Gong Li- Porcelain Beauty

January 2005 – Star Bios
GONG LI
Porcelain Beauty

Known as China's most famous actress in the Western world and the Chinese equivalent of Julia Roberts, Gong Li has a multitude of international awards to her name, most notably France's highest cultural honor, the Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1998. In addition to her talent, Gong is also listed as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in People magazine.

As a young girl, Gong always dreamed of becoming a singer, and her love for music led her to apply for China’s top music school. Despite failing to gain entrance to the music school, she was accepted at the Beijing Central College of Drama in 1985, from which she graduated in 1989.

In 1987 when Gong was still in acting school, director Zhang Yi Mou, whom she had a personal relationship with, cast her in his debut project RED SORGHUM. Immediately a critical and commercial success both abroad and at home, the film garnered the Golden Bear award at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival and thrust both director and star into the international limelight.

Zhang and Gong found continued success as they collaborated in more internationally acclaimed masterpieces including the dazzling RAISE THE RED LANTERN. However, they officially ended both their personal and professional relationships in 1995, and in the same year, Gong married to Singapore tobacco tycoon Ooi Hoe Soeng.

Take a glimpse of this international acclaimed actress in ZHOU YU’S TRAIN. In it Gong delivers a bravura performance as the tempestuous Zhou Yu, a lady whose passion for poet Tony Leung Ka Fai nearly consumes her. Witness the way Gong keeps international audiences transfixed on Saturday, 8 January at 21:00 on STAR CHINESE MOVIES!