 children from the North, at the end, little sister was the only Northern child chosen, the school usually prefers students from the South, because Northern girls hit puberty early and tend to add on weight. The Dance Academy required students to board at the school, and only allowed students to go home during weekends. Therefore I was always very anxious and looking forward to the weekend's arrival after not seeing my beloved little sister for one whole week, as soon as the weekend afternoon came, I was elated to go pick her up, sometimes humming melodies with excitement. We talked and laughed during those two-hour on the way back, I accompanied little sister in this way for 7 to 8 years, therefore as brother and sister, we are especially close to each other. When it was time for little sister to apply for the Central Drama Academy, age was the only thing that did not fit the admission requirements, since at that time the minimum age set by them was 18 years old, but little sister was 17 years old, due to this one-year difference, little sister's former teacher had to purposedly dig up related documents stating that students who have won awards in national professional competitions have priority for admission, Again, with luck, little sister entered the school she desired.
I Gave Little Sister My Career
I used to work at the same telecommunication company my father works. With her entry in the movie and television business, little sister became busier by the day, seeing her indeed needing help badly, I decided I might as well take care of everything for her. Initially my thought was just to help her, but everyone out there all called me her agent, I understood that I will hinder little sister's development if I fail to learn and appreciate the ins and outs of the business. Last year the national government started to offer professional agent examination, to make it legal, I took and passed the test for the professional certificate of cultural agents. Later on, I realized that there is nothing wrong being my little's agent, first my consideration would be for her long-term development, avoiding immediate results and short-term benefits sought by typical agents, furthermore, there is an unspoken understanding between me and my little sister, you can say it is kind of like telepathy, which can not duplicated by outsiders. However, little sister has since grown up and has her own strong opinions, hence sometimes there would be minor disagreements between us siblings, we resolve these by following whoever is right. Ever since I started "Zinan Cultural Development Limited Company", I "professionally" manage little sister's every affair. My first negotiation was "Liang Siang" commercial, I was red faced and quite timid, Many of my clients are "foreigners" now, and I can handled it with no problem. The people I hire for my company are very professional, the concept of one of the "Liang Siang" commercial was provided by our company, Ziyi's entire wardrobe at the US MTV Movie Award was also designed by ourselves at the company. Ziyi has worn every one of those dresses with pretty good response. |
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New Straits TimesJuly 2001
The Fire in Zhang Ziyi
Fresh-faced beauty Zhang Ziyi is one of China's best-kept secrets. Her naive but steely presence creates an unusual blend of character just like her role as Jen in the movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But it is her youthful good looks and feisty demeanour that fires the imagination of the masses.
In the academy award-winning film, Zhang held onto the Green Destiny sword, not realising its full potential, and as a result brought sword-fighting chaos and mayhem along her path.
Back in the real world, her newfound fame has created quite a stir. Her Hollywood presence propelled her to stardom alongside more experienced Asian actors like Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan. Unfortunately, the rising star of Asia has also attracted some controversy from the Hong Kong Press for her seeming arrogance, and alleged romantic affair with Chan.
But Zhang does not seem to crack under pressure. Embracing TAG Heuer's philosophy, she was confident about giving herself some time to learn the ropes, a step at a time.
Launching a TAG Heuer watch collection in Singapore recently, Zhang attracted attention wherever she went. From newspapers to television interviews and public appearances, she was the centre of attraction. After all, it was only her second visit to the island republic. Her success has taken her many miles from home and her folk-dancing background, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in performing arts from the China Central Drama Academy.
An advertising visual in blue, silver, and black shows a provocative picture of Zhang as elegant and strong, portraying the two dimensions of a woman - beauty and strength.
During the Press conference, Zhang, dressed in a fire-engine red Moschino top, black jeans, and a diamond-studded TAG Heuer, seemed casual and was busy smiling and posing for the cameras while answering questions. Her answers were direct and sensible, testimony to her finesse in tackling the Press. Zhang's emerging presence as the rising star of the East seems to coincide with the launch of TAG Heuer's Alter-Ego line of watches.
TAG Heuer CEO and president Jean-Christophe Babin said the company was extremely proud and pleased to work with three very exceptional women - Zhang, American Olympic gold medallist Marion Jones and Spanish model and actress Ines Sastre.
"These women are dynamic, talented, confident and demonstrate mental strength. They are accomplished in different fields and reign in different countries.
"However they are bound by the qualities that reflect the TAG Heuer spirit which is young and successful."
The three internationally-renowned women are also recognised for their beauty and strength - qualities of the global Alter Ego advertising campaign.
It is no coincidence that Zhang was chosen as TAG Heuer's new Asian ambassador. She believes many women can identify with the concept of an alter ego as embodied in the TAG Heuer campaign. A gala dinner on the theme "TAG Heuer Alter Ego essence" to celebrate Zhang being named the brand's new ambassador was held at the Singapore Ritz Carlton last Thursday. It was attended by some 250 guests from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia. Also present was Singapore's TAG Heuer ambassador Li Lin, a Mediacorp Studios actress.
Although nicknamed "Little Gong Li", Zhang felt unworthy of the comparison as she claimed Gong Li is a beautiful and elegant actress who is far more talented than she is. Zhang said she has a long way to go to be on par wth Gong Li.
"I am still new in the industry. I see myself as a two-movie actress. In Crouching Tiger I had many action scenes. Before I realised it, it was all over," she said.
Asked whether her movies reflect her character, Zhang said: "It is hard to lose one's own characteristics even though you play a different person, and it is common for some of your own traits and facial expressions to shine through."
Zhang, who recently took up English classes, said she is not learning English for the movies but for herself.
"During classes I get more time to myself which I enjoy very much. I think it is important to communicate with others in the global village. For example, if I have a good command of English I won't need a translator. I think it is a necessary skill for everyone. She has some interestings stories to tell about her English classes. "On the first day, nobody knew who I was. But gradually some people began to ask me: 'Are you the girl from Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon?', which I denied.
"Then one day my lecturer asked if anybody has seen the movie and pointed at me, saying I am the girl from the movie in front of the whole class. Naturally I was quite embarrassed, but it was a good thing that the students are very understanding."
Zhang said even before she was appointed as the new ambassador, she knew that TAG Heuer was a brand with style and taste, and also a professional sport watch.
"It is classic, elegant, aggressive and bold, qualities which I hope to represent as the new Asian ambassador for TAG Heuer." Asked whether TAG Heuer would have appointed Zhang as its new ambassador if Crouching Tiger had not won an Oscar, Babin said the company had been eyeing Zhang for a long time even before the Oscar win. Zhang attributed her success to China's Central Drama College where she was trained to be an actress and had the opportunity to work with two great directors - Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee.
She is glad that Crouching Tiger not only reaches out to the Chinese community, but has universal appeal.
On her alleged relationship with Chan during the filming of Rush Hour 2, Zhang said nothing happened and Chan was only helping her get adjusted to the foreign environment.
"While filming Rush Hour 2, I was quite lost as I could not speak English and could not understand what was happening around me, but Jackie was kind to help make me feel at home.
"Sometimes, we would have meals together, or he would invite me to his trailer to meet his wife and son.
"I truly respect Jackie as an actor and as an elder brother and I cherish what he has done for me."
However, Zhang has wisened up to the danger of associating with big stars, even though they are just friends as it would attract rumours. Zhang said she has not set any goal to be more popular or famous. "My next role in a film will always be my goal, where I will strive to do my best." she said.
Beauty and strength her forte
BORN in Beijing in 1979, Zhang Ziyi was a student at the prestigious China Central Drama Academy. She comes from a working-class family in Beijing and passed the entrance examination of the secondary school affiliated with the Beijing Dance College at the age of 11.
Her beauty and strength of character earned her a role at the age of 19 in Zhang Yimou's film entitled The Road Home. Set amidst the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1950s, the film was a beautifully crafted, intimate account of a young girl's first love. Following her debut in The Road Home, Zhang delivered a critically- acclaimed performance in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - an epic tale of true love, adventure and intrigue which stars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign film. Zhang herself received 14 nominations and went on to win the 2001 Independent Award and the 2000 Toronto Film Critics Association Award. Since then the young actress has been starring in one film after another in Asia and the United States.
She is slated to act in the next Jet Li-Zhang Yimou film called The Hero, and 2046 by director Wong Kar Wai, which begins production in November. |
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The Straits Times
July 2001
Zhang Ziyi is China's best export
She went from Beijing acting student to superstar in a matter of months.
But the Hongkong press has never been easy on this wonder-girl. Why?
In a halter-neck top and a flowy skirt, Zhang Ziyi appears relaxed, even charming. Although only 22 years old, the star of the gravity-defying Lee Ang martial arts extravaganza, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is possibly the biggest non-English speaking star in the world today.
She is also one of the most controversial celebrities in the Mandarin-speaking world, thanks to the Hongkong press which has described her as 'arrogant', 'obnoxious' and 'too big-headed' for her own good.
One paper even described her English-speaking, award-presenting performance at the recent MTV Awards as 'a national disgrace to China'.
Fluttering her long delicate fingers, she explains in a casual, friendly tone: 'I don't hate the press. I have been open with reporters in the past.
'But when the articles were published they always made me out to be this monster with a big ego, or a prima donna. And that is so far from the truth.'
The mainland China actress, born and raised in Beijing, was in Singapore last Wednesday as the new ambassador for the Alter Ego line of watches for Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer.
She moves with grace and oozes star quality. With almond-shaped eyes, movie-star cheek bones, straight-flowing black tresses and a smooth-as-china complexion, her greatest appeal is her blossoming womanhood. Even watching the svelte, former ballerina speak in lyrical, sing-song Mandarin is entrancing in itself.
It is hard to imagine anyone not taking a fancy to China's hottest export.
Except the Hongkong media.
It has been ruthless in piling criticisms on the box-office star, determined to put her on the wrong side of the media spotlight.
In retaliation, she has reportedly called Hongkong 'a damned place' in the Hongkong papers, following speculation and rumours that she was involved in a love triangle with gongfu star Jackie Chan and his 18-year-old son, Cheng Zuming.
Surprisingly though, Zhang, the child of an economist and kindergarten teacher, displays none of the precious or antsy moods she is so often accused of during this exclusive interview.
Speaking in Mandarin, laced with an alluring Beijing lilt, she says: 'The Hongkong papers have always criticised me for no rhyme or reason. I mean, if there is nothing good to write about me or any personality, then don't write. Don't fabricate news that hurts just to sell papers.'
Born on Feb 9, 1979, Zhang graduated from China's prestigious Central Drama Academy. She was plucked from obscurity to be in her first film, The Road Home, by its acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
He was the same director who discovered and made an international star of the China actress Zhang is so often compared to, Gong Li.
Zhang admits to being new to the media circus and the public relations game. She concedes that she speaks what she thinks. But over the years, she has discovered - the hard way - how big rumours can grow from her innocent, frank comments. So now, the actress, who has made only four films so far, is alert to the dangers.
'It's a 'once bitten, twice shy' mentality. If you have been made use of once, would you be duped again? Nowadays, I just deliver the facts straight up and no more. And even then, there's no guarantee that the press won't twist the facts or mis-report!' she insists with a girlish mirth.
As an example of mis-reporting, she cited the news that she recently joined the Chinese Communist Party. She clarified that she has indeed applied, but that her application has yet to be approved.
Last Wednesday in Hongkong, Zhang did something that was widely interpreted as an apology for her bad behaviour. She invited the Hongkong press to a private tea session to try to iron out the misunderstandings.
But the polite actress, sitting with her back dancer-posture straight, is quick to point out that she was hardly saying sorry to the journalists.
'I just want to make it clear, once and for all, to the Hongkong press that I'm not what they make me out to be. I just want a more accurate representation of myself in the media. I really hate it when press reports twist facts,' she says.
'I remember that while I was in Hongkong filming Rush Hour 2, I said a tearful goodbye to a make-up artiste. I was hugging her and then I thought: 'If the Hongkong media caught sight of this, the news would be that I'm a lesbian!' ' she recalls, collapsing into giggles.
Still, she is well aware why she is considered fair game for media snipers.
'There is no denying that I have been extremely lucky in my career so far. I have only been cast in four roles and two of my films have been really successful worldwide, while the other two have not been screened yet.
'If someone else had been in my shoes, I would most definitely feel a similar envy, maybe even jealousy.
'Human beings are like that. We always have to find a scapegoat to make ourselves feel much better.'
She understands that as a public artiste, the media has the licence to probe into her life. But the actress maintains that a certain part of her impossibly-glamorous life is not for public entertainment.
