Li Bingbing

Li Bingbing (born February 27, 1973), is a Chinese actress and singer.

Early life and career

Li was born in Wuchang City, China. She had no intention of becoming an actress initially and she enrolled specifically in a high school for prospective school teachers. However, upon graduation, she discovered her interest in acting and was eventually persuaded by a friend to join the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1993.^[1]

Li rose to fame after starring in Zhang Yuan's Seventeen Years (1999), which won her the Best Actress Award in the 1999 Singapore Film Festival. In 2001, Li starred in the television series Young Justice Bao, which propelled her to become one of the most famous actresses in China. That year she was awarded the title of one of the "Top Ten Best TV actors/actresses in China".

Li was subsequently labelled as an "action actress"^[2] as she starred in a number of wuxia television series, such as Taiji Prodigy and Eight Heroes.

In 2004, Li starred in director Dayyan Eng's romantic comedy Waiting Alone, which received three Chinese Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Li's first Best Actress nomination at the Golden Rooster Awards. That same year, Li won the title of the Most Popular Actress at the 12th Beijing College Film Festival. She went on to star in Feng Xiaogang's A World Without Thieves, which earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2006 Hundred Flowers Awards.^[3]

In 2005, Li was invited by director Yi Li to star in his film The Knot, which won her Best Actress awards at the 2007 Huabiao Awards and at the 2008 Hundred Flowers Awards. The film was also China's entry for the Best Foreign Film award at the 2008 Academy Awards. She then co-starred with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the 2008 blockbuster The Forbidden Kingdom as the White-Haired Witch. In order to lend realism to her scenes, Li performed the action sequences scenes herself without a stunt double.

In 2009, Li starred in espionage spy thriller The Message, and won the Best Leading Actress Award at the 46th Golden Horse Film Awards for her performance. This officially established her position as an A-list movie star in China.

Li then starred as Shangguan Jing'er in Tsui Hark's 2010 action-mystery film Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame; her character in this movie is loosely based on Shangguan Wan'er, a poet, writer and politician of the Tang Dynasty. She established her studio in the same year, co-starring and co-producing the film 1911 with Jackie Chan, which was released in September 2011 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution.^[4]

Li became the first global ambassador the international brand Gucci in 2013. Her personal charity brand, L.O.V.E, which was previously established in 2013, collaborated with Gucci to produce the “Gucci and Li Bingbing for Responsible Life" special watch. In the same year, Hollywood magazine Variety held a special ceremony at Los Angeles, honoring Li as the representative Asian star.

Li's first-time in an English-language film is Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011), a film adaptation from Lisa See's 2005 novel of the same title. This marked her Hollywood debut. At the film's official premiere ceremony in New York City, Li was invited by director Paul W. S. Anderson to star his film Resident Evil: Retribution (2012). She plays the video game character Ada Wong dubbed by Sally Cahill, an action femme fatale. Li became the only Chinese celebrity to walk the red carpets of the 84th Academy Awards. She also became the first Mainland female celebrity to have her waxed figure placed in Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

In 2014, Li appeared alongside Mark Wahlberg in Transformers: Age of Extinction, directed by Michael Bay.

In 2015, Li co-starred with Chen Kun in 3D fantasy action film Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal. She was cast in Nest, a 3D science fiction thriller which co-stars Hollywood actor Kellan Lutz and Wu Chun.^[5]

It was announced that Li would play China's first female superhero in upcoming film Realm of the Tigers. She would co-produce the movie alongside Gill Champion from Stan Lee Global Entertainment and Gregory Ouanhon of Fundamental Films.^[6]

Li will star in Meg, a shark action thriller based on Steve Alten’s 1997 novel. The role originally went to Fan Bingbing but due to scheduling conflicts, Fan was replaced by Li.

Li is a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador,^[7] WWF Earth Hour Global Ambassador,^[8] and Ambassador of Korean Culture in China.^[9]

Personal life

Li did not appear at the premiere of Resident Evil: Retribution, raising speculation from reporters that her absence was a demonstration against the escalating dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. Li's agent Ji Xiang explained that Li had been informed of the premiere two months before but she was too busy in Beijing to attend at that time. However, Ji did not deny that politics were involved, saying: "We are in line with our government – the Diaoyu Islands belong to China. Bingbing will be attending movie premieres held in other places across the world and she skipped the Tokyo leg only."^[10]

On July 24, 2013, it was reported that Li has a godfather named Wang Lin,^[11] a qigong practitioner who claims to be able to conjure up snakes from thin air, cure disease, and retrieve an incinerated banknote intact from an orange.^[12]

The Beijing News reported that Li Xue, Li's agent, responded that Li went to visit Wang Lin to ask him to cure her mother of her disease. As for the effectiveness of the cure, the agent refused to disclose any more information.^[11]

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Li Bingbing.

• Li Bingbing at the Internet Movie Database