She became a global star with her role in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha: Who is Gong Li?
Li, who was among the most successful and well-known Chinese actresses of her time, worked with director Zhang Yimou in many productions. With her talent, she has a very strong popularity in many Asian countries.
Gong Li is a Chinese actress. She was born in Shenyang in 1965.
She is the youngest of 5 children of an economics professor father and a teacher mother. She wanted to be a famous singer during her childhood years. In 1985, she applied to China's best music school, but she could not get in. Thus, She started acting school.
She studied at the Beijing Central Drama Academy. She stepped into the world of cinema with the 1987 Zhang Yimou film Red Sorghum. While the film won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Gong Li also made a name for himself around the world. She won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for the 1992 film The Story of Qiu Ju, also directed by Yimou.
Gong Li (born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses in China today, she is known for her versatility and naturalistic performance. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
She shot many films with Yimou until 1995. She became famous worldwide for her role as Hatsumomo in the 2005 film Memoirs of a Geisha. Names such as Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe also starred in this movie. She appeared as Isabella in the 2006 Hollywood movie Miami Vice. In the same year, she returned to work with Zhang Yimou and appeared in the movie Curse of the Golden Flower.
In 2007, she starred in another international project, Hannibal Rising. In this movie, she appeared before the audience with the character of Murasaki. In 2014, she starred in another Yimou movie, Homecoming. In 1996, she married millionaire Ooi Hoe Soeng, a Singaporean tobacco company owner. Li, who obtained Singapore citizenship in 2008, separated from her husband in 2010.
Who is Gong Li?
She was born in China on December 31, 1965. She was born in 1965 in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, as the fifth child of the family. Her father was an economics professor and her mother, who was 40 years old when Gong Li was born, was a teacher. Gong grew up in Jinan, the capital of Shandong. She became interested in acting at an early age and improved herself in singing and dancing during school.
Gong Li, who is very popular in many Asian countries with her talent, also performed as a master singer in the movie Shangai Triad. She appeared in Zhang Yimou's films until the mid-1990s. This long-term collaboration gave rise to speculation that Zhang Yimou had a special relationship with Gong Li, even though she was married at the time. In 1996, a year after Zhang Yimou separated from his wife, Gong Li married Singaporean Ooi Hoe Soeng.
Gong and Zhang stopped working together from then on until 2006.
Filmography
1987 Red Sorghum Nine
1989 The Empress Dowager Guilian
1989 Mr. sunshine
1989 The Puma Action Ah Li
1990 A Terracotta Warrior Lili Chu
1991 The Banquet Waitress
1991 Ju Dou
1991 God of Gamblers III Yu-San/Yu-Mong
1991 Raise the Red Lantern Songlian
1992 The Story of Qiu Ju Qiu Ju
1992 Awakening Ma Li
1993 Farewell My Concubine Juxian
1993 Flirting Scholar Chen Heung
1994 Dragon Chronicles Mo Han-Wen
1994 A Soul Haunted By Painting Pan Yuliang
1994 To Live Xu Jiazhen
1994 The Great Conqueror's Concubine Lu Zhi
1995 Shanghai Triad Xiao Jingbao
1996 Temptress Moon Pang Ruyi
1997 Chinese Box Vivian
1998 The Emperor and the Assassin Lady Zhao
2000 Breaking the Silence Sun Liying
2002 Zhou Yu's Train Zhou Yu
2004 2046 Su Li Zhen
2004 Eros Miss Hua
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha Hatsumomo
2006 Miami Vice Isabella
2006 Curse of the Golden Flower Empress Phoenix
2007 Hannibal Rising Lady Murasaki Shikibu