IN FACT, ask her questions about her rumoured romantic links with Zhang Yimou, or Jackie Chan and son, and she shoots back a look so fierce, one wishes gongfu actress Michelle Yeoh was standing by to help fight her off - even though Zhang is only 1.64 m tall.
Nevertheless, she replies gracefully that such stale nuggets should not be dredged up as conversation topics. She further adds that only time - and not her words - can prove to everyone that these are nothing but rumours.
When pushed to answer whether she's secretly dating a Korean actor, Zhang lets an expletive slip.
'I don't wish to talk about it,' is her curt reply.
But switch the subject matter back to a topic such as China's recent successful bid to host the 2008 Olympic games and she perks right up.
'I was in Taiwan when I first heard the news. I was ecstatic and felt so proud to be Chinese. I have since contacted my agent back in Beijing to let them know that I'd like to contribute to the Olympics in some way,' she says.
'I hope the organising committee will let me hold score cards or lead the marching contingent during the opening ceremony. I seriously doubt it, though,' she says like a teenager who has just won the first prize in a raffle.
With her overwhelming achievements, it's easy to forget just how young she is.
Indeed, following the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, she looks set to leave China and make leaps and bounds into Hollywood with the black-belt blockbuster, Rush Hour 2.
Opening next month in America and Singapore, the much anticipated Jackie Chan-and-Chris Tucker action flick promises to be the vehicle for the actress to karate-chop her way into Hollywood.
If she is successful, then all it will take to storm Hollywood in Zhang's case is beauty, brains and a pair of stiletto boots - not Berlitz.
However, she prefers to downplay her rapid ascent.
'I have never given serious thought to going global or going to Hollywood. For me, what has happened to my life so far has been a blessing,' she says.
'Hollywood for me is more a dream place where there are many glamorous stars.
'And for me, the best part of my job is that I get to attend red carpet events at the Oscars or at Cannes where I can indulge in a spot of star-gazing.'
Zhang is capable of being wise way beyond her years but daft below them in the same sentence.
Maybe she isn't the witch that the Hongkong press makes her out to be. Maybe she really is just a simple, talented China girl who got lucky. |
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SinaJuly 2001
Experience Makes Me Mature
"I have to admit that I've been very lucky, if I hadn't meet directors Zhang Yimou or Ang Lee, I might not have achieved what I've achieved today..."
I gain maturity from dealing with fame and rumours
"Winning awards"? Of course it affects me. It gratifies me by showing recognition from the public for my works, and it also helps to build up my self-confidence. I think that everyone who works in showbusiness, both directors and actors, none of them really refuses this kind of honour. Maybe some people act if they disdain it, but in fact, from the bottom of our hearts, we all know how much it really means to us.
Anyhow, I really care about it. Awards, they have their greatest value when they are first awarded into the winners' hands, then they become worthless when cherished by their owners at home, they only become parts of your memories. And the same thing happens to the next trophy.
I of course know that I can't indulge myself in the joy of winning those awards forever. I can't always attend all the movie festivals, media promotions, without losing myself in my own fame which comes along with my meteoric success. I have to settle down for learning. It's very fortunate for me to work with those renowned directors in "The Road Home" and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon." That doesn't mean how transcendent and eminent Zhang Ziyi's acting skill is, because I don't know what will I be without them, will I still be so successful? If you really have enthusiasms for your vocations, if you really care, you will want to be the best one out there, no one wants to be the worst. I still have a long career ahead of me, I will devote myself to my next and future roles........
Rumours? They also affects me, not necessary negatively. I now contemplate more since they started appearing, these kinds of news elicited my vigilance and also alarmed me promptly. Since then I knew better where my shortcomings are. I felt frustrated but became more mature at the same time. From what I have gained and what I have lost, I must admit i've just been too lucky, I've had more opportunities than others. Maybe because of my sudden stardom while I am still so young, a lot of people don't really recognise me, I can understand that. If I am in their shoes, I will be feeling just the same as them. A young girl without too many credits to go with her name, why on earth does she becomes such a glaring star? I can only try my best to respond to these allegations with my hard work. Still, I cherish my past experiences, but more thankful to the people who discover me, help me, cherish me and support me.
We had a nickname for Miss Chang, "Mother Chang", because she always devoted herself to her students
I lived in a dancing school from when I was eleven years old, and I am not good at human relationships since my childhood. I have a kinda extreme personality, not very talkative but always tell my real thoughts to others, sometimes I would antagonize people because of that, because I don't want to tell lies hypocritically. My relationshiop with my classmates was, well, a convergence of good and bad. But sometimes real thoughts will do all of us good. The light would be turned off strictly at 10 0'clock at our dormitory, we had to light up candles if we wanted to read. No one has complainted about this to our teachers, but then I stood out: "Can the lights out time of our dormitory be made later?"
When I was attending the tutoring classes prior to my exam, I always hid in a quiet corner, but Miss Chang Li often asked me questions. I was asked to act as if I was hunting wolves in forest one time. I couldn't do anything but perform a graceful dancing maneuver. Miss Chang told me subsuquently that the best performance always come along with the most sincerely, from-the-bottom-of-heart emotions. I didn't know a single thing about acting at that time, but Miss Chang was interested in me, and encouraged me as well. She asked me id I had any other colleges on my preference list? Have I ever won awards from education department or something like that. Then I learned later that because Miss Chang wanted to secure my seat in the Centreal Drama Academy, she went to my original dancing school by bus for my award winning school records. Prior to this, both me and my family hadn't any kinds of contacts or relationships with her, I was really, really moved.
After one year of study at the Central Drama Academy, I still didn't know much about acting, I was so confused. I was terrified to act in front of the audiences, especially alone. I was afraid of the stage. So, I told my mum I wanted to leave the school, but had no courage to raise the issue in front of Miss Chang. My mum persuaded me to hang on for a few days longer since she thought I might needed some more time to getting used to my new school. During that time I often thought about being sick, since then I wouldn't have to go up to the stage again. I cried whenever I saw the front gate of the Central Drama Academy because I didn't want to step inside it. But Miss Chang helped me to build up my self-esteem, she had the convictions that I would one day learn the skill of acting. And finally, after my sophomoric year, I gradually immersed myself in acting. Though I was not very intimate with my teacher during my school years, but I still really adore teachers like Miss Chang who takes care her students as her own children. But I was more close with her for these two years, I pay a visit to her everytime I come back to Beijing.
Zhang Yimou: a man who exudes with intelligence and aptitude
I am still very thankful to my guide director Zhang Yimou, I've learned so much during my cooperation with him. He is a very intelligent, sedate, unadorned director who really cares a lot about his works. He's really a down-to-the-earth person, you can never feel as if you are working with such a prominent artist. He really knows how to protect and takes good care of actors, he never let his actors waste their staminas at the scenes, basically he films only when his actors are at their best phases. ZY often indulges in his own visions by ignoring the substantial realm, and frequently his own health. There was one time he had to endure such a terrible stomachache, he had to stick a hard object to his body with a hot water bag as layer, and was dripping with sweat at the scene. He was eventually curl up on the chair. All the staff had to persuade him to stop filming, and then he only took some medicines from his home and returned promptly without delaying the shooting of the movie.
But ZY could be quite terrible sometimes. He easily lost his temper if his actors were not in good form. There was one time, it was winter and really really cold. I was in a relatively depressed mood that today, and we were supposed to be shooting a happy scene. I simply couldn't adjust myself to it. Finally, director has had enough of me. He brought me to he entrance of the village, then, vent all of his rages to me: "You can't be like this! We all woke up so early this morning because of this scene, we were prepared and waiting for you, look at what you have done... Think about it yourself." ZY didn't blame me in front of others, he really cherishes his actors. He left without any coaxing after he finished scolding, and I went back to the scene after I finished crying. Director asked me: "Are you ready now?" "Hmm, yes!" In fact, not really, but I still managed to finish that scene at last. ZY really has great enthusiasm to his projects. Both me and Zheng Hao (male protagonist in The Road Home) went to the hinterland where the movie was taken place one month prior to the actual shooting of tRH. We cooked for the peasants, feed the pigs and collected potatoes from fields. We didn't understand why, but these jobs are very funny at the same time really tiring. At the end of each day, staff would come to pick us up, just like what I saw in a movie. It was very funny.
Until now I still trust director Zhang Yimou very much. I will ask about his opinions whenever after I read a script. He is a very confident but not arrogant, not evasive but honest person. He will tries his best to help you if you face any difficulties. He has devoted his entire life to his movies, at the same time lives a very simple life which does not match up with his fame.
Ang Lee's pursuit of perfection, my martial arts choreographer, and my stunt double
Working with director Ang Lee was totally different from my previous experience with ZY. Maybe because Zhang Yimou has a better mutual understanding with his actors, we were like a big family. In contrast, I felt a bit detached from Ang Lee. But all of them have really taken a good care of me. I often associate my cooperation with them as a car crash. Maybe I would miss this opportunity if I only left a second earlier or later. Because of this perfect timing, it has rendered my success today. I really should pay my debts of gratitudes to these outstanding directors, not by buying a car to Zhang Yimou, giving a villa to Ang Lee or anything like these. After my success, I should support their movies in every conceivable way. In the latest project of ZY's, "Hero", I will be playing a supporting role, but I still will try my best, listen to the crew all the way.
Crouching Tiger was a very difficult experience for me. It was filmed in a very tough fashion. From the shooting scene, human relationships, to the working practice of director, they were all different from before. Especially working with Ang Lee, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, they are all great artists. I was exerted with enormous pressures. After a while of shooting, it was rumoured that Ang Lee was unsatisfied with my performance. Well, as you know, I am a straightforward person. It was painful for me to handle such a great pressure. I've been pondered about it for three days then I decided to settle this matter with Ang Lee directly. I first told Ang Lee's assistant about this. When we were on our way to the scenes, I have finally blurted: "Director.." then I burst into tears and alleviated all of my depression at once: "I heard that you were unsatisfied with me, why didn't you tell me anything about it? Then I can never improve myself....." A real relief, then that Ang Lee responded: "I've never said anything like that!"
Ang Lee has never shouted, never lost his temper, talks in a very slow pace, a real graceful and humble man. But I was so afraid of him. I dared not to stare into his eyes the first time I finished my fight scene, because I was so afraid if I see any disappointments from his glances. We were shooting a few scenes during winter, it was so cold. I had to put on two more clothes under my costume. Ang Lee said:"Ziyi, why are you wrapped up like this? Take them off!" I first thought I would have no chance to put on them again, how cold it would be! But Ang Lee has immediately told the producer to buy a few thin and warm clothes for me.
Ang Lee has never left any detail of this movie out, even finger nails, even we were not yet to film the fingers: "Your nails are too long, ancient people wouldn't have such long nails." Later, the crew was saying: "This director can't be any better." When I finished my parts of the movie, I always sat silently aside to watch how Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh played their parts. But whenever Ang Lee saw me, he would urge me to practice sword play again. Sometimes he thought I might be too boring to practice alone, he would try to work it out with me. Consequently twisted his own waist and leg. There is one thing both Ang Lee and ZY in common, they all devote everything to their movies, even their own health.
I was mostly inspired by CTHD's choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping. He is an very experienced artist, he has choreographed the fight scenes for superstars like Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat before. He always encourged me on the side when Ang Lee was unsatisfied with my fight scenes, and taught me all the tricks hand to hand. His personality and virtue showed me how to encourge and support inexperienced actors.
And also my stunt double. She is also a girl. During one fight scene, my thumb and middle finger's nails were chopped off. I endured my tears the first time because I didn't want to ruin my makeup. But the second time the same wound was hit again, I bursted into tears eventually. Later I fought with the stunt double with real weapons. I accidentally chopped off her nail and her hand was immediately bleeding. I know how painful that is because I've endured the same thing. But she just said to me: "It doesn't matter, you hit me because you are just Zhang Ziyi, not the martial arts instructor. It can happen any time." I was really moved, she didn't blame me for a bit, or spout any lectures to me. Again, I've learned a lot from her... |
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CCTVAugust 2001
The Secrets of Zhang Ziyi's "First Times" Revealed
A pretty, delicate Beijing girl, Zhang Ziyi spent her middle school years at a dance academy, then attended the Central Drama College after passing the entrance exam; she was discovered by a famed director even before graduation and became an "international" star with just two films. Behind the fairy tale, however, there are also footprints of a mortal. Looking back, Zhang Ziyi recounts her "first times".
The first on-stage performance...
"At around four or five years old, on June 1st Children's Day, I performed with the children in kindergarten, wearing a cape dancing on the stage." She said her impression of that event is very vague, the only memento left is an old photogragh.
