10 things you didn't know about Chinese star Zhang Ziyi

She studied dance

Credit: Weibo/Zhang Ziyi

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At the Beijing Dance Academy specialising in folk dance. Later, Zhang Ziyi successfully enrolled in the prestigious Central Academy of Drama which had alumni including Gong Li, Tiffany Tang Yan and Yang Yang.

She's one of the Four Dan actresses

Credit: Weibo/Zhang Ziyi

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The Four Dan actresses were a moniker given to the four most bankable young actresses in China and alongside Zhang Ziyi were Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Xu Jinglei.

Debuting in the television film Touching Starlight at 16, Zhang Ziyi's first big break came three years later with Zhang Yimou's The Road Home (1999). It was her cinematic debut and won her the Best Actress award at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards. Later, Zhang Ziyi would go on to star in iconic productions such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), 2046 (2004), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Grandmaster (2013).

She succeeded in Hollywood too

Credit: Weibo/Zhang Ziyi

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One of the few Asian women who have successfully thrived in Hollywood, Zhang Ziyi's acting credits include her debut in Rush Hour 2 (2001), the hit Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), The Horsemen (2009) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

She's an award-winning director

Credit: Weibo/Zhang Ziyi

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In recent years, Zhang Ziyi has also gotten behind the camera to show off her creativity through directing. Her 2021 work My Country, My Parents won the Best Director nod at the 2022 Macau International Movie Festival, beating out names such as Zhang Yimou, Tsui Hark and Derek Yee. The same movie was also nominated for Best New Director at the Huading Awards in 2022.

She's picky about what works to participate in

Credit: Weibo/Zhang Ziyi

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Being such a big name, Zhang Ziyi admitted in 2019 that there was never a lack of work offers from Hollywood. However, she is picky about what roles she ultimately decides to participate in - she wants a multifaceted, "emotional role" and not one where she is just "a Chinese character".

In another interview, Zhang Ziyi went further, "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… I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that."

ICYDK, Zhang Ziyi married Chinese rock musician Wang Feng in 2015. The two were said to have known each other through mahjong.

The two continue to have a sweet, loving relationship too. Zhang Ziyi revealed in 2021 that Wang Feng needs to speak to her on the phone daily when she isn't at home despite living together.

Zhang Ziyi and Wang Feng, however, had to overcome obstacles to have their love approved by Zhang's parents. This is because Wang Feng was married twice before and had two children from relationships prior to Zhang Ziyi. Wang Feng later managed to win over his in-laws by treating them well and like friends.

Since then, Zhang Ziyi and Wang Feng has two kids together - a daughter and a son.

In 2013, Zhang Ziyi won a defamation case against Boxun News after the publication reported that she was paid $100 million to have sex with top Chinese officials. A year prior, Zhang Ziyi won libel cases from Apple Daily and Next Magazine.

According to the Celebrity Net Worth, Zhang Ziyi is estimated to be worth US$100 million dollars. This figure probably isn't surprising given how successful Zhang Ziyi is. She has also been on the Forbes list since 2004.

In 2020, the Chinese host Jack Li revealed that a two-hour appearance by Zhang Ziyi would cost about RMB $500k and was said to be the highest-paid celebrity in China. Zhang Ziyi also lives in a S$40 million three-storey mansion with her husband Wang Feng complete with an arcade room, infinity pool and private garden.

Zhang Ziyi's 2021 drama Monarch Industry had gotten a lot of online attention after netizens compared her outfits to food such as corn and candy. She took these jokes in stride and replied with a self-created meme of herself from the show. She even jumped on the bandwagon and got netizens to share their creativity and poke fun at the drama outfits.