Asia-Celebs.com - Hot celebrities of Japan, China, and Asia

Keiko Kitagawa - Japanese Actress

Keiko Kitagawa, born in Hyogo Prefecture on August 22, 1986, is a Japanese actress. She is a fortunate survivor of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, where she lost many of her friends.  Keigo Kitagawa was an exclusive model for the Japanese Seventeen magazine from 2003 to 2006.

Keiko Kitagawa's first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live action television show in 2003 to 2004.

Keiko Kitagawa as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon",a Japanese Live Action TV series. 

Soon after she got a role in the film Mamiya Kyōdai and left modeling to start her acting career.
Keiko Kitagawa has appeared in several films, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, in which she had a small role but had a chance to come to the United States for filming and premiers. This journey to the US prompted her to study the English language and now is fluent in English.
More recently, Keiko Kitagawa has played leading roles in the TV Dramas Mop Girl (2007) and Homeroom on the Beachside (2008).




Trivia

Height 160 cm (5' 3")

Finds British English less complicated than American English.

Has a cat named Jill.

Kieko is a big fan of Linkin Park.

Favorite actress is Keira Knightley.

Her favorite Japanese artists are Boa and Ayu-chan.

"Kii-tan" was her nickname at elementary school.

Rinko Kikuchi - Japanese Actress

Rinko Kikuchi, born January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress and fashion model. She is the first actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years - from Japan, that is.

Rinko Kikuchi was born in Minamigaoka, Hadano-City, Kanagawa-Prefacuture. She debuted in 1999 under her birth name, Yuriko Kikuchi in Ikitai (Will To Live), a film directed by Kaneto Shindo.
In 2004, Rinko Kikuchi appeared in the critically acclaimed Cha no Aji (The Taste of Tea), directed by Katsuhito Ishii, which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

Rinko Kikuchi made her Hollywood debut in 2006 with a role in Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. She played Chieko Wataya, a deaf-mute teenage girl, for which she was critically acclaimed and nominated for numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 
Her first English language role was in The Brothers Bloom in 2008, directed by Rian Johnson.

Rinko Kikuchi in "The Bloom Brothers", directed by Rian Johnson (2008).                                         

Rinko Kikuchi is also a fashion model and stars in Chanel's cruise 2008 collection of handbags, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.

 

"She has real power in her gaze, and an enormous potential to be a great actress," said karl Lagerfeld, who shot the campaign in June in Paris. Next year Rinko Kikuchi will be seen starring together with Gong Li  and John Cusack in Shanghai, a film directed by Mikael Håfström (currently in post-production).

Trivia

Height 169 cm (5' 6½")

Is skilled in sword-fighting.

Lives in central Tokyo with her long-time boyfriend, actor Federico Aletta.

Is an accomplished motorcyclist and horseback rider.

Sources:IMDb & Wikipedia

Chiaki Kuriyama - Japanese Actress

Chiaki Kuriyama, born October 10, 1984, is a Japanese actress and model. She is best-known in the West for the part of the bloodthirsty schoolgirl-dressing bodyguard, Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol 1.

Chiaki Kuriyama was born in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture. She was one of the most popular models of the mid-1990s child model boom in Japan.

Chiaki Kuriyama first achieved widespread recognition as an actress in Japan for her starring roles in the horror films Shikoku (1999) and Ju-on (2000). Chiaki also appeared in the action film Battle Royale (2000) in the role of Takako Chigusa.

Following feature appearances on several notable Japanese television programs, Chiaki Kuriyama made her Hollywood debut in director Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film Kill Bill Vol 1 as Gogo Yubari, the schoolgirl yakuza bodyguard of Tokyo mob mistress O-Ren Ishii. Chiaki's lines in the film were all in Japanese, except for two words, "bingo" and "hi". She has stated that she is in the process of learning English and hopes to play more English-language roles in the future.

Chiaki Kuriyama in "Kill Bill Vol 1", directed by Quentin Tarantino (2003).

Chiaki Kuriyama's other film appearances include major roles in the samurai drama Azumi 2: Death or Love and Takashi Miike's Yokai Daisenso. Her next major Hollywood film appearance is in Tekken, directed by Dwight H. Littl, which is scheduled for release next year (currently in post-production).

Trivia

Height 163 cm (5' 4")

Her name roughly translates into "Chestnut mountain with full brightness."

She once watched the movie "Seven" three times in one day.

Her favorite band is the Japanese pop/rock group L'Arc~en~Ciel.

She does ballet and gymnastics

Personal Quotations

"Japan is very much a TV-centered entertainment industry. So, when you talk about big stars in Japan, generally they are people who are on television. I work mostly in movies."

"I've been playing these schoolgirl roles in all my movies. Everytime I went to the set, it felt like I was going to school."

"I loved playing Go Go, because the character's so extreme. And she's pretty close to my real character. Especially the fact that she liked her sword and lots of accessories."

