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JULY 21, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 28 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK
Zhang Ziyi lives with the past By WINNIE CHUNG They call her "little Gong Li" -- and with good reason. Not only does Zhang Ziyi look like a younger, trimmed-down version of China's leading lady, but both of them were discovered by Zhang Yimou. The fifth-generation director introduced Gong Li to the world in 1988's Red Sorghum, and, 11 years later, showcased Zhang in The Road Home, in which she plays the role of a beautiful peasant girl who is in love with her teacher. The actress, now 20 and the subject of excitable reviews for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, seems in two minds about the validity of comparisons with Gong Li. "Had I been cast in an Ang Lee film first, I don't think any of this would have happened," she says. "But I can see the selling point. Two years ago, if reporters had written about Zhang Ziyi, no one would have known who they were writing about. But when they wrote about 'little Gong Li,' it piqued interest. Still, I think as I make more films, people will see the real me and these comparisons will stop." A Beijing native, Zhang was encouraged by her economist father and kindergarten-teacher mother to enroll in a dance school. It took three years of training there before, at the age of 15, she decided she was headed in the wrong direction. "No one makes a living out of dancing," she declares. "The best you can hope for is a job at some dance hall or with a dance troupe. The training and sacrifices aren't in proportion to the returns." The youngster chose instead to go into the China Central Drama Academy, from where she will graduate next month. But her future in the movies already seems made. Even before Crouching Tiger was released, she had been cast in Tsui Hark's coming production, Sword Of Zu, a remake of Warriors of Zu Mountain. As movie-goers digest her performance in Crouching Tiger, Zhang appears mature beyond her years. "I don't dream about what the future will be like," she says. "I want it to come naturally. It's like Crouching Tiger --I never dreamed that I would work with Ang Lee one day, but now I have had the chance. Fate has been good to me. I am very lucky to have had such good directors to lead me. These two films have given me a good start, but I still enjoy the fact that I can walk down the street with my mother and not be bothered." As Zhang's star rises, so too have expectations from her audience and the industry. She is trying to take that in her stride. "A lot of people keep saying that my next film will be even better. But to succeed, you need a good director, a good script and a great cast. I think it would be hard to find another project that has as perfect a mix of elements as Crouching Tiger did." n Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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