Actress Zhang Ziyi - Cannes Film Festival juror

Zhang Ziyi                        (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Ordinarily if an actor gets chosen for the lead in a film, he or she has already built up a repertoire, and everyone knows what he or she is capable of." - Zhang Ziyi

Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress and singer. Zhang is considered one of the Four Young Dan actresses in China.

With a string of Chinese and international hits to her name, Ziyi has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Chen Kaige, Jackie Chan, Seijun Suzuki and Rob Marshall.

Zhang joined the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 11. While at this boarding school, she noticed how catty the other girls were while competing for status among the teachers. Zhang disliked the attitudes of peers and teachers, so much so that on one occasion she ran away.

In addition to her dance background, Zhang also studied acting.  She entered China's prestigious Central Academy of Drama (regarded as the top acting college in China) at the age of 15.

At the age of 19, Zhang was offered her first film role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.

Zhang further rose to fame due to her role as the headstrong Jen (Chinese version: Xia Long) in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won several awards in the West, such as Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Toronto Film Critics Association Awards and Independent Spirit Awards.  Zhang is part of many of the best films you have not seen.

Zhang's first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2, but because she didn't speak English at the time, Jackie Chan had to interpret everything the director said to her. In the movie, her character's name, "Hu Li," is translated from Mandarin Chinese to "Fox".

In 2005, Zhang landed the lead role of Sayuri in the film adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. There was a slight controversy in Japan about a Chinese woman portraying a Japanese Geisha.  Zhang has also been known to sing, and was featured on the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack.  The song was also featured in two scenes in the film.

On June 27, 2005, it was announced that Zhang had accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), placing her among the ranks of those able to vote on the Academy Awards.

In May 2006, Zhang became the youngest member to sit on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. In the fall of 2006, Zhang played Empress Wan in The Banquet, a film set in the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang provided the voice of Karai in the TMNT movie that was released on March 23, 2007. She later starred in Forever Enthralled (2008), The Horsemen (2009) with Dennis Quaid, among others.  This young actress is quite an active one - in many of her films, commercials as well, she has not only earned many parts, keeping her actively acting, but her roles, themselves, tend to portray action characters!