Kindergarten was Zhang Ziyi's second home when she was little. Because both her parents worked, she was sent to board at the kindergarten when she was just 100 days old, and only went home once a week. She only got to live at home at 6 years old when she started attending elementary school.
The thing she remembered the most living at home is plaiting hair: "I kept my hair long, so it had to be braided before going to school, but mom had to go to work at 5:00 am, therefore, every day she woke me up at 5:00 am, got my hair into braids, then I would go back to bed to get a little bit more sleep before I went to school." This shows that Zhang Ziyi was not a pampered child.
The first time getting home-sick...
"After graduating from elementary school, I started attending and boarding at the dance school, I found that sleeping was very difficult, I was 11 years old at that time, slept on the upper deck of the bunk bed, the bed was very narrow, it was quite difficult sleeping up there."
Actually, the tough part was not sleeping, but getting used to the new environment: "The whole environment was different, there were 6 people in a room, all the beds were bunk beds with upper and lower decks, I had to live with the new classmates, I was getting home sick, and I cried every day in the bed."
The first drama performance...
"It was at the dance school, there was this celebration at the school during the Chinese New Year, we put up a show by patching together commercials and lines from stage plays. It was very funny, we did an episode from the novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber' during which grandma Liu was presenting gift, and the character I played was Lin Dai Yu." Even now she still bursts into laughter when she talks about it.
Smiling is another memory from Zhang Ziyi's teenage years: "While studying dance, it was nerve-wrecking getting on stage in the beginning, but then I learnt how to smile, The teacher would tell you, a dancer needs to smile wholeheartedly on stage, therefore, everyone put on a beautiful smile, trying their best, our face were so numb that we were still smiling even after we withdrew to the backstage." she makes a funny face upon finishing that story.
First time making money...
"This was also while I was in the dance school. I was 14 years old, it was a TV commercial, it was probably a skin-care commercial, but I was not the main character. That was the first time I made money, I was so happy!"
How did I spend the money I earned? "I would not spend all the money in one shot. I did buy myself a present. I spent the money slowly, and I would no longer accept the 10 dollar weekly allowance from dad and mom; At that time, I felt that I was earning money, and I was capable of being independent."
Ever since, she indeed became "financially independent": "Starting at 14 years old, basically I stopped getting spending money from dad and mom, I made my own money."
Zhang Ziyi would not deny that her family was not well-off, when she was little, she always remembered with obedience what her mom said: "Those toys in the department stores, you can look, but no buying."
Thus, she got to own only one doll, her childhood games included bean bags, "house jumping" [like hopscotch.] Now her income has increased, she would buy herself toys generously: "My zodiac sign is sheep, therefore I always buy a toy sheep everywhere I go."
First time winning an award...
"16 years old, at the National Youth Peach and Plum (Taoli) Cup Dance Competition, I was awarded the Performance Prize. It was for a solo dance called Peacock Dance. That award was special because it was recognized by the Department of Culture at the national level, and later on it played an important role in helping me getting into the Central Drama College. It exempted me from taking the tests on cultural subjects."
Her time in the dance school was without a doubt quite memorable, but Zhang Ziyi realized that she was not the best dancer material, therefore she changed career as soon as she graduated, and got admitted to the Central Drama College. This step changed her life, because she met Zhang Yimou.
First scene in a movie...
"It was in 'The Road Home', in that scene I was entering the house running, pushing the door open all excited. I did not know what I was doing, I knew next to nothing, the director said I needed to do such and such, so I tried to imagine how it is to be happy and excited, however, my face was all frozen up because I was just too nervous. That scene was "No Good" 35 times! The director ended up not using that scene at the end; hence, there is no way for you all to see my first scene."
It is really not important that the audience does not get to see the scene that was "No Good" 35 times, what is important is that this movie about rural China captured her unconventional elegant beauty, which in turn gave her the chance to become Yu Jiao Long (Jen Yu of Crouching Tiger).
First fight scene...
"It was at Xin Jiang, in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', I flew into the air and kicked away two bad guys with split legs."
Did I get scolded? "Certainly had, because in the beginning, I knew nothing, therefore both Yuen Wo Ping and Ang Lee gave me lots of encouragements."
Even though she had practiced dancing for many years, fight scenes gave her enormous pressure and she still proceeded filming them with fear and trepidation: "Before filming each time, I always asked them to tell me the movements early before hand, so I can practised them as soon as possible. The stupid bird should always fly first, you know. If I did not do them well, it would lead to delay , I was so worried that things might be delayed because of me."
Talking about movies, she always praises the high demands of the directors: "All the directors of my films had high demands, they were all very greedy, they all wanted the best. Director Ang Lee always said: can we have another take? We would do it again, and he would say: can we have another take; Peter Pau [the cinematographer] had to finally tell him: Director, it can not get any better! After that we all learnt to tell Ang Lee: Director, it can not get any better!"
First injury during filming...
"The one that gave me the deepest impression is the scene at the armed escort company where I fought with Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). I needed to jump in the air and spin one revolution, then squat for 2 seconds, and stand up. However, I stood up too early after the squat, my thumb and thid finger was whacked, the pain underneath the finger nails were pulsing like crazy, but I had to held them tight and tried not to cry, becuase the makeup would br ruined if I cried."
"Then the director said: well, are you OK? Since the director said 'are you OK', you definitely can not say you are not OK, so I said 'I am OK, I am OK'. therefore, we repeated the routine, and again I was whacked at the exact same location, and again I held it tight with my hand, Michelle Yeoh ran to me with deep concern; As soon as someone showed concern and tried to comfort me, I could not help but started crying, then I saw my fingers were bleeding."
"Beijing was snowing at the time, so they took some snow in the plastic bag and pressed against my hand. The tendons in my fingers just kept pulsing ..."
"After filming 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', I realized that the movie making magic can indeed give you a different perspective. After the injury, I started to understand how others feel; it seemed that I was grown up all in a sudden, I know what it meant by being considerate and understanding. This can not be taught by textbooks."
First time making a Hollywood movie...
"The first scene in 'Rush Hour 2' was the fight in the casino with Chris Tucker. The funniest thing was, many crew members were also present even though they were not invloved in that scene, I was kind of surprized so I asked my interpretor, why are there so many people? He said they are all here to take a look because they know the girl in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' will be filming a fight scene today. Ha ha ... Ha ha ..."
"While making this movie, I was amazed to find that the U.S. movie industry is very professional in every aspect, all the equipments are very advanced. For example, while viewing a playback, the director can choose to see the second take or the twentieth take immediately. We also had dry-cleaning facilities right there on the wardrobe trailer; actors had their own trailer, they could read books, watch television or rest when they were not filming."
"What makes me think about the most is: the financing, the equipments and the creative environment of our domestically produced films are not ideal at all. Like filming 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', it was very tough, everyone including international stars, such as Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat, had to suffer together. We could not take showers or bathes in Xin Jiang, and all of us had to cram in close quarter in order to get some sleep. In such a tough creative environment, we can still make films that have broad appeal, capable of winning international awards, I truly feel that the hardworking spirit and perseverence of the Chinese directors and crew members are simply extraordinary."
One footprint with every one step, Zhang Ziyi's road seems to be easier to travel than others. She said she wishes she could travel on this road a little bit further, and a little bit longer.
With incessant negative news coverage, especially the reports about Jackie Chan's birthday, Zhang Ziyi said she "has learnt the lessons". Thus, she was very careful, almost paranoid, when she talked. Whenever she mentioned a friend, she would say "my female friend"; telling her that she's beautiful, she would emphasize that it was because "the movie camera makes it looks beautiful"; asking her if there is any moment she would feel she was actually quite smart, she became quite annoyed and replied: "This type of topics, just getting me into trouble!" From beginning to end, whatever she said are all very fitting and appropriate, all the credits belong to the crew and the director, she herself was just lacking in experience, and needs further effort. |
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Inside Kung-FuAugust 2001
Inside Kung-Fu:
You’ve worked with the two top Asian action stars in the world, Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat. How would you describe this experience?
Zhang Ziyi:
Overwhelming! I grew up admiring both of them, and to have actually worked with both of them is like a dream come true.
IKF:
Are they very different?
ZZ:
Well, of course, different people have different personalities. Chow Yun Fat is more quiet and reserved, Jackie’s more outgoing and has a very spontaneous sense of humor. But they’re both masters of their craft. When the cameras are rolling, there is 100 percent dedication. I also considered it a tremendous responsibility to be working with both of these men. Here I am, a beginner, working with the best there is. I had to be very diligent to be worthy of this honor.
IKF:
Did you always want to be an actress?
ZZ:
No, when I was younger I wanted to be a teacher. Then I became a dancer, and that led to a career in acting.
IKF:
On some web sites, it says that you had a very difficult childhood, and you ran away from home.
ZZ:
(Laughs) You have to be so careful about what you read on web sites. There are no controls for web sites and people can make things up. This information is completely wrong. I had a very good childhood and terrific parents. The truth is that when I was 11 I did run away from the dance school. I don’t know what I was thinking, I was only 11. But later on, as I matured, I accepted the fact that I was there out of choice, I made the decision to go of my own free will, and I had to accept the strictness of the training that was a part of that lifestyle.
IKF:
Although Rush Hour 2 hasn’t been released yet, we know it’s going to be a major hit. “Crouching Tiger”, of course, is already a film legend. How do you feel about the two films that exposed you to Western audiences being not just successful, but major hits?
ZZ:
Incredibly lucky.
IKF:
Do you have any martial arts or wushu training?
ZZ:
No, I can’t claim to. I was a dancer for six years.
IKF:
But you looked so spectacular in “Crouching Tiger”.
ZZ:
It was just my dancing background. A lot of the Chinese action stars aren’t fighters, but they train in theatrical wushu. I was able to pick up the moves because I was a dancer (At this point, one of the American women in her entourage speaks up: “Excuse me, she’s being very, very modest. She wasn’t just a dancer, she was the national champion.” After a brief exchange of words in Chinese, she laughingly confesses that it’s true.)
IKF:
In Rush Hour 2 you play the villain?
ZZ:
Yes.
IKF:
Did you enjoy it?
ZZ:
Of course. Jackie Chan has always been my idol, and the opportunity to work with him is incredible. And since I’m not really what you’d call “bad,” I wanted the role, I wanted to accept the challenge and see if I can come across as sinister and scary. I also like it because it will show if I can be versatile.
IKF:
Have you ever seen a character in a movie and thought, “I wish I could have played this character?”
ZZ:
The truth is no, and the reason is I haven’t seen that many films, particularly American films. Again, it’s the language thing. If my English were better, I’d be able to have a better appreciation of American movies.
IKF:
What do you think of the U.S.?
ZZ:
It’s very exciting and fun, and it’s like being in a different world from what I’ve seen. Everybody treats me so nice here, I wish I could speak the language better.
IKF:
Have you already decided what will be your next film?
ZZ:
Yes, it starts filming in July of 2001. It’s called Heroes, and it’s about the first Emperor of China. A historical piece.
IKF:
Are you considering a career in American films?
ZZ:
I’m a realist. I learned when I was a very young child that it’s good to have ambitions, but to be flexible and realistic and set short-term goals. The truth is that right now, it’s not realistic to talk about American movies because my English isn’t good enough. To have any ambitions one way or the other, to be able to make an intelligent decision like that, I would have to be fluent in English. So until I improve my English, I can’t give it much consideration. |
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Paper MagazineAugust 2001
Zhang Ziyi Takes the Western World
You have to wonder what exactly Zhang Ziyi's learning in English class. Despite being born and raised in Beijing, the actress, lauded the world over for her portrayal of the snotty, sword-skilled ingenue in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has mastered the finer points of the free-market economy, clicking through Chelsea in high heels and ordering food that's not on the menu. "Ice cream, please," she tells the waiter without glancing at the menu. "Chocolate. Four spoons." Although accompanied by two translators, Ziyi is fluent enough to understand most questions. While living in New York to improve her English, she's been taking in the town, and it shows, wearing an orchid-print tank top, Christian Dior belt, and transparent pink sunglasses, she looks less the Qin Dynasty warrior princess and more the hip-hop star who just cut her debut.
It's not just her look that's grounded in the here-and-now. She's about to appear as a cold-blooded villain in shiny black pants in the cop flick Rush Hour 2, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Ziyi admits that the role wasn't enough of a dramatic challenge for her, but it's an American film and that's what counts. And when asked if she likes the movie, she responds with the coy humor of a native speaker: "You watch it first, and then I'll let you know."
Action aside, Rush Hour 2 doesn't entirely go against the grain of Ziyi's artistic temperament. After playing a warrior princess in Crouching Tiger, she filmed The Warriors (in which she plays a warrior princess) and The Legend of Zu (in which she also plays a warrior princess). She will soon start production on Wong Kar-wai's 2046 (no warrior princesses, at least not yet. Maybe some guns). But in China, where the art film-to-commercial film ratio (9 to 1) is roughly inverse to that in the U.S., actors fantasize about working on big-budget American crossovers.
"When I'm doing an American film, I can eat whatever I want," she jokes, rubbing her belly. "There's a lot of food. In Chinese film, you have to pack your own lunch. Budget's not the only difference, but it's significant. The budget for Rush Hour 2 was $100 million, where the budget for Crouching Tiger was only about $15 million. Also, China isn't as free about expression in terms of subject matter. There are certain sensitive issues we can't talk about. In China, art is only there to support politics."
Yet Ziyi's appearance in a summer blockbuster seems odd, given that she will have worked with three of Asia's most fascinating exports by fall. Directors Zhang Yimou (Shanghai Triad, Raise the Red Lantern), Wong Kar-wai (Fallen Angels, In the Mood for Love), and Ang Lee aren't known for splashy seasonal productions. It seems stranger still considering that her performance in Crouching Tiger won her acclaim from organizations as diverse as the Toronto Film Critics Association and the MTV Movie Awards (Best Fight, Breakthrough Female Performance). We love her the way she is. But what's especially curious is that the 22-year-old doesn't even like action films. When asked, she rattles off a few of her favorites: "To Live, by Zhang Yimou. Erin Brockovich. Beauty and the Beast."
"I much prefer tragedies," she says. "I'd love to work with Lars von Trier; I thought Dancer in the Dark was so powerful. Some people love film as entertainment, and some love it as a way to pass time. For some people, it's a way to find epiphanies. But I realized why I love making movies: You learn about things in a way you can't when in school, or from books. Film provides access to all human emotions."
The passion to break into Hollywood for her acting and not, say, for twirling her sword, infuses her performances with emotional grit. But if her Sunset Boulevard ambition appears incompatible with her background, if her ambivalence toward action flicks doesn't jibe with her success in such films, it's no stranger than the lukewarm reception Crouching Tiger received in her homeland. "Chinese audiences were bored. I think Crouching Tiger was a little too sophisticated for them," she says, reflecting on the differences between John Woo's school of filmmaking and Ang Lee's. "Actually, the root of the problem is that people in China don't go to movie theaters all that much."
Though she's only been working for four years, Zhang Ziyi is already renowned for her dedication and elegance. People named her one of its 50 Most Beautiful People and quoted Rush Hour 2 director Brett Ratner as saying she was "the Audrey Hepburn of Asia." Raised in western Beijing by her father, a government economist, and mother, a kindergarten teacher, Ziyi left home at age 11 to study folk dance at Beijing Dancing College. "I didn't like it," she says unequivocally. "I wasn't the best dancer, although I can kick my legs very high." She tells of running away on multiple occasions. Eventually she enrolled in China Central Drama Academy to study acting and was still in school while filming Crouching Tiger. Since graduating last year, she has worked on five films and learned English. She hasn't had time for a boyfriend.
"She's focused on her career now," admonishes Ling Lucas, one of Ziyi's managers. "She's got lots of suitors, but she says no to everyone. She loves to study languages. I have to drag her to bed at midnight. If I don't drag her to bed, she'd still be studying." When asked what other languages she speaks, Ziyi quips: "Chinese." And when asked if she plans to make more American films after mastering the language, she says: "Nah, I think I'll become a nun."
Fame arrives from the unlikeliest of sources, Ziyi earned her stripes from shampoo. While holding a casting call for a television commercial, director Zhang Yimou was also covertly interviewing girls for The Road Home, a love story set during China's Cultural Revolution. He never made the shampoo ad, but Ziyi got her first part. And though she was recognized for her performance -- The Road Home won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and Sundance's Audience Award, in China she was compared to Gong Li, not always favorably. Li, star of Ju Dou and Farewell, My Concubine, was romantically involved with Yimou and appeared in several of his films; when The Road Home was released, Chinese audiences began calling Ziyi "Little Gong Li," and rumors spread of an affair between her and the director.
"I would love to have an affair [with him]," she banters, much to the chagrin of her translators. "But nothing happened. Being compared to Gong Li was a big compliment, nothing to be unhappy about. I admire her. I can't really be compared to Gong Li, maybe in a few years, but not now. She's a huge international superstar. Plus," Ziyi leans forward, as if divulging a secret, "she's gorgeous."
It's an apt comparison, if only because both display remarkable poise, and both are strikingly beautiful. But where Li brings a mature sexuality to the screen, Ziyi's both sexy and innocent, still more girl than grown-up. The crouching tigress (who was actually born in the year of the goat, according to Chinese astrology) alternates between sophisticate and goof, like when she follows her discussion of Björk ("I like her personality; she expresses exactly what she wants, and that's what I'd like to be able to do") with an air-guitar rendition of Weezer's "Hashpipe." And although she's clearly enamored of America's cultural freedom, she says she doesn't like going out to bars or clubs. Rather, when the ice cream's melted to soup and the interview's wound to a close, Ziyi tells her translators, in no uncertain terms, what she'd like to do next. "Prada!" she exclaims in English. "Barneys!" Spoken like a native. |
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Black Belt Magazine
September 2001
The Co-Star of 'Crouching Tiger' and 'Rush Hour 2' Talks About Working with Hong Kong Action Genius Yuen Woo Ping and International Superstar Jackie Chan
Now I can die happy. I got to see Zhang Ziyi, the gorgeous young star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in person on her 21st birthday. (And yes, she's even more beautiful without makeup.) The MTV Movie Award nominee recently granted me an interview, half of which was conducted in her hotel room in Las Vegas and the other half on the set of Rush Hour 2, where co-stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker were hard at work in front of the camera. - Mark Cheng
Black Belt: How did you get started in the movies?
Zhang Ziyi: In 1998 I did my first movie, The Road Home, with Zhang Yimou [the director of Raise the Red Lantern and several other Gong Li films], then returned to drama school in Beijing. Because I got the exposure from that initial project, a lot of people called up saying they were assistant directors or producers, wanting me to give them photos and meet with them; but many of these were just student projects that I didn't really have the time for. So when Ang Lee's people called, I didn't take it seriously at first. After a few more calls from them, someone called again to say Ang Lee had 10 minutes to take a meeting with me. I was thinking: "Just 10 minutes! It must really be Ang Lee." So right after class, I went to the meeting, dressed in school clothes and looking like a little girl. Meeting Ang Lee was quite an experience. He was very different from what I expected. He's such a down-to-earth guy, the kind of guy whose face might blush when mine wouldn't. Very humble and polite. So as the meeting went on, he said they were in the planning stages of a movie to be made in mainland China, and he wanted to know if I could kick high. I told him I had six years of formal dance training, so I had no problem performing things like that.
BB: What happened next?
Zhang: When I got back, I heard from a schoolmate that Ang Lee was looking for a tough-minded girl to play in his new production. When I heard that, I thought I didn't get the part for sure. When I met him, I dressed like a little girl, acting cute, so I figured nothing could be further from what he had in mind. I just assumed that they'd find someone else. Quite a while passed before they called to ask for a second meeting. They took me to a big training room, and waiting there were Ang Lee, martial arts coordinator Yuen Woo Ping and a bunch of other people. A coach instructed me to warm up and do my best to imitate whatever he did. They were testing me. I put everything into each move, just hoping they'd find my performance adequate enough to give me a second chance.
BB: Had you had any martial arts training?
Zhang: None whatsoever. In fact, the first time I punched, I must have looked like a total goof. I remember how I punched then and how different it is from how I punch now. My elbow was out, sloppy form, everything. It had actually been a long time since I did anything that vigorous, but having that many years of dance training, I could follow the choreographed patterns pretty well. They just asked me to repeat the moves a few times, filmed me from a few different angles and then told me they were done. That was nerve-racking [because] I didn't hear from them for another length of time, and then the call came in for me to model some of the clothes to see how I looked in wardrobe. Because the project required so much time, I had to take leave from school. We'd spend hours and hours in wardrobe and makeup just to get the look right. And then they let me begin the martial arts training.
BB: Yuen Woo Ping is known throughout Asia as the master of movie martial arts, and now that he's done The Matrix, even Americans know of him. What was training with his team like?
Zhang: More intense than you can imagine. After each day, I went back to school aching from head to toe. If there is a way to make someone a decent martial artist in a short period of time, Yuen Woo Ping has the formula. But training with his people was only part of the initial training that I went through. Ang Lee also had a hand in my training, developing me as an actress right from the outset. Every day, he'd have me sing, laugh, cry, run the whole gamut of emotions just to be able to perform with power and presence on his command. Now keep in mind that all this was just part of my trial period. I still didn't have the part. But Ang Lee was really smart. He wanted to see if I was the kind of person who'd be able to respond to his direction. That was a lot of pressure. They put me through so much training, but at the same time, nobody really told me what was happening. Every day my muscles and tendons felt tighter and tighter, and the soreness never had a chance to really subside. They worked me so much, yet there was no real communication as to what this was all leading to. So finally one day, my martial arts coach told me that this was all part of a great opportunity. And the person who'd get that opportunity would be the most skillful, most outstanding one. That motivated me to push onward.
BB: Did things become easier after you got the role?
Zhang: In fact, it was the opposite. There are a couple of responses a person could have in that situation. You could become complacent, or you could realize that your selection for such a role is only the beginning of your work. Ang Lee was gambling on me when he chose me to fill Jen's role. If I didn't perform up to task, I'd be the one who ruined the film and Lee's reputation. I'm not the kind of person to be that irresponsible. I won't let down people who put their reputations on the line for me. A lot of times, I'd cry at night, especially at the beginning when we were filming the desert sequence in Xinjiang [province].
BB: So those fight scenes were really filmed in the deserts of northwestern China?
Zhang: Exactly, and those fight scenes left me covered with bruises from head to toe. Since I'm built thin, I had a lot of bruises along my shins, forearms, everywhere. What was really interesting was to watch the bruises change colors over the days. It got to the point where I could tell which bruise was how many days old by the color it was.
BB: It must have been quite a change for you to do fight scenes. In many films in this genre, women have demure roles, but you played a woman who was sweet on the outside but fierce when she wanted to be.
Zhang: It's funny. You know the scene where Jen fights the barbarians in the desert and she does a split kick? When the director told me I had to do that kick, it wasn't that big of a deal, but I was also instructed to scream a war cry when I kicked those two guys. That scream was actually one of the harder things to pull off, since that was so against my nature. We did a few takes of that kick, and each time I couldn't get myself to scream like that. I'd jump up, do the kick and open my mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. That happened a couple times, and then I started getting worried about what the director would say if I kept screwing up the scene. Finally, my nerves got the best of me, and on the last shot, I jumped up, threw the kick and this amazing shriek came out.
BB: By the time you started filming, had you already completed your martial arts training?
Zhang: No. In fact, that was the source of a lot of stress. I'd go over to the martial arts coordinator or trainers and ask if they knew what moves we were supposed to do the next day or in the next scene. I figured that if I knew what was ahead, I could go off somewhere and practice on my own so I'd look a little more polished when it came time to shoot the scene. But the stunt coordinators couldn't tell me what the fight scene was going to be like from one day to the next. Depending on the surroundings or terrain, they would construct the fight scene that day. Having to pull off a scene like that - seeing it and filming it the same day - was a lot of pressure. For about one week in Xinjiang, I cried myself to sleep every night. When I talked to my schoolmates, they were great about continually putting things in perspective for me, encouraging me and reminding me what kind of opportunity Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon really was.
BB: That's a lot of pressure for someone so young. You were still a teen-ager when you did that movie.
Zhang: Sometimes the teen-ager side showed through. There were times during the filming when I'd go all-out in front of the camera. After every take, I'd give it more and more and more, just hoping for a little hug or something from Ang Lee. But he'd just pat me on the shoulder and tell me to rest, then go back to doing his thing. When Michelle Yeoh did her scenes well, Lee would give her a hug. I kept pushing harder and harder just for that one hug. When the wrap party came, I went up to thank him for giving me the opportunity to do such a project and learn under his tutelage, and I was filled with emotion. Ang Lee saw the tears in my eyes, and he finally gave me that hug. As soon as he hugged me, I burst out crying like a little kid. It's kind of funny to think that I played such a rough character, someone so fierce, and here I was crying like a baby.
