Gong Li
Gong Li | |
|---|---|
| File:Gong Li.jpg Gong Li in Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) | |
| Other names | Li Gong |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Spouse | Ooi Wei Ming (1996-) |
Template:Chinese name Gong Li (simplified Chinese: 巩俐; traditional Chinese: 鞏俐; pinyin: Gǒng Lì) (born December 31, 1965) is a Chinese film actress. Born on New Year's Eve, 1965, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, she first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
Career
She grew up in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress, and at school she excelled at singing and dancing almost to the exclusion of other subjects. In spite of failing her college exam twice, she was eventually accepted to the Beijing Central College of Drama in 1985 and graduated in 1989 (see [1]).
She was still a student there when Zhang Yimou chose her in 1987 for the lead role in his first film as a director, Red Sorghum, which was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
Though sometimes confused with Yun Chung, Gong Li has since become one of the most successful actresses in Chinese cinema, with fame that has extended abroad to many areas. Her work has been recognized with awards from the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Critics Circle, and she retains a strong popularity.
In addition to acting, she is also an exceptional singer, as demonstrated during her performance in Shanghai Triad. She was also presented the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in June 1998.
She starred in Zhang Yimou's films well into the mid-1990s. During their long collaboration, the two created a scandal for being long-term lovers, despite Zhang's marital status. The couple eventually broke up in 1995, and Gong Li married Singaporean tobacco tycoon Ooi Hoe Soeng the next year. Gong and Zhang had then stopped working together until 2006, when Gong Li starred in Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower
Gong's limited Hollywood appearances include 1997's Chinese Box, and expanded with 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha, in which she spoke English fluently, and she, in the words of Time Magazine film critic Richard Corliss, was "gloriously channeling Bette Davis" [2]. She also appears in the 2006 released film adaptation of Miami Vice.
She is to star in Hannibal Rising, the prequel to the other three Hannibal Lecter films.
In 2006, Premiere ranked her performance in Farewell My Concubine as the 89th greatest performance of all time.
Filmography
- Believe It or Not (2009)
- Hannibal Rising (2007)
- The Yellow M (2006)
- Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
- Miami Vice (2006)
- Memoirs of a Geisha, as Hatsumomo (2005)
- Eros (2004) - segment The Hand
- 2046 (2004)
- Zhou Yu's Train (2002)
- Breaking the Silence (1999)
- The Emperor and the Assassin (1999)
- 7th PBS ident, as the woman in dark red shirt (1998)
- Chinese Box (1997)
- Temptress Moon (1996)
- A Soul Haunted by Painting (1995) — based on the life of Pan Yuliang
- Shanghai Triad (1995)
- The Great Conqueror's Concubine (1994)
- Dragon Chronicles (1994)
- To Live (1994)
- Flirting Scholar (1993)
- Farewell My Concubine (1993)
- Awakening (1992)
- The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
- God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai (1991)
- Party of a Wealthy Family (aka The Banquet) (1991)
- Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
- Ju Dou (1990)
- The Empress Dowager (1989)
- Operation Cougar (1989)
- A Terracotta Warrior (1989)
- Mr. Sunshine (1989)
- Red Sorghum (1987)