The character arc of Zhang Ziyi
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 9 February 1979 in Beijing, to an accountant and a kindergarten teacher. Between then and now sit nine years of folk dance begun at eight, a dance boarding school joined at eleven at her parents' suggestion and run away from at least once, a national dance competition won in 1994, admission to the Central Academy of Drama in 1996, a television debut the same year, a breakout role in 1999, international fame in 2000, a Hollywood debut in 2001, and twelve best actress awards for a single film in 2013. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Zhang Ziyi?
She ran away from the school, and came back a dancer.
Her father was an accountant and later an economist, her mother a kindergarten teacher, and her older brother managed her career at the beginning of it. She began a nine-year study of folk dance at eight, and at eleven, at her parents' suggestion, joined the boarding school attached to the Beijing Dance Academy. She has said she disliked the way the other girls competed for the teachers' approval, and on one occasion she ran away from the school. She went back. In 1994 she won the performance award at a national dance competition.
In 1996 she entered the Central Academy of Drama to major in acting, and made her debut in a television film in her first year. In 1998 the director Zhang Yimou offered her the first major role of her career, in The Road Home, in which she plays a country girl in love with the village teacher. The film won a prize at Berlin and she won best actress at a national awards ceremony for it, at twenty.
Then it went international very quickly. Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000 made her known everywhere, and a Hollywood debut followed in 2001. She worked with Zhang Yimou again on two more films, and with Wong Kar-wai on two, winning best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the first of them and twelve best actress awards for the second, which is more than any Chinese actress has won for a single film. She is counted among the four leading actresses of her country, ranked in the top five of a national celebrity list every year from 2004 to 2010, was given an outstanding contribution award by a film festival, and received a French cultural order in 2013. A magazine called her China's gift to Hollywood and named her one of the hundred most influential people in the world in 2005.
The moments
Zhang Ziyi's timeline.
The 1970s
Born in Beijing
Everyday. An accountant and a kindergarten teacher, and a brother who became her manager.
The 1980s
Folk dance at eight
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Nine years of it, started at eight.
The 1990s
She runs away
Setback, and it changed everything. Eleven years old, in a boarding school she hated, and she left. Then she went back.
A national dance prize
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The school she ran away from produced a national prizewinner.
Dance, or act
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: change discipline, taken, or stay a dancer. She made her debut in her first year at the academy and had a leading role from Zhang Yimou two years later.
Into the drama academy
Milestone, and it changed everything. She changed discipline at seventeen and was working within a year.
The Road Home
Milestone, and it changed everything. A first leading role, from one of the biggest directors in the country.
The 2000s
Crouching Tiger
Milestone, and it changed everything. One film, and the whole world knew the name.
A Hollywood debut
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Working in a second language, in a second industry, at twenty two.
Two directors, four films
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The two directors who define the era, and she worked with both repeatedly.
The Time 100
Milestone. Top five in her own country for seven years running.
The 2010s
Twelve best actress awards
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twelve of them, for one performance. Nobody Chinese has matched it.
Beijing made the dancer and the dancer made the actor, and the discipline is visible in every frame. What it has set moving is a route: she was the first Chinese actor of her generation whose name sold a film outside China, and everybody who followed walked through a door she had to open with a sword.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers ran away from the training at eleven and went back, which is the part that mattered. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Zhang Ziyi: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Zhang Ziyi's character arc?
Did Zhang Ziyi train as a dancer?
Why did Zhang Ziyi run away from school?
What was Zhang Ziyi's breakout film?
What is Zhang Ziyi best known for internationally?
What record does Zhang Ziyi hold?
Where does this timeline of Zhang Ziyi's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Zhang Ziyi, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Hundred Flowers Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards records.
- Berlin International Film Festival records, 2000, and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 2013.