BB: Describe the training program Yuen Woo Ping's team put you through.
Zhang: At the beginning, I learned the basics, just like anyone else: kicks, punches, stances and calisthenics. But because of my dance background, I had a pretty good range of motion and agility. Then they started showing me the essential moves and flavors of martial arts. That was a big change for me. With dance, the idea is to convey beauty with your motions. In martial arts, the objective is to embody power and strong intent in every motion. So even though I didn't do the techniques perfectly every time, the martial arts coaches knew I was putting my heart into each one. Every little motion had to be done fiercely, confidently and powerfully. In terms of stylistic things, we did a broad spectrum of arts. The coaches taught the modern wushutai chi every day with Ang Lee. It was a lot of fun to be training with the other actors. I would get to the training location, and there'd be Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen and Cheng Pei-Pei - all of us training for our scenes. From the start, I also got to work with the sword that was the centerpiece of the movie. As time went on, they gave me a heavier sword so that I'd build up the muscles and control to work better with a lighter one when it came time to film.
BB: You even learned to fly for the film, didn't you?
Zhang: Wire work is a lot more challenging than you might think. Because I'm so thin, the harnesses would chafe my hip bones badly. There were times that I was really in pain while doing those flying scenes. If you're not paying attention, it can give you whiplash, too. To get my mind off the pain, Chow Yun Fat would sing to me between takes.
BB: The media reported that a lot of injuries happened on the set, including one incident in which Michelle Yeoh broke her leg. Did you suffer any serious injuries?
Zhang: Probably the most memorable injury that happened to me was when Michelle and I filmed one of our sword-fight scenes. I was supposed to do a flip, and I came down a little early. I missed the timing to block her sword properly, and it came down on my finger instead of against my blade. I tried to play it off like nothing happened, but inside I was dying to scream. After that happened a couple times, Michelle noticed me wince. When people thought I was hurt, everyone came running up and I started bawling. One of the stunt guys filled a bag with snow and wrapped my finger in it. But no matter what happened, the experience of [making] that movie will be among the richest of my life.
BB: How did Jackie Chan find you for Rush Hour 2?
Zhang: Brett Ratner, the director, decided to use me for a role, actually. He'd been in Hong Kong and saw me in a magazine. He was already curious about me from my role in Crouching Tiger. Then his people got in touch with me, and after meeting with him in Beijing, here I am. Jackie Chan is like an older brother to me. Having the chance to work with him is like a dream. He's one of the most warmhearted guys you'll ever meet.
BB: Is the action in Rush Hour 2 easier now that you have done Crouching Tiger?
Zhang: Absolutely. It's not to say that the action scenes aren't exciting, but having gone from total beginner to martial artist under Yuen Woo Ping's training [makes it] comparatively easy, especially now that I'm more familiar with the martial arts movements. I'm not afraid of doing something physical like that anymore.
BB: What's your character like in Rush Hour 2?
Zhang: She's naughty. (smiling) She is a cute little girl whose trademark weapon is a grenade. She'll come up to you, smiling and giggling while she leaves a bomb next to your seat. Then she'll walk off to a safe distance and watch gleefully as the bomb blows you away. Jackie and Chris Tucker's characters know that this girl is the villain, but when it comes time to fight her, they can't get themselves to hit such a cute little girl. That gets her out of a lot of sticky situations. I think people will like her. |
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Nanfang City DailyJuly 2000
Reminiscence of my First Interview with Zhang Ziyi
Self-Appraisal of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Would you mind doing a self-critique of your performance in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Did you have any pressure working with international mega-stars, Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh?
Zhang Ziyi: I believe my performance did not disappoint Ang Lee. Definitely, there was tremendous pressure, for Ang Lee had chosen Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh - trusted them a lot. On the other hand, they were also under stress having to speak Mandarin in the movie. That his choice of me was a gamble was due to the fact that he did not know me well, not having seen my films. I heard that they wanted to cast Shu Qi initially, but for whatever reasons that eluded me, they signed me up instead. The other actresses vying for the same role and I underwent 10 days of training. He became more familiar with me and eventually selected me. (Why wasn't Shu Qi employed?) No idea, perhaps due to schedule problems. (Why were you chosen?) He wished to use someone new. (Was he satisfied with your performance?) I worked very hard in this movie. He had also praised me and was happy with me. He was aware of my tension, and there were times when I cried. But he found that I was getting better, and could act well. (Never seen her crying, only smiling. If everyone has seen how hard she toiled, they would perhaps not be criticising her without any discretion.)
Do you wish to work with Ang Lee again in your next movie?
Zhang Ziyi: Of course I wish to work with great directors. It's great working with them. They enable me to switch into the mood directly, without meandering about. 'Wonder if they have prepared their next movie, for I hope to have the chance to work with them again. However, my mother has already given me an order not to shoot wuxia movies again. It was too dangerous. Thence, my mom saw me doing the most perilous action in the movie. I feel that everyone has great capacity for learning, for I only learned swimming and horse-riding at the eleventh hour. I was fearful of water but for the sake of my role, I had to do it. The stunt double that I had was of not much help, becoming my coach instead.
Could you talk about your feelings on working with Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh?
Zhang Ziyi: Both are international mega-stars. I respect them a lot. Michelle Yeoh gave me a lot of aid in wushu. She selflessly imparted her years of knowledge and experience to me. She did not worry that I would steal the limelight from her. She was assertively confident, powerfully charming and persuasively charismatic. Her magnanimity let me witness the charm of an international mega-star. I was so touched I almost cried. When I was worn out, she would buy peaches for me. When my socks were torn and my feet hurt, she would buy new socks for me.
Chow Yun Fat was very friendly too. He did not put on the airs of a big shot, and took good care of me. There was a scene - the bamboo scene - where I was very scared, in so far as wanting to weep. Chow Yun Fat hummed me a song to soothe me. I have learned a lot from them: their personalities, handling of matters and approaches to work. They became my models, it was something not possible to learn in school.
Could you do a comparison of your acting ability in The Road Home and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?
Zhang Ziyi: I did my best to depict my roles in the two shows. The characteristics of the two films are entirely different. The Road Home is a reflection of real world. There was no need to recite the lines; I memorised them within a week. On the other hand, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon forges a character that you don't see in everyday life. I had to understand the personalities of the various characters in the book and the people next to me and it required vast imagination and skills to portray such a character. (Were you being yourself in the former?) You can't really put in in that way, for the running in the movie and the gesticulations were not what I do normally in my daily life. It was difficult showing the feelings without any lines, but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was even more difficult.
Which do you think you performed better?
Zhang Ziyi: Both are fairly successful. It's too early to make a conclusion now. Shooting of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has just ended. Whether it is successful or not, it is but a process of growing up. I do not fear failures, I am still young, and do not know much, I can learn again. It might be better to assess the two movies five years down the road.
Having collaborated with the three major directors, Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee and Tsui Hark, you have gained a higher starting point. Would it bring about pressure to your future developments?
Zhang Ziyi: Dare not think about it. I am still young. Failure serves as a groping towards success. However, having a higher starting point, it would be much tougher if I did not do well. I am willing to work with many directors, even those not famous, but the script must be good. (Do you wish to work with the sixth generation directors?) Yes! For example, Wang Xiao Shuai, Jia Zhang Ke, Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yang, etc. I have seen their works, they have lots of good ideas, and it would be relaxing working with them; our thinking, ideas, whims and fancies would be closer. They have plenty of potential, and are very talented.
Do you have any plans for the future?
Zhang Ziyi: I do not have any plans. Neither have I thought of getting awards, or being crowned the Queen of Movies. I only want to do things pragmatically. (Would you be a singer?) No, 'do not have the energy. I strive for perfection in whatever I do. I love movies, the discovery of new feelings when in front of camera.
What do you think you lack most?
Zhang Ziyi: Society experience, and the ups and down of life. The route I trek on is pretty smooth, there is nothing particularly sad or happy. So, I often read many books to enrich myself, to gain something.
What do you think are the prerequisites to being a good actor or actress?
Zhang Ziyi: Able to handle different roles with aplomb, and a good imagination. Actress should also have strong willpower, be willing to learn. I benefited much through shooting martial arts movie, it dug out my potential in this area.
Taboo of Shooting Soap Operas
It appears that there is an unwritten prohibition that Zhang Yimou's female leads do not shoot TV series. Do you have such a taboo?
Zhang Ziyi: No. Actually Zhang Yimou hopes that I would do drama serial, so that I would become a household name. However, many TV stars, after having become famous, want to shoot movies. Since I have such an opportunity, I shouldn't let go of it. As for directors, they can opt not to shoot TV series. But to an actor or actress, they are but a show, and there is no such problem as lowering their status. The most popular idols in Japan act in TV series, those who are more famous than me are acting in TV series. What right do I have to say I do not act in TV series?
Do you consider shooting commercials a taboo? Some says your fee is too high, is it so?
Zhang Ziyi: Doing commercials help raise awareness of myself. Secondly, I get additional income. The most famous stars in Japan do the most commercials. I won't rule out the possibility of doing a commercial; as long as it is creative, I am not averse to lower pay. My price tag is pretty reasonable. I do not wish to elaborate on this. It's being hyped up by the merchants, I would be doing advertisement for them should I say any more. I have my principles regarding accepting commercials.
Did Not Become Famous Overnight
Everyone feels that you initially depended on Zhang Yimou's movie to gain success. In what ways is he responsible for your road to stardom?
Zhang Ziyi: He changed my destiny. I gained recognition because of The Road Home. I revere him, and am grateful to him. And also Ang Lee. I am grateful for their trust in me. Though I would also get scolded. However, without them, I wouldn't have such opportunities. (You are the very lucky then?) I won't depend solely on opportunities. I didn't become famous overnight. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a classic example. I owe my success to my talents and hard work. Who would be aware of the sacrifices I have made for the movies? I want to let people know me gradually. My acting is a major breakthrough in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I am very confident of that. I would give my very best, making sacrifices for movie. For it brings not only honour, but also a sense of achievement. Perhaps, it may be remembered ten years later, still remaining in people's hearts. I have found my worth.
Do you think you classmates were outstanding too?
Zhang Ziyi: Perhaps, the path everyone chooses to walk on are different. I am an easy-going person. My mom said, Everyone is outstanding, but their works are different. I was asked by a reporter during a film festival, I told him I lived in the living room. He looked incredulous and said he did not believe it for I was a star. Actually, when I return home, I am still an ordinary daughter. Classmate, nothing different.
Appraising Three Directors
You have worked with three international directors. Could you give your appraisals?
Zhang Ziyi: No, no, no. I am in no position to evaluate them. I felt one thing common when working with them - while they have an achieved an exalted, inviolable status in the industry, they still constantly, indefatigably look for breakthroughs, for new ideas. They love movies as if they were babies, the kind that is newborn, needing lots of attention and care. I believe that it is on the account of their positive attitude that they have today's results.
Since you stepped into the industry, you have been labelled as "The Second Gong Li," do you look forward to yourself as being recogised thus?
Zhang Ziyi: I believe no one would want to admit themselves as The Second Gong Li or The Second Ang Lee. However, such a saying would not do me any harm. Gong Li is so beautiful, so successful. I hope every of my works gets accepted by everyone, and people won't call be The Second Someone eventually. Time will prove this point. (When her movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released a year later, no one calls her The Little Gong Li anymore. Her capability corrects onlookers' prejudices.)
Ideal Love
Mind talking about your views on love?
Zhang Ziyi: I am someone who is very possessive. Perchance my ideals are too lofty, but mainly because it's very complicated in these days. Finding pure, innocent love is akin to searching for a needle in the haystack. I can only let the nature takes its course.
Do you have any boyfriend?
Zhang Ziyi: No, how do I have the time to socialise? I am vexed actually, it's a surprise no one is going after me. I believe my look is not bad, but no one woos me! I am a straight forward person. They don't treat me as a girl. They regard me as their brother. I have very few friends in the society. Most are reporter friends.
Have you been in love before?
Zhang Ziyi: My first love is a wager. I was very headstrong then, and to prove that I was the most beautiful, under the incitement of my classmates, I asked a very handsome guy out for a meal - and took pride in it.
What are the prerequisites to being your boyfriend?
Zhang Ziyi: He must be erudite, so that I may consult him on anything I don't know. (Need he be handsome?). It's not necessary for guys, but he should not be handicapped. (What about financially?) Doesn't matter. (What if he earned less than you?) How could it be? My pay is low enough. (It must be a completely different now.)
Some actresses sacrifice their love life for the sake of acting in movies. Would you do that?
