Gong Li
Biography
The youngest of five children, Gong Li was born in Shenyang province on December 31, 1965. She grew up in Jinan, where her parents both worked as college professors ("Gong Li"). Gong loved music as a child and wanted to grow up to be a singer. She applied to China's top music school in 1985 ("Gong Li") and didn't get in. In an interview with Sarah Kuhn, Gong Li reminisced about her experience in a 2007 interview. "I applied [to music school], and I guess I probably didn't sing very well, so they didn't accept me. You can imagine, if I were a better singer, maybe at this point, I would just be kind of an average music teacher somewhere. But I guess I didn't have what it took at the time to be a musician. So people said, 'Well, you can't get into that school; it's okay, you can try something else'" (Kuhn). After this rejection, Gong Li applied to the Central Drama Academy in Beijing. She was accepted and graduated in 1989 ("Gong Li"). While she was a student, she was discovered by director Zhang Yimou. In the same interview with Sarah Kuhn, Gong Li reflected on the experience. "[Zhang] came around to the colleges; I was a student then, and he was looking for somebody to be in this film. So we had a simple process, took some screen tests and so on, and eventually he talked to my teachers, and he said he wanted me to be in the film. The shooting went pretty fast - maybe a month and a half, two months - and it all happened during the summer vacation" (Kuhn). Red Sorghum was the start of an intensely passionate relationship (both on- and off-screen) spanning eight years. Zhang cast Gong Li in every movie he made until their breakup in 1995 (Schwartz, and Kung). In 1996 Gong Li married tobacco executive Ooi Wei Ming ("Gong Li"). Though she was first noticed by American audiences when Raise the Red Lantern was nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 1992 Academy Awards, it wasn't until 1997 that she made her English language debut. Gong Li can understand English, but doesn't speak it well. She speaks Chinese in interviews and learns lines for English speaking roles phonetically ("Gong Li"). In 2006, Gong Li reunited with Zhang Yimou for the film Curse of the Golden Flower. Though no longer romantically involved, professionally it was as if they had never parted. In her interview with Sarah Kuhn, Gong Li said, "We had a good script to start with, very solid, so we had something to really work with. It was quite easy to communicate with him. It was very straightforward, we just said what [we] thought" (Kuhn). When asked about the mood on the set of Curse of the Golden Flower, co-star Chow Yun-fat coyly smiled and said, "Their chemistry goes without saying" (Hu). While Gong Li has continued starring in films internationally with great success, she has been busy with other aspects of her career as well. She is a beauty ambassador for L'Oreal cosmetics ("Gong Li"), narrated the award-winning Louis Vuitton Soundwalk-Beijing, and received her master's degree from Beijing University ("Biography"). Unfortunately, all her success hasn't stopped sadness from touching her life; both her father and older sister died of cancer and she divorced her husband in 2010 ("Gong Li"). Despite the tragedies that have touched her life, Gong Li continues to be an international superstar, ever seeking for innovative roles to play. Speaking with Sarah Kuhn, she said, "For me, it's important that I find something fresh and not just redo another role that I've already played before" (Kuhn).
Quotes
Becoming a character: "One thing that I very much enjoy about acting is the opportunity and the challenge to go into someone else's world, to become that other person. So for me what's really important is the process of getting there and acting and being that other person. When I come out of it [and] I see the finished film, I can enjoy that, too-but it's sort of like the whole thing seems so far away from me now, because in fact what's important was the process of going through it at the time" (Kuhn).
"The important thing for me when I look at characters is to consider the kind of constraints placed upon them. Now, me personally, I don't like to have a lot of constraints placed upon me. When you look at a script, of course, you look at a character and sometimes the character has to face situations that are very different from what you would like to face, or how you would like to react. And so sometimes a director says to you, 'You have to be in this way' or 'This character has to face a certain kind of constraints' and I don't like that. I don't like having other people telling me what to do. But, in fact, there are all kinds of constraints I do place upon myself internally. It's through these kinds of things that I develop a kind of resistance, a kind of inner force that is struggling to break free can be expressed. I think directors look at me and go, 'Oh, Gong Li, she's very good at expressing that kind of character and that kind of motivation through facing those kind of constraints with a kind of inner-strength" (Murray).
Why it took her so long to come to Hollywood: Until Memoirs, Hollywood had only offered her two-dimensional roles that she calls hua ping (literally "flower vase"). "If you just put it up there on the shelf, it looks beautiful. That's great, but it doesn't move. It doesn't change" (Schwartz, and Kung).
"The important things are the script and the director. I have been waiting around to get the right script and the right director. For example, in the past if a Hollywood director came to me with a script and wanted me to play a character and she was a stereotypical Asian woman who gets into a fight and gets killed off quickly, that didn't seem to have much interest for me. I decided to wait until I found the right script and wait and wait until Rob Marshall came to me with this particular script [Memoirs of a Geisha]. And it's a very good director making a film that really has a genuine kind of Asian topic and a great character. So what really sold me on it was the character" (Murray).
The difference in acting in Chinese vs Hollywood movies: "In terms of performance, it's not that different. Of course in terms of dialogue, there is a language difference, and this does make a difference. When I speak in English, my expressions become different. My attitude too. i'm not sure why, but there really is a difference. My hands move differently when I speak English. But in terms of performance, it's not that different. It won't be that because I'm in a foreign film that my approach is different. My training allowed me to make contact with a number of different possibilities. Four years in college let me work with excellent teachers who gave me a good foundation" (Hu).
