Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun (born October 18, 1976) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the "Four Young Dan actresses" in China (四小花旦) in the early 2000s, along with Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei and Zhao Wei.

Early life

Zhou Xun was born to a middle-class family. Her father, Zhou Tianning (Chinese: 周天宁; pinyin: Zhōu Tiānníng) was a local film projectionist and her mother, Chen Yiqin (Chinese: 陈以琴; pinyin: Chén Yǐqín) was a salesperson at a department store. Zhou later enrolled at the Zhejiang Arts Institute to further her interest in dramatic arts, against the wishes of her parents, who wanted her to graduate from a university. She was handpicked for a role in the film Strange Tales Amongst Old and Desolate Tombs during her teenage years in school.

Acting career

Zhou Xun gained international recognition for her roles in Lou Ye's Suzhou River (2000) and Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002), winning the Best Actress Award for the former at the 15th Paris Film Festival. In 2002, she starred as Huang Rong, reuniting her with Kaixin Jiuhao television co-star Li Yapeng, who played Guo Jing, in the 2003 TV series The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The series was one of the most watched ones in mainland China in that year.
Zhou entered the Hong Kong film industry in 2005, starring in Peter Chan's musical film Perhaps Love. She won the "Best Actress" award at 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 for her performance. After Perhaps Love, her next film was Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet, in which she played a supporting role. Zhou's next project was Susie Au's film Ming Ming (2007), which won high praise at the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival held in South Korea. At the premiere of the film, she released her new music video, featuring the theme song of Ming Ming.
In 2008, Zhou starred in Cao Baoping's romantic thriller The Equation of Love and Death as a taxicab driver on the lookout for her missing boyfriend. The movie was filmed in Yunnan province In that year, she also played the lead role in Painted Skin, a remake of a classic supernatural thriller of the same title. She has also appeared in the urban romantic comedy All About Women directed by Tsui Hark.

Singing career

Apart from her acting career, Zhou Xun has also performed for some motion picture soundtracks, such as Ming Ming, Baobei In Love, Xin Bian Guo Le Xi San Meng You Xian Jing and Perhaps Love. She has also released two solo albums, Summer (2003) and Come Across (2005).