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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Zhang Ziyi: Major Talent or Lucky Starlet?
or some she was the most memorable part of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They were mesmerized by the dark energy she brings to her portrayal of a freespirited young adventuress. For others she was one more annoying thing about a glacial, poorly edited sword-fight flick. They were left cold by the hard, souless gleam of her obsidian eyes and her puckish face.
Regardless of your opinion of Zhang Ziyi, one fact is indisputable: since the release of CTHD in late 2000, the media has lionized the gamin-faced actress. Virtually every glossy and tabloid has hailed her as the hot new Asian female actor and/or great new beauty. In the heat of CTHD's surprise success Zhang was signed to several projects, including Rush Hour 2, The Legend of Zu, 2046 (a science fiction flick), Hero (a Jet Li kung-fu flick) and Musa (a Corean film set during the wars between the Yuan and Ming Dynasties).
Luck is essential to every success, but Zhang Ziyi appears to have enjoyed more than her share during her brief acting career.
She was born February 9, 1979 in Beijing to an economist father and a kindergarten teacher mother. At the age of 11 she enrolled in a dance school. Four years later she decided to switch to acting despite some promise as a dancer. She went for a shampoo commercial audition and was picked out by the legendary director Zhang Yimou to play a schoolgirl who falls in love with her teacher.
When The Road Home was released in China in 1999, the young actress was promptly dubbed "Little Gong Li" on the popular suspicion that she had followed the great actress into Zhang Yimou's bed. (Zhang Yimou had discovered Gong Li in 1987 and lost her in 1994 when she left him to marry Singaporean businessman Ooi Hoe Siong.)
The Road Home received no attention in the U.S. but won the 2000 Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It also caught the eye of Ang Lee who was casting Crouching Tiger. No one suspected that the low-budget film he was planning to shoot in China would go on to become the next year's most profitable film, ultimately grossing $150 million worldwide. It turned Zhang Ziyi into an international superstar in one fell, elaborately-wired swoop.
Is Zhang Ziyi really a great beauty and first-rate actor? Or is she a second-rater whose fame is as un-credible as her CTHD fight sequences?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:50:01 PM)
IMO, well, not all her fellow actors. Read the news on her latest movie at Time-Asia.com. And I don't think she's not that "not very friendly" as Chang thought. Remember that Ziyi wasn't exposed early on to the glitzy world of Hong Kong/Taiwan movies, and as a result, what could be her reserve might have been misinterpreted as a "not very friendly" attitude. Ziyi once even said that she felt being lonely on the sets (especially of Zu) of movies because she can't understand the rest of her fellow actors, which in turn may have made her very quite (because obviously, when you don't understand what someone is saying....) Beijing and Hong Kong/Taiwan are two different worlds, after all.
a ziyi fan
Monday, January 21, 2002 at 21:16:17 (PST)
To IMO:
When Chang Chen mentioned that Ziyi was not friendly. That was taken out of context by the reporter. What that reporter NEGLECTED to tell you was the question that he posted to Chang Chen. The question that he asked was .. "Was Ziyi as FRIENDLY to you?"... (referring to Ziyi feeding grapes to Jackie at the RH2 set , which by the way was another missed interpretation by the part of the Asian tabloids, but that's another issue) Chen, who happens to be a good friend of Ziyi defended her honor by saying that ... "No, she was not friendly like that. She was to tense with her work that she didn't have time for childish things".
But of course if he printed that statement it would not attract the readers eyes, as oppose to just printing " She was not friendly".
During the filming of CTHD, the cast and crew became a family, after all they worked and lived together for more than 6 months. Michelle, Chow Yun, Cheng Pei Pei, and Chang Chen were all VERY supportive of Ziyi and with each other. That is an aspect of their closeness that is not open for discussion beyond the borders of the set. You as an audience must respect that privacy.