Zhang Ziyi: No. Since I've come thus far, no one would look for me indiscriminately. (Are you the type who is very idealistic about love?) Should be. Given my character, I won't lower myself to gain some advantage. I don't like to talk about rights or wrongs. I am actually very gentle in real life. Ziyi's character is much like the doggedness of man. She perseveres very strongly in order work towards her goals. So people may think that she is fiercely competitive but found to be wanting tenderness. Actually, after becoming her friend, it's not difficult to witness her gentler side. This doesn't need much imagination, she is but a woman. |
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Time AsiaJuly 4, 2000
'I Felt Like a Mouse and Ang Lee was a Lion'
Ziyi Zhang on acting, stardom and Richard Gere
At 20, Zhang Ziyi is already poised to become China's top actress. The star of director Ang Lee's new film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Zhang steals the show from co-stars Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh. She speaks with Time Asia reporter Stephen Short about the pressures of filming and her determination to master English before a possible career move to Hollywood
Time: You must have been pretty scared when you got picked to work alongside star actors Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh and the director Ang Lee?
Zhang: I was very scared. The director chose me although he didn't really know me. At least with Yun-fat or Yeoh, he knew what the outcome would be. I felt pressure, a pressure not to disappoint the director. I felt like I was a mouse and Ang Lee was a lion. It was daunting.
Time: In which scene do you do your best acting?
Zhang: It's when I first meet Michelle Yeoh, when she comes to me to seek out the sword. Although I know the whole story because I stole the sword, I have to play innocent. I have to pretend I know nothing. I like that scene very much. The bamboo scene too is very unusual. I had to swing up and down, swirl, and remember to try and act at the same time. It was physically very demanding on me to act while fighting.
Time: You're perched on the mantelpiece of stardom, more so than [Chinese actress] Gong Li ever was at your age. What are your priorities?
Zhang: The first thing I have to do is learn English. If I can grasp command of the language, then perhaps I can think about the U.S. I think times are different now from Gong Li's day. Chinese cinema has been rising for some time, has more exposure, and therefore my chances of becoming internationally known are better.
Time: Are you feeling any marketing/media pressure right now?
Zhang: I don't mind being called the 'Little Gong Li.' Westerners think we are similar. But I feel no pressure. Though I really have to learn English.
Time: What do your parents do? Are they artistic?
Zhang: No. My father's an economist and my mother's a kindergarten teacher.
Time: And what do they think of what you're doing?
Zhang: They realize it's a very good opportunity for me and I think they are comfortable with that.
Time: When did you first come to know [Chinese director] Zhang Yimou?
Zhang: In 1997. He had to make a shampoo commercial and he sent an assistant director around Beijing's acting and performing institutions for casting. We arranged a time to meet at 1 o'clock but I got the time confused and thought it was 3 o'clock. When I arrived I was two hours late and everyone had gone -- I was worried. Then I phoned the assistant director and asked why no one had waited and he said, 'God, lady, please, you're two hours late.' So I said, 'O.K., forget about it.' Then the assistant said, 'No, maybe Zhang Yimou can see you another time.' So I went for another casting session a few days later, which I thought was just going to be me and him, but when I got there the room was full of people. Yimou was very casual and frank.
Time: I heard Zhang Yimou recommended you to Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?
Zhang: Not really. I knew Ang Lee was making a movie in Beijing but at the time I did not feel a great urge to get involved. I knew very little about it. Then when I was at the Beijing Film Studio one day, some pictures were taken of me and they got sent to Ang. Later, I was asked to attend a casting.
Time: How much did you get paid for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?
Zhang: I think when you work with such well-known directors, that's payment enough.
Time: What's next for you?
Zhang: Well, I just finished shooting Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain II for [Hong Kong] director Tsui Hark. It also stars Cecilia Cheung, Ekin Cheng, Sammo Hung et cetera.
Time: Is it in Mandarin or Cantonese?
Zhang: It's in Cantonese, and I was the only person speaking Mandarin. It was quite frustrating and painful to shoot as I couldn't understand much of what the others were saying, and I just had to try and follow the sounds and ask what was going on.
Time: And after that?
Zhang: In August I start shooting a film by a Korean director in which I'll be the only Chinese actress. I play a princess living in the Ming dynasty, and I have to run away from turmoil and political war. I've heard the film won't be released in Beijing. I think it's a really special opportunity to make a non-Chinese film. I like Korean and Japanese movies and their production methods. They're very exciting.
Time: Which Western actors do you admire?
Zhang: When I was very small, I remember watching Richard Gere in the film Sommersby. I like him a lot.
Time: I know you went to see Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Did you enjoy it?
Zhang: Very much. It was spectacular. I cried and cried. There was a Westerner sitting next to me and he was crying too. It was strange to be in that situation.
Time: Did you see Red Corner with one of your counterparts Bai Ling, because that film was banned in China, wasn't it?
Zhang: Yes it was. I have seen it though on video.
Time: How do you rate [Canto-pop diva] Faye Wong?
Zhang: I like her. I have all her albums.
Time: Any other Hong Kong stars?
Zhang: Leslie Cheung. I love Leslie Cheung. I met him once in Beijing at an MTV dinner. We went out for dinner once but we didn't talk much about moviemaking. I'd love to make a film with him though.
Time: I'll tell him that. Did you ever have his poster on your bedroom wall in Beijing?
Zhang: No, but I have his CDs et cetera I first heard him on an album which I think is called Rich in Love, or something like that. He sings with not just his voice, but with passion and from his heart. I had to ask my classmates whose voice it was and they told me it was Leslie Cheung. Then I started trying to see his movies.
Time: Do you have any projects after the Korean movie?
Zhang: I think it's a little too early to say at this point. Nothing is confirmed yet. Also, I'm very keen on making movies with great directors, so I don't want to take scripts casually. I want them to be special.
Time: Do you watch a lot of Hong Kong films?
Zhang: Hong Kong movies are a mix of commercial and arty films. A lot of it is not meaningful and valuable to me for that reason. I like movies like In The Mood For Love which have a small audience, but I couldn't really follow it that closely. It was in Cantonese with French, but the acting was expressive and the whole impression of the film was elegant.
Time: Could you live in Hong Kong?
Zhang: Forget it. I want to be with friends and I have no friends or relatives there. |
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Time AsiaJuly 10, 2000
All Aboard For the Zhang High Express
A Star is Born
The young actors at China Central Drama College gather at a lunch table to chat about their vacation activities. And what did you do, a third-year student is asked. That's when slim, demure Zhang Ziyi gets to say: I played the main character in an Ang Lee epic. Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh fought over me and with me. I made movie love in the Gobi Desert with Chang Chen. And then we all went to the Cannes Film Festival.
Asia's most beguiling new movie presence can be found cracking the books in a Beijing acting school. Studying, that is, when she's not playing hooky to star in films by the top directors of the three Chinas. Zhang Ziyi, the daughter of a Beijing economist and his kindergarten-teacher wife, is just 20. She says she "felt a lot of pressure" on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, "a pressure not to disappoint the director. I felt I was a mouse, and Ang Lee a lion." Yet Zhang has a maturity, a sense of purpose, beyond her years, and a will of steel.
She had been trained in dance and won an award at the National Young Dancer competition. But at 15 she gave it up. "I got frustrated with dancing," she says insouciantly. "I didn't like it." The girl knew what she didn't want. Now she knows what she wants: to be an internationally renowned actress. We're betting she can be. She has already impressed her off-campus teachers. Tsui Hark, who has just directed Zhang in his remake of Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, calls her "a refreshing surprise. I thought she had a whole new definition of sensuousness." Ang Lee was surprised as well. Though he originally wanted the Taiwanese siren Shu Qi to play Jen, he now raves about Zhang: "She allows the audience to pour themselves into her imagination. It's not really her in the movie, it's you. That's beyond acting; it's cinematic charisma."
Her impact in Crouching Tiger comes as no surprise to those who have seen her debut film, Zhang Yimou's The Road Home. The movie is set in 1958, and she is "the most beautiful girl in the village," smitten by a young schoolteacher who has just come to town. Before she arrives the film is in black and white, but with her entrance it bursts into color. And once the camera spots her, it can't take its eye off her. It fills the screen with her image, nearly licks her face in adoration. It caresses her with backlighting and displays the swirl of her pigtails in slow motion, as if wanting to extend every instant she is onscreen. It is a film of a girl in love, and a film in love with a girl.
Young beauty like this can exercise a tyranny over the audience; our eyes are magnetized by meeting hers in the dark. But Zhang has more: the talent not to dramatize emotion but to inhabit it. In The Road Home she must convey hope, anxiety, longing, exultation with few words of dialogue and the smallest shifts of expression. Early in the film, she waits for the teacher each afternoon on a hill. Now she spots him. Their paths cross. He notices her and smiles. Her face beams and flushes. Then she waddles away in her red parka, almost drunk with the joy of a dream that has bloomed into possibility.
Later, the teacher has been ordered to leave for the city, but he promises to return and has given her a hair clip as a token of his affection. She stands serenely before a mirror, fixing his clip in her hair. Then her smile hardens and matures. The girl knows that now she is a woman, his woman. The audience knows this too, not by a spoken word or a trick of film technique, but because of a subtle flash across the face of a young actress with an alchemical gift.
Because Zhang Yimou made his first seven features (including such art-house classics as Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern) with Gong Li, and because the actress was Zhang's mistress as well as his muse until their breakup in 1994, many speculated that the old Zhang and the new one were keeping serious company off the set. The young novice, who met Zhang Yimou when she auditioned in 1997 for a shampoo commercial he was shooting, soon became known as "the Little Gong Li." It was not meant as a compliment.
In repose, Zhang could be Gong Li's younger, softer sister (just as, in Crouching Tiger, she could be Yeoh's infant sibling, her features have that pliability). But China's most promising newcomer has little in common with its most famous actress. Gong Li was always all woman: insolent, stern and sturdy, a threat to the men who wanted her. Zhang Ziyi is a promise of girlhood ripening, inside, to womanhood. If Gong Li was an image of China's power and defiance, Zhang is a China ready to conquer the world with charm.
Are Zhang Yimou and Zhang Ziyi lovers? The involved parties won't say. The director merely observes that "girls of her age will have a fatherly feeling toward me, because we're from two generations." (He is 48.) He finds Ziyi "young, pretty, alive" and, as an actress "very smart, quick in her responses. She immediately understands what you want and how to express it. Of course, she's still young. She needs training and practice to become a very good actress."
Zhang Ziyi speaks of Gong Li's eminence not as a destination but as a point of departure. "I don't mind being called the Little Gong Li. I feel no pressure. If I have the ability, then I can manage that. The times are different now from Gong Li's day. China's cinema has been rising for some time; it has more exposure, so my chances of becoming internationally known are better. But the first thing I have to do is learn English. If I can grasp the language, then perhaps I can think about the U.S." Here is a young woman with aspirations as wide and as hot as the Gobi Desert. Today, Beijing; tomorrow, Hollywood!
At the Cannes Film Festival dinner for Crouching Tiger, Zhang was surrounded by glamorous colleagues who had lived in the spotlight for decades. Yet in her delicate gown she stood out like a princess, chatting with animated poise, at ease in her radiance. She knew the night was hers, and that there would be many more like it. The movie world was gazing at her, in enraptured closeup, and she was ready for it. |
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Time Asia
December 11, 2000
She Makes Magic
With her mesmerizing performances, Zhang Ziyi is casting a spell on audiences
beyond her native China
Zhang Ziyi's playfulness is evident on the set of her new film Warrior, which is a relief, or possibly an inevitability, considering the conditions. Shooting is being done in Xingcheng, a town in China's remote Liaoning province, the crew is largely Korean, and the temperature is 16 degrees below. We talk in her trailer for a few minutes, get summoned to the set for a scene in which she must act in a flimsy, wind-attracting princess costume, and then suddenly Zhang stops, giggles, hops up and down and says she needs to take a pee, and dashes off to ablute. On her return, Zhang says we look cold and turns up the collar of our coat, claiming it's both warmer and cooler that way. We respond: "I'm Humphrey Bogart, here's looking at you kid." She immediately takes the smoke from our gun. "No, you're more like an elephant," she laughs. That rather stings.
Meanwhile, a cluster of young male villagers who may have walked four hours to reach the set, but it could have equally been four centuries, are gawking at the filmmaking process. "What do you think of Zhang Ziyi, you come all this way, you must be crazy about her," we ask. "She's O.K.," they underwhelm back. "So if she's not your favorite Chinese actress, who is?" They scratch their heads, think a lifetime or two and realization hits. "Er...there is nobody else."