Sources:IMDb & Wikipedia

Gong Li - Chinese Actress

Gong Li, born December 31, 1965, is a Chinese film actress. She first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States.

Gong Li was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, the fifth child in her family. Her father was a professor of economics and her mother a teacher.
Gong Li grew up in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. She was accepted to the Beijing Central College of Drama in 1985 and graduated in 1989. She was a student there when Zhang Yimou chose her in 1987 for the lead role in his first film as a director.

Over the next several years after her 1987 debut in Red Sorghum, Gong Li received both local and international acclaim for her roles in several more Zhang Yimou films.
Her performance in the Oscar-nominated Raise the Red Lantern thrust her into the international spotlight and The Story of Qiu Ju, for which she was named Best Actress at the 1992 Venice Film Festival.
Gong Li's relationship with Zhang Yimou was both professional and romantic and they created a scandal for being lovers during their long collaboration, despite Zhang having been married at the time. Their collaboration ended with the breakup of their relationship in 1995 and Gong Li's subsequent marriage to a tobacco company executive.

In 1993 she received a New York Film Critics Circle award for her role in Farewell My Concubine. Directed by Chen Kaige, the film was at the time her first major role with a director other than Zhang Yimou.

Gong Li and Zhang Yimou had not worked together since 1995 when, in 2006, they were reunited for Zhang's Curse of the Golden Flower, in which she played the beautiful, and ultimately dying, Golden Phoenix.

Gong Li in "Curse of the Golden Flower", directed by Zhang Yimou (2006).

Despite her high profile, Gong Li put off working on Hollywood films for years, due to both her lack of confidence in speaking English and her discontent with the types of roles that had been offered to her. Her first major English-language role came in 2005 when she starred as the beautiful but vindictive Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha. Followed by Miami Vice in 2006 and Hannibal Rising in 2007. In all three films, she learned her English lines phonetically. Next year Gong Li will be seen starring together with Rinko Kikuchi and John Cusack in Shanghai, a film directed by Mikael Håfström (currently in post-production).

Gong Li in "Hannibal Rising", directed by Peter Webber (2007).

 

In 1996, rumors began circulating that Gong Li had married Singaporean tobacco tycoon, Ooi Hoe Soeng, allegations she denied until a Singapore tabloid printed a copy of the marriage certificate. They eventually had a wedding reception that November at Hong Kong's China Club.
November 10th 2008 Gong Li received her Singapore citizenship certificate, of course, one is not allowed to have a double citizenship, so Gong Li renounced her Chinese citizenship, something that wasn't taken very lightly by her fans in mainland China...

Trivia

Height 170cm (5' 7")

Had a song written about her by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Gong Li").

Her father and her older sister both died of cancer.

Personal favorites: Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman.

Appointed in 2008 by the United Nations(UNEP) as the "Global Environmental Ambassador", along with Mikhail Gorbachev , Richard Branson, Samuel Etoo Angelique Kinjo, Gabriel Yared.

Spouse: Ooi Wei Ming (15 February 1996 - present) (separated)

Gong Li created a major stir at Peking University in 2000 when the university accepted her to take an undergraduate degree course in social studies. Students of the institution felt her celebrity status allowed her to "jump the queue" when other prospective students are held to much more competitive standards. In her defense, Gong said she simply wanted to "pursue the spirit of learning."

Sources:IMDb & Wikipedia

Xun Zhou - Chinese Actress

Zhou Xun, born October 18th 1976 in Quzhou, Zhejiang, China is an internationally acclaimed Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the four most promising young film actresses in China along with Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei and Zhao Wei.

Zhou Xun was born to a middle-class family. Her father, Zhou Tianning, was a local film projectionist and her mother, Chen Yiqin, a salesperson at a department store.

Zhou Xun later enrolled at the Zhejiang Arts Institute, a decision which her parents initially objected as they wanted her to graduate from a university. Nonetheless, Zhou Xun fought to further her interest in the dramatic arts and was accepted.

While she was in her teens and schooling, she was handpicked for a role in a film Strange Tales Amongst Old and Desolute Tombs.

Zhou Xun caught international attention through her roles in Lou Ye's Suzhou River in 2000 (Best Actress, 15th Paris Film Festival), and in Dai Sijie's film adaptation of the book of same name, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Dai Sijie also wrote the book, the screenplay, as well as directed the film.

  

Xun Zhou in "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress", directed by Dai Sijie (2002).

Xun Zhou in "Perhaps Love", directed by Peter Chan (2005).

Zhou Xun then successfully entered the Hong Kong film market in Peter Chan's musical film, Perhaps Love in 2005. This role won her the "Best Actress" award in the Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Critic's Society Awards, Golden Bauhinia Awards, Golden Horse Awards, Beijing Student Film Festival and Hangzhou Student Film Festival.

Aside from acting, she has also released two solo albums Summer (夏天) in 2003 and Come Across (偶遇) in 2005, in addition to singing for several motion picture soundtracks including Baober In Love, Xin Bian Guo Le Xi San Meng You Xian Jing, and Perhaps Love.

