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Bai Ling

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Biography

Bai Ling is recognized for unbridled freedom and creativity, Bai Ling has become undoubtedly one of the world's most diverse and captivating actresses! Born in the city of Cheng Du in southern China, Bai Ling began her career at age of 14. She enlisted In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, where she spent three years in a performance troupe entertaining soldiers stationed in Tibet. She first gained the attention of audiences and critics alike when she won the coveted lead role opposite Richard Gere in Jon Avnet's Red Corner (1997). She received numerous accolades including the prestigious Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review.

 

She also garnered the Discovery Star awarded by the Hollywood Women's Press Club for their Golden Apple Awards. While developing her remarkable facility with the English language, she has worked with such prestigious filmmakers as Oliver Stone in Nixon (1995), George Lucas in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Barry Sonnenfeld in Wild Wild West (1999), Spike Lee in She Hate Me (2004), Andy Tennant in Anna and the King (1999), Ang Lee in The Wedding Banquet (1993), Alex Proyas in The Crow (1994) and Luc Besson' in )Taxi 3 (2003)_, in which she spoke French. She also starred in Terrence Malick's Broadway production of "Sansho the Bailiff". She dazzled audiences with her portrayal of the sexy, mysterious Achara in the hit TV series Lost (2004), and intrigued viewers with her seductive yet exhilarating role in HBO's Entourage (2004).

 

Bai Ling was awarded the Asian Oscar for her brilliant performance in her first Hong Kong film Three... Extremes (2004). It also earned her an additional three major awards in the Far East. She received the Spirit Diversity Award by The Hollywood Motion Picture Association. Her film Southland Tales (2006) directed by Richard Kelly was in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Bai starred in and executive-produced Shanghai Baby (2007). She has worked with Taylor Hackford in Love Ranch (2010), co-starring with Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, and had a leading role in the Jason Statham action comedy Crank: High Voltage (2009) with co-star with Jason Statham.

Bai began her acting career in China, appearing in several Chinese feature films. In 1984, she made her film debut as a fishing village girl in the movie On the Beach . Later she filmed several other movies, including Suspended Sentence , Yueyue , Tears in Suzhou without much attention. She became famous after playing a girl with a psychological disorder who has an affair with her doctor, in the film The Shining Arc  directed by Zhang Junzhao , her most highly acclaimed role in the Chinese film industry. In 1991, Bai moved to the United States, where she appeared in a number of American films and television shows.

Film and TV

Bai's first major American film role was in The Crow (1994), where she played the half-sister/lover of the main villain, Top Dollar. In 1997, she played the lead female role, opposite Richard Gere, in the American film Red CornerThe New York Times praised Bai Ling's performance, saying that she gave the film "not only grace but also substantial gravity".[4] For her role in Red Corner, she received the National Board of Review Freedom for Breakthrough Female Performance and the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress.[5] The film was critical of human rights abuse in China, and as a result, Bai Ling's Chinese citizenship was revoked. She later became a U.S. citizen.

 

Bai was named one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 1998. She shaved off her hair, which was longer than 36 inches (90 cm) for her role in Anna and the King, and is widely known in Thailand as "Tuptim", her character's name from the film, even though the film is officially banned because of its depiction of the King of Siam. She filmed scenes for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) as Senator Bana Breemu, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed that this was because she posed naked in the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newsstands coincided with the movie's May 2005 release but director George Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier.[7] Her scenes were included in the deleted scenes feature of the DVD release.

In 2004, Bai made a comeback to Chinese cinema, co-starring with Hong Kong actress Miriam Yeung in independent filmmaker Fruit Chan's horror thriller Dumplings. Her portrayal of the villainous local chef Aunt Mei in the film earned her the 2005 Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, and led to her renewed popularity among the Chinese film audience. In the same year, she also received critical acclaim for her performance in another independent movie, The Beautiful Country, co-starring Nick Nolte, and directed by Hans Petter Moland.

Later in 2005, Bai was member of the official jury at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival. On television, she was a cast member on the VH1 program called But Can They Sing?. Also in 2005 Bai guest-starred in season 2 of Entourage in which she played a love interest of Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier).

In 2007, she starred as Coco in the film adaptation of the controversial Chinese contemporary novel Shanghai Baby, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival, and also guest-starred in one episode ("Stranger in a Strange Land") of the show Lost. Since 2007, she has appeared in a number of films including Love RanchCrank: High Voltage and A Beautiful Life, although she became more well known for her red carpet appearances and outrageous fashions.[

In 2013, Bai enjoyed a career resurgence with the movie The Gauntlet, which earned her the Best Actress award at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood, and at the 2014 Asians on Film Festival. Also, for Speed Dragon, she received the Best Feature Film Award at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. In late 2014, Bai starred alongside David Arquette in The KeyJefery Levy's adaptation of the novel by Nobel Prize laureate Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. In October 2014, Bai was a member of the jury in the "India Gold 2014" section of the Mumbai Film Festival.

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