We wholeheartedly agree. Zhang, 21, stands in a place few Chinese actresses of her age have occupied before. As China has gradually opened, so have her possibilities. She's being courted by cosmetics companies, film directors both in Asia and the U.S., and far from being the next Gong Li, she'll ultimately walk in the shadow of no one. All that after only two films: The Road Home released in China in 1999, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon released earlier this year and only just this week in the U.S. There's also Tsui Hark's remake of Zu: Warrriors of the Magic Mountain to be released next year.
Impulsive, naughty, poised yet childlike, Zhang is the daughter of an economist father and a kindergarten teacher mother, and is a native Beijinger. Zhang feels she worked hard from an early age. She left home at 11 and remembers climbing out of bed at 5 a.m. to study gymnastics and never sleeping until 11 p.m. Competition was an early feature of her life. "The girls at my school were competing for status, for leadership, for the affection of teachers. And I hated it. It was a dark time." So dark that she ran away from school at 13, causing her parents to call the police to track her down. "I wanted to escape so badly, so I hid in a little thicket of grass. I could hear all the teachers calling my name, but it was only when I heard my Mom's voice that I came out. It was a fleeting kind of escape."
From there she went to dance school, where she won an award at the National Young Dancer competition, but quit when she was 15. "My decision to leave dancing was motivated by similar feelings. It was a kind of escape. Also because I didn't truly love dance." And then along came the man with the Midas touch, Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, with a new medium that fit her like a glove. "I've found a domain that gives me a tremendous amount of space, it suits me perfectly," she exults. "And that is so utterly rare."
It wasn't as though Zhang Yimou trampled himself in a rush to cast her for The Road Home, which finally opens in Asian markets outside the mainland this week. He'd first seen her the year before for five minutes while casting a shampoo commercial, which never got made, and remembered her. "I was struck by what a pure, fresh, delicate face she had," he says. "But we were also looking at other people for the same part. Zhang auditioned four times before we made a final decision." It's not uncommon for Zhang Yimou castings to become a production of their own. For his current movie Happy Times, he looked at 40,000 young hopefuls before casting one he'd seen in the first two weeks. "At first," he smiles, "all Ziyi knew was how to play. She played all the time. But then as soon as we started shooting, she felt tremendous pressure to perform. I didn't want her under too much pressure lest it cause her to mature or lose that simplicity and purity. I took the script away from her every day and sent her off to play."
Zhang gives a breathless performance in The Road Home. There are some films that reach only your eyes, others that reach down to your throat, those that reach the heartÑand a rare few that can reach all the way to the belly. Such is this. Her growth from "the most beautiful girl in the village" into womanhood, and the unflinching love she develops for the village teacher, are exquisitely captured and paced by Yimou the director, and the camera can't take its eye off the 19-year-old Zhang. Her love expresses itself in motion as she tirelessly runs over the hills to catch sight of the teacher and we run with her, stumble with her, cry with her. Could she give herself to a man in the way her character does in the movie? "Because our society is developing, it's impossible for human relations to be as pure as those in the 1950s [when the film is set]," she begins, disappointingly. But then she goes on. "When I love someone they'll have total possession of my mind, my heart, my actions those will all be for him. Women's love is such that, when I love you, I'll throw every ounce of myself into that love. Men are different." She then checks herself. "Right now isn't the time for me to be falling in love anyway. Right now is the time for me to be working hard." (To be with Zhang is to ride a roller coaster.)
Rumors have circulated since the filming that she and Zhang Yimou were conjugating together, but they both refer to each other as "good friends." It's the Zhang Yimou factor that remains both her agony and ecstasy: hard as she tries to exuviate his influence, her contemporaries insist she's defined by it. Ask rebellious 30-year-old Chinese director Jin Chen what he makes of Zhang and he holds up a slim flower vase on a hotel table. "That's what I think of her," he dismisses. "I'm not sure how much substance she has, I think it's more superficial and I think she's been lucky to know Zhang Yimou." Actress Zhang is vigorous in response. "I don't want people to be able to say these things about me. But what can I use to silence them? Only my own actions, my achievements. The first and second time I was chosen for a film, that was luck. And I was successful in the context of my luck. But the third, fourth and fifth time, I don't think that's about luck. It's because people see you achieve, they know your work and then they'll seek you out. I have the courage now to stand up and say that my own abilities have given me luck." Her mobile phone rings and she answers "Moshi, moshi" and indulges in Japanese chat for a minute or two. "Just a friend in Japan," she says, insouciantly noting that Japanese is another language she's adding to her armory along with English.
Luck came by the truckload when Taiwanese starlet Shu Qi inadvertently helped Zhang on her way to a wider, more international audience. Ang Lee was casting for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Shu Qi was his original choice for the part of Jen, but she took one look at the long shooting schedule and the militaristic discipline of getting into shape for the stunts and politely declined. "I'm lazy," Shu Qi admits. "I thought the training would be too difficult and I didn't want to commit to a film for that long." Does she regret the decision in the wake of the film's colossal success? "No. When I look at how brilliantly Zhang Ziyi performs, I know what went into that and I couldn't have done it." She makes one other astute observation. "It's put Zhang Ziyi under a lot of pressure and that's something I'm not sure I could handle."
Zhang freely admits she craves affirmation under flat-out pressure. "When we were filming Crouching Tiger, Ang Lee gave a lot of encouragement and support to Michelle Yeoh because she couldn't speak Chinese. Ang constantly praised and reassured her. Every time she did a scene really well he would jump up and give her a hug. I found myself hoping that someday I'd do something that would cause Ang Lee to hug me too. That there would come a time when he didn't even need to speak, but when I would just know he was truly satisfied with my work." That day finally arrived when her character has to watch Li Mubai (Chow Yun-fat) kill her nursemaid, in a clash between the two people she loves most. "Ang didn't say a word when we finished that scene, but he walked over and hugged me. And I got so emotional. I was already feeling pretty worked up, but when he hugged me, all of those feelings came pouring out and I cried."
Another hug she craves is from the mainland Chinese audience, which has failed to flock to either of her films. "The Chinese don't endorse their own movies and actors, they don't cherish them and they don't even support them," she complains. "This really baffles me. Crouching Tiger was so warmly welcomed the world over, and yet in China, no one liked it. I feel this is awfully unfair." She explains the logic with a passion that rises from somewhere very deep. "Chinese people have an inferiority complex. They seem unwilling, or unable to understand or acknowledge the work I've put into my career. They're not willing to admit that apart from luck I've also shed a lot of blood and tears and often paid dearly for my success. They just don't want to understand, they just won't accept that, and they won't try to understand me. That is the thing that makes me saddest."
She delivers all this passion from a van on a clifftop in Xingcheng where she's subjecting herself to another grueling shooting experience in the quest for perfection. Doesn't she tire of all this, isn't it lonely? "When we were working on the first part, it felt like falling in love. When two people begin to understand one another, when you begin to get close to someone, you discover you're suddenly eager to know him better. That's how I feel about my relationship with this film." Doesn't the cold wear her out? "Yes. In this terrible weather we're going to do a scene where the crew drenches us with rain. Can you tell me how to avoid getting sick?"
In the meantime, Zhang's career is moving at scorching speed. She talks of possible projects with Wong Kar-wai, one too with Joan Chen and, in what would be a remarkably commercial move for her, New Line Cinema is murmuring about casting Zhang in Rush Hour 2 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Actually, it's beyond the murmuring stage. "She blew me away when we met her in Beijing," says New Line producer Andy Davis, who is already trying to wrench Zhang away from the Warrior crew. "They want me for preliminary shooting before Dec. 20," Zhang says, "but I don't finish shooting here until Dec. 22. Should I do it?" Now we're being asked for affirmation in the face of flat-out pressure and, the earlier elephant remark aside, we consider reaching out and hugging her for a small lifetime. Ang Lee told us that Zhang has "true cinematic charisma." And he's right. Yes, please Ziyi! Do it! |
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Time Asia
December 12, 2000
'I Want to Prove to Everyone That I Have Talent'
Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang on growing up, acting and her critics
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is only 21, but she's already scorching the screen, from 1999's "The Road Home" to her spectacular martial-arts debut in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Courted by film directors both in Asia and the U.S., Ziyi gave an extensively candid interview to TIME Asia's entertainment correspondent Stephen Short and reporter Susan Jakes while shooting her next movie, Warrior, in China's remote Liaoning province. Edited excerpts:
TIME: Did you have a very lucky and privileged childhood?
Zhang: No. I left home when I was 11 to go away to school. And I had a really tough time there. Even in winter I had to climb out of bed every morning at 5 a.m. to practice gymnastics, and then I wouldn't be able to go to bed until 11 p.m. I had to really push myself and to depend on myself when I was growing up. I couldn't rely on my mom and dad to cook for me, or to push me to do my homework. Most importantly the surroundings in which I spent most of my childhood were very different [from that of other children my age]. The atmosphere at my school was very competitive. Young girls were competing with each other every day for status, for leadership, for the affection of the teachers. I hated it. That whole environment was just incompatible with my beliefs and my personality. It was a dark time for me.
TIME: Did you rebel against that or not?
Zhang: Actually I ran away from school when I was 13. No one could find me, and the police were called. I was just hiding in a little thicket of grass at my school, and went to sleep. I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn't just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom's voice that I came out of my hiding place.
TIME: Do you still ask your parents for advice on issues?
Zhang: I don't ask them for advice very often because they're not really familiar with my present life. So I now pretty much rely on my wonderful friend [the Chinese director] Zhang Yimou. I trust him so much. He's got so much experience and such mental clarity, such wisdom.
TIME: If I were to talk to some of your best friends, what would they say about you? What are your defining qualities?
Zhang: I think they'd say they like my personality, because I've got a northern Chinese personality. I'm pretty impulsive and act on my feelings. So I think that people who like me do so because of this characteristic. The Chinese have a saying "Jiang xin bi xin," which means to judge another person's feelings by one's own. This is how I try to live my life.
TIME: Could you walk away from acting? Are you so impulsive and so rebellious that you could just walk away from all of this?
Zhang: Absolutely not, because in acting I've found a domain that suits me perfectly. And that is so utterly rare. Most people spend their whole lives looking for the right job. There are others who never get an opportunity to do work that fulfils them. I've suddenly discovered a domain that actually gives me a tremendous amount of space. The satisfaction of being an actress has nothing to do with becoming a star. What I love is this feeling that my emotions are in complete harmony with my work. There's no way I'll change my profession.
TIME: How badly do you want to be in a Western film? I recall also that when we spoke six months ago, you said you wanted to learn English.
Zhang: Wanting to be in a Western film won't get me very far. Unless the opportunity arose, it doesn't matter how much I want to be in one. But if an opportunity did arise, no actor would pass it up. As for learning English, my biggest motivation is this film [Warrior]. Most of the people on the set speak Korean, and there are very few people who speak Chinese. So we can't really talk to each other.
TIME: How does it feel to be working on "Warrior?"
Zhang: When two people first meet, they can only have a very ordinary kind of friendship. But when you begin to understand each other, when you get close to them, you discover that you're suddenly eager to know him or her even better. That's how I feel about my relationship with this film.
TIME: You're in talks to star in "Rush Hour II" [the sequel to Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's action comedy] What's happening with that?
Zhang: We're still working out the details, but I'd be delighted to do the film. The problem at the moment is my busy schedule. Shooting on this film has been extended by a month, but I need to be in the U.S. by Dec. 20.
TIME: If nothing came of "Rush Hour II," what will you do? Have you committed to any other projects here?
Zhang: There's a possibility that I might work with Wong Kar-wai next year. I've heard that he has a Japanese novel that he wants to turn into a film. We haven't talked about it yet though. I've met him twice and we've chatted a bit about my career. He complimented me on my acting in "Crouching Tiger" and said he hoped we'd have an opportunity to work together. Obviously I'd love to work with any of these great directors because every time I've worked with them I've gained a tremendous amount as an actor. Each director has his own way of pushing you towards improving yourself.
TIME: Have you seen "In the Mood for Love," Wong Kar-wai's new film?
Zhang: Yes. I saw it at Cannes.
TIME: Did you think the plot made sense?
Zhang: No.
TIME: But it looked great, right?
Zhang: It was beautiful. There are films you see that only reach your eyes. Then there are films that you can watch...that reach down to your throat, or reach your heart. "In the Mood for Love," though, reached all the way to my belly.
TIME: Which I think you manage to do as an actress in every film you've been in so far.
Zhang: (Laughs) I hope so.
TIME: What was shooting "Crouching Tiger" like?
Zhang: During filming I was anxious, nervous and unsettled because I always felt that Ang Lee had taken a gamble in choosing me in the first place. Ordinarily if an actor gets chosen for the lead in a film, he or she has already built up a repertoire, and everyone knows what he or she is capable of. But I was totally new. I didn't have a single thing to give to the director to make him trust my abilities. From beginning to end I worried that Ang Lee wouldn't be satisfied with my work. So I worked as hard as I could to earn his trust, because you only get a chance like this once.
TIME: How difficult was the first week, or two, of shooting "The Road Home?" You had no experience at the time, what are your recollections now of what that was like?
Zhang: I was extremely nervous. We had to do the first shoot 35 times. And it was never used in the final version of the film. (Laughter)
TIME: Was there one champagne moment for you in that film, when you just thought, "God I'm brilliant in that scene?"
Zhang: There was one very special scene at the end of the film. My character, Zhao Di, has been sick. She wakes up and her mother tells her that the man she loves has come back from the city and had spent the day by her bedside. At that moment a single tear appears in the corner of Zhao's eye and runs down her cheek. That was such a moving moment for me.
TIME: Do you imagine that at some point in your life you can give yourself to a man or woman in the way that your character does in "The Road Home?"
Zhang: I believe that if I love someone I'm afraid it won't be [the same as in the movie] because our society is developing. It's impossible for human relations to be as pure as they were in the 1950s. When I love someone they'll have total possession of my mind, my heart, my actions. But men's emotions and women's emotions are not similar. Women's love is relatively single-minded, when they love someone they throw every ounce of themselves into the relationship. Men are different. When they are in love they may also have other girlfriends.
TIME: Have you been in love, and hurt, at this point in your life?
Zhang: Actually now isn't the time for me to be falling in love. It's time for me to work hard.
TIME: Is it easy to watch your own work as an actress and cry?
Zhang: When I watch a movie for the first few times I'm usually thinking about where I was in a given scene, who was next to me, what we were doing etc. But after I've gotten through all of this, when I'm really watching the film itself, then I get moved.
TIME: Do you feel living in China is like living in a cage? I mean, do you feel trapped?
Zhang: Not at all. Today's China is not in the least shut out from the rest of the world. Trends come to us from all over the world. And the Internet is really developed in China. We get news from all over the world. It's really only in places like this, Xingcheng, where I feel a bit cut off.
TIME: You've had a short career up until this point and, boring, boring, boring, you're always compared to Gong Li. Zhang Yimou has now discovered a new young woman who stars in his next film, Happy Times. Presumably this young girl is going to be called the new Zhang Ziyi, because she can't be the new Gong Li. How does that make you feel?
Zhang: Zhang Yimou is always going to need young, pretty girls for his films. But I don't really concern myself with what Zhang Yimou's next starlet looks like. What does concern me is seizing opportunities to grow as an actor and to improve my skills.
TIME: Tell us something surprising about Zhang Ziyi that we don't know.
Zhang: Right now a lot of people think that my success has been dependent on luck. But I'm the only one who really understands the difference between the success that everyone acknowledges and the personal successes of my experiences working on all these films. And my success hasn't just been a question of good luck. What's more important is that when my lucky moment arrived, I used my own abilities to seize it. There are a lot of people, particularly a lot of Chinese people, who don't think that way. They think it's just luck that's gotten me where I am today. They're not willing to admit that I've also shed blood and tears and often paid dearly for my success. This makes me feel extremely sad.
TIME: Why is it that Chinese people in particular have been so unsupportive, so unwelcoming?
Zhang: Because I'm young and I've been so successful. There are actors who spend 20 years working and still don't achieve what I've achieved so quickly. So I think my only course of action is to work as hard as I can, not just for the sake of the film, but also to prove to these people that I do have talent. Criticism of me, while it affects me somewhat, gives me added motivation to silence these people with my actions and my achievements.
TIME: Take Crouching Tiger, it was so warmly welcomed all over the world. It went to so many different countries and so many people liked it, but not in China.
Zhang: I really don't understand why it's so different in China. They just don't endorse or support their own movies and their own actors. Is it because they don't understand the movie? This issue really baffles me. I mean, imagine if my next film is with Wong Kar-wai. Everyone will say, "That girl has the best luck." But that's not really the point. The first and the second time I was chosen for a film involved luck. And I was successful in the context of my luck. But the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time I'm chosen for a film -- I don't think that's about luck. I have the courage now to stand up and say and that my own abilities have given me luck.
TIME: Does international news of any kind interest you?
Zhang: I'm not really interested in politics, because I think it's just too removed from my own life. If there's a war, though, or a disaster, I want to know what's happening.
TIME: Do you ever think about death? Does it scare you, or are you too young and death is something you don't consider much.
Zhang: I'm very scared of death. I once had this very good friend and we spent all of our time together. But three years ago she was killed in a car accident. I believe that when you have been given a life you must make yourself worthy of it, because death can come suddenly.
TIME: When are you going to take a holiday, and where are you going to go?
Zhang: I haven't thought about it much because I've got so much work. I especially want to go to Italy. I've never been, and maybe I can look for a boyfriend.
TIME: Who would you go with?
Zhang: Actually the people I most want to travel with, if I go abroad on vacation, are my parents. They've had such a difficult life and now I have the ability to help them do something they've always wanted.
TIME: What about your friends? You're not in school anymore. What's your relationship with them like?
Zhang: Actually I don't have many friends outside of work. I only have a few friends, but they take such good care of me.
TIME: We asked your mother if she regretted your not having a normal childhood, and she replied "No." Have you ever regretted or had you ever wished to be just an ordinary kid, one of the gang?
Zhang: I have no regrets. When I was young I sometimes felt lonely. But now that I'm older I recognize that what's most important is having value as a person. That means being able to make other people happy and bring them joy. |
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Time AsiaDecember 2000
'She Has a Quality That Sets Her Apart From Others'
Interview with Zhang Yimou
Director Zhang Yimou is the man with the Midas touch: he is one of China's most successful filmmakers, with hits such as Raise the Red Lantern, and he discovered actress Zhang Ziyi, star of his film "The Road Home," which opens in Asian markets next week. He speaks to Time Asia entertainment correspondent Stephen Short and reporter Susan Jakes. Edited excerpts:
Time: What was your first impression of Zhang Ziyi when you saw her auditioning for a shampoo commercial at her school?
Zhang: The first time I saw Zhang Ziyi was probably only for about five minutes. But she made a relatively good impression on me, so I videotaped her. As it turned out the ad fell through and we never shot it. So I just put the videotape away and didn't think about it or look at it for a long time. A year later I was preparing to shoot a new movie and decided that I needed a new face, a young face. So I looked at the tape again. And when I did I was struck by what a pure, fresh, delicate face she had. I set up a meeting with her so that I could see her again in person. I had her audition for me.
Time: What did you have her do at the audition?
Zhang: It was a tough audition: we made her cry, laugh, read lines, and gave her a pretty hard time. But of course, she performed beautifully. We were looking at other people for the same part and we were comparing their relative strengths and weaknesses. We sent all of them to the countryside for a month, to see how they'd cope in the little village where we were planning to shoot the film ["The Road Home"]. We watched them draw water from a well, cook and so on. Zhang Ziyi auditioned for us at least three or four times before we made the final decision. She performed well each time and we finally decided she was the one. I was very impressed with her.
Time: We spoke to Zhang Ziyi a couple of days ago and she is a remarkably mature, sophisticated young lady. How much were you struck by that when you first met her or did you think she was still very naïve?
Zhang: She's matured since I first met her. She's made these films now ["The Road Home," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"] and she's gotten used to talking to reporters. So perhaps she seems mature. But when I first met her, when she was 19, she didn't strike me as being any more mature than your average 19-year- old. She didn't understand anything. All she knew how to do was play. When we started shooting the film, she felt tremendous pressure to perform. She wanted to study the script all the time. But what we needed for the film was a very simple, very pure girl. I didn't want her to be under too much pressure lest it cause her to mature or to lose that simplicity and purity. So I took her script away from her and didn't let her read it. Every day I sent her off to play because I wanted to preserve her purity, her childishness. And it worked. Frankly, even when I look at her now I see a not atypical 21-year-old. She's still a kid. It's just that now she can say a thing or two in an interview. She just seems mature.
Time: Is she someone who makes you want to spoil her? Having spent time with her, we both had an urge to want to protect and spoil her. Do you feel the same way?
Zhang: No, I've never really felt that way. She's very young and she's had such a strong start to her career. But I think she needs to train herself. She has to learn to confront her life on her own. If someone, for instance, has offered her a role in a film, she'll sometimes ask me to read the screenplay to see what I think. She asks me for professional advice but as for other matters, I think it's important that she face things on her own. When she was shooting "Crouching Tiger" I was working on my own project and was pretty busy. But once I asked her how the film was going. She didn't say much at all except that she was working extremely hard. She mentioned that she was doing a lot of jumping from high places and that it was very dangerous. I got the feeling she wasn't particularly impressed with herself. But when I saw the movie I was amazed. She was so great.
Time: What is your opinion of how successful she might become? Do you think you've set her up on a platform and she's poised to become a very big Chinese star the world over?
Zhang: It's very hard to say. Every actor's success depends on the opportunities he or she is given. But looking at her now, I think she's not going to do badly at all. First of all, she has had very good opportunities. She has worked with me and then with Ang Lee [director of "Crouching Tiger"]. She's also very intelligent. I never guessed she'd learn kung fu so quickly. She'd studied dance, of course, but she'd never studied martial arts. I talked it over with Ang Lee once and he was also very impressed with how quickly she'd learned things. It's very rare to find Chinese actors who can both fight and act, and rarer still to find these talents in an actress so young. This is the quality that most sets her apart from others. A lot of my Chinese friends think that her prospects for future success are superb. I agree.
Time: She made the point to us that it doesn't matter how successful a Chinese film star you become, you will never receive adoration from the Chinese public. Is that true?
Zhang: This is a particular feature of the Chinese national character. It seems to derive from some aspect of traditional Chinese culture. It's an attitude that resides deep down in the innermost being of people.
Time: But where do you think this attitude comes from?
Zhang: I really don't know. But I have the same problem: I'm constantly criticized and the most acute criticism comes from Chinese people. They constantly attack me for exposing the country's backwardness to the outside world. The same rules apply to actors, particularly young actors. People don't understand that they ought to be helping these young actors become more successful. It's a Chinese phenomenon. There is a saying, "qiang nei kai hua, qiang wai hong," which means that the flower that blooms within the walls only looks red to those outside of them. Hence the flowers we grow in China are often appreciated by non-Chinese audiences. I think the fact that Zhang Ziyi recognizes this at such an early age is a very good thing. It will allow her to handle the problem much more effectively.
Time: Can you tell us something that a reader would find surprising about Zhang Ziyi, something people would not know or would not have read about her?
Zhang: There were a lot of scenes in "The Road Home" that required Zhang Ziyi to run in the forest, and we had to shoot them in slow motion. But for every running scene we shot -- and we were filming at a relatively high altitude -- she fell down during half of the takes. We must have done 300 or 400 takes and she fell down during half of them. Often we'd be shooting and all of sudden she'd fall out of the range of the camera. It was exhausting and it must have been quite painful for her. And she didn't get sick. But when you watch the scenes they're just beautiful. I personally found her stamina astonishing. Later, she filmed Crouching Tiger but she barely told me what she had to do physically. But when I saw the film, again I was just amazed. I asked Ang Lee how many of the stunts she'd performed herself and he told me that she did the majority of them. She rarely used a stunt double.
Time: Did she ever cry during those running scenes? And did you have to give her a big hug and say, "Look, it's O.K. You were fine?"
Zhang: We were often filming her from very far and we couldn't see her fall. I'd just yell to her through a bullhorn: "Do it again! Do it again!" There was one scene in the movie when she was running in the snow and she fell, and then got back up and kept on running. We hadn't planned that but we kept the cameras running. It just made for a perfect shot. She shot that scene 15 Times and then I called out to her: "Okay, Ziyi, you can come down now." And when she came down we realized she was crying.
Time: So did you hug her?
Zhang: No. I just said, "Don't cry. Don't cry," and sent her to have her makeup redone.
Time: Zhang we'd like to thank you for giving us so much time, and we'd like to send you a copy of the film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf [The Lovers on the Bridge]. I [Stephen Short] often wish my life more often felt the way your movies make me feel.
Zhang: I hope that's the case. By the way, next year I want to film a kung-fu flick, and right now I'm preparing a ballet version of "Raise the Red Lantern." I've written the script for the ballet and rehearsals start next month. The premiere will be on May 1. You're invited to both.
Time: Thanks.
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