After Perhaps Love, her next martial arts project was Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet, in which she played a supporting role. Her singing was also featured in the movie and on the soundtrack.

Zhou's next effort was Susie Au's 2007 film Ming Ming, in which she played the title character who is in love with "D" and "Na Na", who has also fallen in love with D. The film won high praise at the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival held in South Korea. On the day of the film release, she also released her new music video, the song of which is the theme song of her film Ming Ming.

Zhou Xun can currently be seen in the Beijing Film Academy professor Cao Baoping directed romantic thriller, The Equation of Love and Death in which she plays the role of a taxi driver on the lookout for her missing boyfriend. The film was shot in the southern Yunnan province of China. She also plays the lead in Painted Skin, a remake of a classical supernatural thriller of the same name. Zhou Xun can be seen next in the urban romantic comedy All About Women which was directed by Tsui Hark.

Trivia

Height 161 cm (5' 3½") 

Her Taiwanese boyfriend is a Make-Up Artist and the reason why she's often seen wearing gloves, he says Zhou Xun's hands are too big and masculine. Erhmm, a'right, but gloves that reach up to your armpits? Talk about overdoing it...

Sources:IMDb & Wikipedia

Zhang Ziyi - Chinese Actress

Zhang Ziyi,  born February 9, 1979, in Beijing, is one of the best-known Chinese film actresses working today, with a string of Chinese and international hits to her name. She has also be called as one of the four most promising young film actresses in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun. She has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Chen Kaige, Seijun Suzuki and Rob Marshall.

Born in Beijing, China, Zhang joined the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 11. When Zhang's parents suggested she go to the dance academy, she was skeptical. While at the boarding school, she noticed how catty the other girls were while competing for status amongst the teachers. Zhang disliked the attitude so much that, on one occasion, she ran away from the school.

Zhang Ziyi 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 role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.  

           Zhang Ziyi in "The Road Home", directed by Zhang Yimou (1999).

In the fall of 2006, Zhang Ziyi played Empress Wan in The Banquet (Yè Yàn), a film set in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Ziyi provided the voice of Karai in the TMNT movie that was released on March 23, 2007. She later starred in The Horsemen (2008) with Dennis Quaid and in Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang 2008), which has been released this month.

Zhang Ziyi 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 the Independent Spirit's Best Supporting Actress Award and the Toronto Film Critics' Best Supporting Actress Award. Zhang Ziyi'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".

Zhang Ziyi then appeared in Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou, which was a huge success in the English-speaking world and an Oscar and a Golden Globe contender.

                 Zhang Ziyi in "Hero", directed by Zhang Yimou (2002).

Her next film was the avant-garde drama Purple Butterfly by Lou Ye, which competed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Zhang Ziyi went back to the martial arts genre with House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏), which earned her a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In 2046, directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring many of the best-known Chinese actors and actresses, Zhang Ziyi was the female lead and won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Best Actress Award and the Hong Kong Film Academy's Best Actress Award.

Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang Ziyi starred in Princess Raccoon, directed by Japanese legend Seijun Suzuki, who was honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, Zhang Ziyi landed the lead role of Sayuri in the film adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. For the film, she reunited with her 2046 co-star Gong Li and with her Crouching Tiger co-star Michelle Yeoh. For the role, Zhang Ziyi received a 2006 Golden Globe Award nomination, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and a BAFTA nomination.

On June 27, 2005, it was announced that Zhang Ziyi 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.

Trivia                                   

Height 165 cm (5' 5")

Name is pronounced Jang (rhymes with 'young') DziYee.

Even though she has been in many kung-fu movies, she is not actually a trained martial artist, so in fact she uses many dance moves in her fight sequences.

Engaged to Israeli venture capitalist Vivi Nevo.

Zhang says that one of her methods of learning the English language was listening to Eminem, which apparently led to some embarrassing situations.  "I don't always know what he is talking about, so I write down the lyrics and repeat them. Later, I understood how rude they were.

Personal quotations

"I don't like kick-ass stereotypical roles. I already turn a lot down, even when they promise me a lot of money. I really want to do something in Europe. With a small movie, it can be an interesting challenge. But I have to get the right project. I don't think it's so important to go to Hollywood. All that trash that comes out of there! I don't want to do that."

"In China, we don't consider someone truly beautiful until we have known them for a long time, and we know what's underneath the skin."

"Working in Hollywood, it's clear the more money you have, the more technology you can get. So you can build a whole Japanese set. Only in Hollywood! I couldn't believe the first day I walked on the set. Rob Marshall walked me like a tourist round the set. It took 40 minutes, so how big was that? Today it can be winter, and tomorrow summer. Everything's unbelievable."

"Chinese women are much more modest than American women when it comes to clothes. We tend to show less flesh."

Sources:IMDb & Wikipedia