Gong Li

Actresses

Gong Li (巩俐; born December 31, 1965) is a Chinese Singaporean 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’s best known for her collaboration with filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, making her acting debut in his directorial debut Red Shorghum (1987), with Jiang Wen and Teng Rujun. The two also costarred together in Ching Siu-tung’s A Terra-Cotta Warrior (1990), with Yu Rongguang, Wu Tianming, and Lu Shuming.

Her other films with Yimou as director include Codename Cougar (1989), with Ge You, Liu Xiaoning, and Wang Xueqi; Ju Dou (1990), with Li Baotian, Li Wei, and Zhang Yi; Raise the Red Lantern (1991), with Ma Jingwu, He Saifei, Cao Cuifen, and Jin Shuyuan; The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), with Lei Kesheng, Liu Peiqi, Ge Zhi Jun, Ye Jun, and Yang Liu Chun; To Live (1994), with You, Niu Ben, Guo Tao, and Jiang Wu; Shanghai Triad (1995), with Li Baotian, Li Xuejian, Sun Chun, and Wang Xiaoxiao; Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), with Chow Yun-fat, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Qin Junjie, Ni Dahomg, Chen Ji, and Li Man; and Coming Home (2014), with Chen Daoming and Zhang Huiwen.

Other notable films of the 1990s include Wong Jing’s God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai (1991), with, Stephen Chow, Ray Lui, Ng Man-tat, Charles Heung, and Sandra Ng; Sylvia Chang’s Mary from Beijing (1992), with Lawrence Ah Mon, Kenny Bee, David Chiang, and Jan Lamb; Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine (1993), with Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi; Lee Lik-chi’s Flirting Scholar (1993), with Chow, Natalis Chan, Bryan Leung, Cheng Pei-pei, and Liu Chia Hui; The Dragon Chronicles – The Maidens (1994), with Brigitte Lin, Sharla Cheung, Frankie Lam, and Norman Chui; Huang Shuqin’s A Soul Haunted by Painting (1994), with Fang-Tsen, Shichang Da, and Derek Tung-Sing Yee; The Great Conqueror’s Concubine (1994), with Ray Lui, Rosamund Kwan, and Zhang Fengyi; Temptress Moon (1996), with Cheung, Kevin Lin, He Saifei, and David Wu; Wayne Wang’s Chinese Box (1997), with Jeremy Irons, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui, Rubén Blades, and Jared Harris; and The Emperor and the Assassin (1998), with Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, and Zhou Xun.

Films in the 2000s include Sun Zhou’s Breaking the Silence (2000), with Jingming Sing and Liping Lü; Zhou Yu’s Train (2002), with Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Sun Honglei; Wong Kar-wai’s 2046 (2004), with Tony Leung Chiu-wai; Faye Wong, Takuya Kimura, Zhang Ziyi, Carina Lau, Chang Chen. Thongchai McIntyre, Dong Jie, and Maggie Cheung; Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), with Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Kōji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, and Kaori Momoi; Michael Mann’s Miami Vice (2006), with Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Naomie Harris, Barry Shabaka Henley, John Ortiz, Luis Tosar, Ciarán Hinds, Elizabeth Rodriguez, John Hawkes, Justin Theroux, Isaach De Bankolé, Eddie Marsan, and Tom Towles; and Peter Webber’s Hannibal Rising (2007), with Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans, and Dominic West.

Films in the 2010s to 2020 include Mikael Håfström’s Shanghai (2010), with John Cusack, Yun-fat, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, David Morse, Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi, Franka Potente, Hugh Bonneville, Gemma Chan, and Benedict Wong; Chen Daming’s What Women Want (2011), with Lau, Zhu Zhu, Anya Wu, and Orsic Chau; Soi Cheang’s The Monkey King 2 (2016), with Aaron Kwok, Feng Shaofeng, Xiaoshenyang, Him Law, Fei Xiang, and Kelly Chen; Lou Ye’s Saturday Night Fiction (2019), with Mark Chao, Joe Odagiri, Pascal Greggory, and Tom Wlaschiha; Niki Caro’s Mulan (2020), with Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan,, and Jet Li; and Peter Chan’s Leap (2020), with Huang Bo, Wu Gang, and Peng YuChang.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Red Sorghum (1988) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • The Empress Dowager (1989) – directed by Han Hsiang Li
  • Codename Cougar (1989) – directed by Zhang Yimou & Yang Fengliang
  • A Terra-Cotta Warrior (1989) – directed by Ching Siu-tung
  • Ju Dou (1990) – directed by Zhang Yimou & Yang Fengliang
  • God of Gamblers Part III: Back to Shanghai (1991) – directed by Wong Jing
  • Raise the Red Lantern (1991) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • The Banquet (1991) – directed by Alfred Cheung, Joe Cheung, Clifton Ko, & Tsui Hark
  • The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • Mary from Beijing (1992) – directed by Sylvia Chang
  • Farewell My Concubine (1993) – directed by Chen Kaige
  • Flirting Scholar (1993) – directed by Lee Lik-Chi
  • The Dragon Chronicles: The Maidens of Heavenly Mountains (1994) – directed by Andy Chin
  • A Soul Haunted by Painting (1994) – directed by Huang Shuqin
  • To Live (1994) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • The Great Conqueror’s Concubine (1994) – directed by Stephen Shin & Wei Handao
  • Shanghai Triad (1995) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • Temptress Moon (1996) – directed by Chen Kaige
  • Chinese Box (1997) – directed by Wayne Wayne Wang
  • The Emperor and the Assassin (1998) – directed by Chen Kaige
  • Breaking the Silence (2000) – directed by Sun Zhou
  • Zhou Yu’s Train (2002) – directed by Sun Zhou
  • 2046 (2004) – directed by Wong Kar-wai
  • Eros (2004) – directed by Wong Kar-wai, Steven Soderbergh, & Michelangelo Antonioni – anthology
  • Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – directed by Rob Marshall
  • Miami Vice (2006) – directed by Michael Mann
  • Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • Hannibal Rising (2007) – directed by Peter Webber
  • Shanghai (2010) – directed by Mikael Håfström
  • What Women Want (2011) – directed by Chen Daming
  • Coming Home (2014) – directed by Zhang Yimou
  • The Monkey King 2 (2016) – directed by Cheang Pou-soi
  • Saturday Fiction (2019) – directed by Lou Ye
  • Mulan (2020) – directed by Niki Caro
  • Leap (2020) – directed by Peter Chan