Issue Date: November 27, 2005
Ziyi Zhang: Red Hot
At 26, the Chinese superstar in "Memoirs of a Geisha" is ready to conquer Hollywood -- and the world. USA WEEKEND Contributing Editor Lisa Ling finds out how.
Interview by Lisa Ling
Ziyi Zhang bounces into the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills in a white hoodie sweatshirt, faded jeans and sunglasses with bright pink lenses. At first, I thought she was a teenager on vacation with her parents. But this fresh-faced, perky girlie-girl isn't on holiday, and she's far away from any family. In fact, Zhang, 26, has been hard at work the last few years making movies. Back home in China, she's a superstar -- a female Brad Pitt. But when I meet Zhang, it's clear she is enjoying what are likely her last days of relative anonymity in the States. On Dec. 9, she hits the silver screen starring in one of the season's biggest movies -- "Memoirs of a Geisha" (Zhang plays the title geisha).
"It was the most challenging work experience I've ever had," Zhang says in impressively enunciated English, which she learned for the role. "In hindsight, it was quite amazing! I had to play Japanese -- for you Americans, it would be like playing a Russian and having to speak Thai, and do the whole film with a slight British accent."
What a difference four years make. Back then, when the young actress met Steven Spielberg, who produced Geisha, she had received praise for her gravity-defying work in the Oscar-winning kung-fu sensation Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But Zhang didn't speak a word of English. Pushed by her management team to approach the world-famous director, without knowing the meaning of what she was about to say, she blurted out a few words in English that her publicist had taught her five minutes prior: "Hire me!"
Spielberg did, knowing it was a huge risk. Although Zhang had played an assassin in "Rush Hour 2" and headlined several big-budget Chinese films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers, most of her work was high on physically demanding acrobatics and martial arts but low on dialogue, let alone any English. With certainty, Geisha will be the most publicized project she has ever done.
The stakes are high, but if the film, directed by Rob Marshall, whose Chicago won the 2002 Best Picture Oscar, is a hit, Zhang could become the pint-sized Yao Ming of Hollywood.
The highly anticipated movie, based on Arthur Golden's best-selling novel "Memoirs of a Geisha," tells the story of a young Japanese country girl who is taken from her family, sold into a geisha house and becomes one of Kyoto's most renowned practitioners.
Zhang's take on a way of life some see as high-class prostitution? "They don't have their own lives," she says of geishas. "They must walk a certain way, kneel and serve tea to men. Their lives are sad. At times shooting this movie, I felt that way -- sad."
Sitting across from Zhang, it's difficult not to notice her flawless alabaster skin and diminutive frame. She is soft spoken and introspective until she laughs -- a powerful, infectious sound that causes businessmen in suits to turn around and look. It's a laugh full of confidence.
But confident is hardly the way she would describe herself as a child, when a series of required tests indicated her career path as a performer. After deciding dancing was not for her, she tried acting. At first, she hated it.
"I was so shy!" she exclaims. "I hated going to acting class, because I was so afraid. It was a surprise that I became an actress. My dream was to become a school teacher. Or a flight attendant; they were my idols. They were so elegant and could fly anywhere."
At a time when sordid stories of actresses and their diva-like behavior infect popular media, Zhang displays a refreshing maturity and earnestness. In her spare time, she likes to watch movies and shop for furniture. Although she's invited to endless high-profile social events, she hates parties.
"They're so superficial," she says. "It's not the way to make friends. I just don't like talking to strangers. All everyone does is get drunk. It's a waste of time. I'd rather stay home and do my homework."
She may sound prim, but the truth is, Zhang is rarely in one place long enough to socialize much, let alone make new friends. She spent most of the summer in New York learning English, took a number of little side trips, then set off to Tokyo. She calls Beijing home (where she still lives with her parents), but she returns only once every few months. Zhang would love to bring her mother along on the road with her, but she says her mom "gets too tired from all of the travel."
Only one thing, she says, would slow her down. "I really want to have a family -- two babies," she says. "I don't know when, but I dream of spending all my days with them."
When asked if there's anyone with whom she may be contemplating starting a family, she jokingly replies: "David Beckham." I took the exchange to mean no one in particular -- at least, not right now.
Contributing Editor Lisa Ling is the host of National Geographic TV's "Explorer" (Sundays, 8 p.m. ET).
Cover and cover story photographs by Theo Westenberger for USA WEEKEND
Hair by Alex Dizon for Artists By Timothy Priano; makeup by Motoko for Artists By Timothy Priano; styling by Brian Primeaux, Exclusive Artists
Clothing on cover: dress by Kevan Hall. Clothing inside: dress by Salvatore Ferragamo. All jewelry: Erica Courtney
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Welcome to our annual USA WEEKEND Geography Quiz!
This year, international reporter and Contributing Editor Lisa Ling brings you her third annual geography quiz, with a new twist -- the movies. Films open fabulous windows to places we've never been, and those of 2005 are especially global in their reach, spanning from -- well, take this quiz and find out!
1. In the Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven, Orlando Bloom takes up battle to defend this holy city, whose name means "heritage of peace."
a. Vatican City
b. Jerusalem
c. Bethlehem
2. In "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," "Bridget," played by Blake Lively, has her first summer romance while at soccer camp in this Spanish-speaking country, known for its Mayan pyramids, spicy food and beautiful beaches.
a. Chile
b. Spain
c. Mexico
3. What island off the coast of Africa plays host to a lion, giraffe, zebra and hippo in an animated comedy of the same name? (In real life, it's famous for its smaller residents, such as lemurs and hissing cockroaches.) _______________________
4. In which southern state, bordered by six other states and the Mississippi River on the east, is a young Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line" forever changed when his brother dies in a gruesome accident?
a. Tennessee
b. Arkansas
c. Georgia
5. Match each city with its description below.
San Francisco
Miami
Memphis
a. The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, it also helped to inspire "crunk," the Southern-flavored rap music that turns Terrence Howard's luck in "Hustle & Flow."
b. Known as the "gateway to Latin America," it's where Cameron Diaz takes a break from her party-girl ways in "In Her Shoes. "
c. This city was the setting for "Vertigo," "Dirty Harry," "Bullitt" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," as well as 2005's "Just Like Heaven."
6. In "March of the Penguins," where do the female Emperor penguins pass their newly-laid eggs to the fathers before embarking on a 75-mile trek to the ocean for food?
a. Iceland b. Greenland c. Antarctica
7. What locale, invaded by aliens in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," was named for its industrial roots and is now a colorful ethnic enclave with top-rate Portuguese cuisine?
a. Ironbound, N.J.
b. Carbon County, Penn.
c. Sterling, Conn.
8. In the romantic comedy "Hitch," Will Smith takes Eva Mendes on a disastrous date to show her the immigration record of a relative at what famous "Island of Tears"?
a. Alcatraz Island
b. Staten Island
c. Ellis Island
9. On the steps of which landmark does Owen Wilson's character have an epiphany after a night of debauchery in "Wedding Crashers?" (Hint: Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at this location in 1963.)
a. The Washington Monument
b. The Lincoln Memorial
c. The U.S. Capitol
Answers
1. b
2. c
3. Madagascar
4. b
5. a. Memphis; b. Miami; c. San Francisco
6. c
7. a
8. c
9. b
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