Filmography
| Year | Movie |
| Red Sorghum | 1987 |
| Xi tai hou | 1989 |
| Hoi sam gui miu ba | 1989 |
| Daihao meizhoubao | 1989 |
| Qin yong | 1990 |
| Ju Dou | 1990 |
| God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai | 1991 |
| Raise the Red Lantern | 1991 |
| The Story of Qiu Ju | 1992 |
| Meng xing shi fen | 1992 |
| Farewell My Concubine | 1993 |
| Flirting Scholar | 1993 |
| Xin tian long ba bu zhi tian shan tong lao | 1994 |
| Hua hun | 1994 |
| To Live | 1994 |
| Xi chu bawang | 1994 |
| Shanghai Triad | 1995 |
| Temptress Moon | 1996 |
| Chinese Box | 1997 |
| Jing Ke ci Qin Wang | 1998 |
| Breaking the Silence | 2000 |
| Zhou Yu de huo che | 2002 |
| 2046 | 2004 |
| The Hand | 2004 |
| Eros | 2004 |
| Memoirs of a Geisha | 2005 |
| Miami Vice | 2006 |
| Curse of the Golden Flower | 2006 |
| Hannibal Rising | 2007 |
| Shanghai | 2010 |
| What Women Want | 2011 |
("Gong Li")
Awards and Honors
Awards
| Year | Award | Movie/Work |
| 1989 | Hundred Flowers Award - Best Supporting Actress | Codename Cougar |
| 1992 | Volpi Cup (Venice Film Festival) - Best Actress | The Story of Qiu Ju |
| 1993 | Golden Rooster - Best Actress | The Story of Qiu Ju |
| 1993 | Hundred Flowers Award - Best Actress | Raise the Red Lantern |
| 1993 | New York Film Critics Circle Award - Best Supporting Actress | Farewell, My Concubine |
| 2000 | Golden Rooster - Best Actress | Breaking the Silence |
| 2000 | Montreal World Film Festival - Best Actress | Breaking the Silence |
| 2005 | National Board of Review - Best Supporting Actress | Memoir of a Geisha |
| 2007 | Hong Kong Film Award - Best Actress | Curse of the Golden Flower |
| 2007 | Golden Bauhinia - Best Actress | Curse of the Golden Flower |
| 2007 | Hong Kong Film Critics Association - Best Actress | Curse of the Golden Flower |
| 2008 | Audie Award - Original Work | Louis Vuitton Soundwalk - Beijing |
Honors
| Year | Honor | Additional Information |
| 1997 | Member of the Jury at Cannes Film Festival | |
| 1998 | Awarded Odres des Arts et des Lettres for contributions to world cinema | |
| 1998 | Appointed delegate to Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a member of a democratic party | |
| 2000 | Montreal's Grand Prix Special des Ameriques for exceptional contributions to cinematographic art | |
| 2000 | President of the Jury for Berlinale Film Festival | First Chinese actress to serve as head of a Western film festival |
| 2000 | Named Artist for Peace by UNESCO | |
| 2000 | Named FAO Ambassador on World Food Day | |
| 2002 | President of the Jury for Venice Film Festival | |
| 2003 | President of the Jury for Tokyo Film Festival | |
| 2004 | Awarded Cannes Film Festival Trophy of the Festival for her body of work | Youngest person to receive the honor |
| 2006 | Named as one of Time magazine's "60 Years of Asian Heroes" | |
| 2008 | Chinese Influence Award | |
| 2008 | Named United Nations Environmental Program Ambassador | |
| 2010 | Awarded Legion d'honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honor) by the French Government | The highest decoration by the French government; Gong Li is the only Chinese woman to receive the honor |
References
"Biography." Admiring Gong Li. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
"Gong Li." The Internet Movie Database. Internet Movie Database Ltd. 20 Feb. 2012.
Hu, Brian. "An Accent on Acting: An Interview with Gong Li." Asia Pacific Arts. UCLA Asia Institute, 20 Dec. 2006. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Kuhn, Sarah. "Gong Li: In Full Bloom." Backstage: The Actor's Resource. Backstage.com, 04 01 2007. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
Murray, Rebecca. "Gong Li Talks About "Memoirs of a Geisha"." About.com Hollywood Movies. About.com, Inc., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
Schwartz, Missy, and Michelle Kung. "The Women of Geisha." Entertainment Weekly.com. 09 Dec. 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
Gong Li Video Clips
Note: I did not produce these youtube videos and do not the videos themselves or the images, film clips, or music contained within them. They are simply video clips of Gong Li that I used in my presentation. They are not being used for profit and are for educational use only.
Click here to view Gong Li's Memoirs of a Geisha fight scene.
Click here to view Gong Li's interview discussing, among other things, her movie Curse of the Golden Flower.
Click here to view Gong Li's interview discussing, among other things, her career, roles, and views of Mainland/Hollywood film industries.
Click here to view the video I used as background while giving my presentation. It features film clips of many of Gong Li's movies, set to music.
NOTE
ATTENTION: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY ROUGH DRAFT THAT I AM CURRENTLY (AS IN RIGHT THIS SECOND) WORKING ON. ALSO, THIS IS NOT A MIDTERM (AS I AM DOING A FILM PROJECT, THUS DO NOT NEED TO DO A MIDTERM PAPER), JUST MY ORAL REPORT.