Regarding the movie Warrior, Ziyi was only in the set for a total of 4 days maximum. And most of that time she was working only with Tsu- Hark and the blue screen for the CGI effects. She had a great collaboration with Tsu Hark in that movie as well as with the other actors. Tsu Hark is still in contact with her and is still planning to collaborate with her in his next film yet to be determined.
As far as her movie Musa is concern these are direct quotes from the actors that has worked with her on that set..
Jung Woo-Sung (Yeosol)..
SR : What do you think of Zhang Ziyi?
JUNGWS: It doesn't say in the script why Yeosol and Choi Jung fall in love with Princess Buyong, and her part wasn't that large. But as we progressed, the part of Princess Buyong gradually became more important. That shows how well she acts and how charismatic she is. As I watched her, I thought it would be great if there were actors in Korea who were as well-trained as she is.
Jung Woo-sung, Joo Jin-mo, and Zhang Ziyi, who form a love triangle in MUSA talk with director Kim Sung-su about movies and people.
SR: How did you come to cast Zhang Ziyi?
Director KIM SS: Producer Cho Min-Hwan RECOMMENDED The Road Home when I came to China last year. Zhang Ziyi was shooting the final scenes for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the time and wasn't really famous yet. I showed her the script and she said 'yes'. Zhang Ziyi is very smart and is an excellent actor and when I met her in person I found her to be very friendly. She also gets along really well with the Korean actors.
Interview with Joo Jin-mo as Choi Jung
SR: How do you feel about working with Zhang Ziyi?
JOO JM: My Chinese is poor so I made a lot of mistakes, but she never complained. Once, we were doing a scene at 4:00 in the morning where Princess Buyong and I are talking after we have rescued her. Zhang Ziyi had been suffering from a cold for 4 days and we had to keep doing the same scene over and over because I made mistakes in my Chinese. I made mistake after mistake in the cold, but she kept encouraging me. I was very grateful and found that she has a maturity that most people her age lack and I thought she was a true professional.
IMO, I respect your opinion regarding Ziyi but please don’t assume anything about her, especially her relationship with her coworkers. What happens on the movie set and what ever personal relationship developed among the cast and crew remains a private matter.
Just because they didn’t want to publish every bonding moments that they have, doesn’t negate the fact that they had it.
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Monday, January 21, 2002 at 16:25:34 (PST)
Well, I'm glad Chinese21 has reached the conclusion that Ziyi is actually a superstar.
As for IMO, what makes you think Ziyi has no fan support. You consider Zhao Who the greatest thing since sliced bread and somehow she will make it in Hollywood? How, because 10,000 screaming bubble-gummers in Taipei love her latest CD? Dream on. In the US, the film critics determine the relative success of any film. Those are the only 'fans' that Ziyi has to cater to now. In America, fame is bestowed by those who control the media, not by the decibel level of screeching 10 year olds. Ziyi is already a legend here among professional critics. She can take her time with a quality script. She is in no hurry. Good things come to those who wait....
Virgule
Monday, January 21, 2002 at 11:58:38 (PST)
If only ZZ doesn't come across so much of a slut! Seen her sexy pose of Ralph magazine, heres another asian actress reinforcing the image of the "asian sex goddess". Why do they all have to resort to baring the flesh to be recognised
em
Sunday, January 20, 2002 at 23:48:03 (PST)
Of course you need fan support to make it anywhere, my dear Virgule. Even Mariah Carey got dropped when her movie and CD sales dropped. Anna Kournikova didn't get all the millions for being a good tennis player but at least she is still being seen battling in the courts. Apart from the directors, did her fellow actors have anything good to say about Ms Zhang I wonder. The only one I came across so far was from Chang, her lover in CTHD, who said that she was not very friendly. She didn't get any rave reviews either on the set of Tsai Hark's Zu Warriors. Well Virgule for all the stats and repeated announcement that she is the greatest ever, I will believe it when she land her first American movie role. I may be waiting for a long time so wake me up when that happened.
IMO
Sunday, January 20, 2002 at 17:53:03 (PST)
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