~ aCtress frOm cHina :: gOng Li ~

Gong Li was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, the fifth child in her family. Her father was a professor of economics and her mother, who was 40 when Gong was born, was a teacher. Gong grew up in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress, and at school she excelled at singing and dancing almost to the exclusion of other subjects. She was eventually accepted to the Beijing Central College of Drama in 1985 and graduated in 1989. She was still a student there when Zhang Yimou chose her in 1987 for the lead role in his first film as a director.

She retains a very strong popularity in most Asian countries and is prized for both her talents and beauty. In addition to acting, she is also an exceptional singer, as demonstrated during her performance in the 1998 film Shanghai Triad. Her international acclaim was demonstrated when she became a recipient of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in June 1998.

Despite her high profile, Gong had for years put off working on Hollywood films, due to both her lack of confidence speaking English and her discontent with the types of roles having been offered to her. Her first major English-language role came in 2005 when she starred as the beautiful but vindictive Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha.