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Joan Chen

• Distant Voices, Still Lives: The Decade in Jia Zhangke

  Daily Californian - Found Nov. 23, 2009 ?they called me ?Little Flower? back in ?79 because I looked like the film?s protagonist, Joan Chen!?) is both jarring and...

• CINEMA: "Deeply troubling" rags-to-riches story: Mao's Last Dancer ...

  News Weekly - Found Nov. 19, 2009 As his mother, Joan Chen plays a cameo role that almost steals the movie.

• Autumn in New York

  Art for art's sake - Found Nov. 1, 2009 Joan Chen directed this romantic drama from 2000 about a doomed relationship beween a successful restaurant owner (Richard Gere) and a...

• Abbas Kiarostami, Deepa Mehta among MEIFF jurors

  Screendaily - Found Oct. 4, 2009 Narrative jurors are Joan Chen, producer Sunil Doshi, director Mohamed Khan, director Nayla Al Khaja and producer Michael Fitzgerald.

• Mao's Last Dancer

  Tasmanian Examiner - Found Oct. 7, 2009 The boy is soon ripped from his doting mother (Joan Chen, playing a peasant woman with perfect teeth) to a harsh life at the Beijing Dance... Mao's Last Dancer - Cooma Monaro Express Explore All

• Mao's Last Dancer

  Sydney Morning Herald - Found Oct. 4, 2009 The boy is soon ripped from his doting mother (Joan Chen, playing a peasant woman with perfect teeth) to a harsh life at the Beijing Dance... Mao's Last Dancer - Brisbane Times Explore All

• Pointe of no return

  Sydney Morning Herald - Found Oct. 1, 2009 1982, so he's an old friend now.' MAO'S LAST DANCER Director Bruce Beresford Stars Chi Cao, Joan Chen, Kyle MacLachlan, Aden Young Rated PG... Pointe of no return - Brisbane Times Explore All

• Toronto market brimming with recent sales

  Hollywood Reporter - Found Oct. 19, 2009 Ondine,' starring Colin Farrell, the Michael Douglas starrer 'Solitary Man' and Bruce Beresford's 'Mao's Last Dancer,' which stars Joan Chen.

• 'Mao's Last Dancer' inspires with his leaps and honest grounding

  Japan Times - Found Oct. 24, 2009 ... and, in the film, Joan Chen's portrayal of his indomitable mother and Shuangbao Wang's performance as the tough father are deeply moving.

• The natural

  The Australian - Found Oct. 23, 2009 ... his head millimetres from mine - "maybe intimate isn't the right word." Less challenging was a scene where Joan Chen (as Li's mother) and...

Joan Chen extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Joan Chen
Chinese name	陳冲 (Traditional)
Chinese name	陈冲 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Chén Chōng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Can4 Cung1 (Cantonese)
Born	April 26, 1961 (1961-04-26) (age 48) Shanghai, China
Occupation	actress, film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1975–present
Spouse(s)	Jim Lau (1985-1990) Peter Hui (1992-)
Awards Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress 1995 Red Rose, White Rose Golden Horse Awards Best Actress 1994 Red Rose, White Rose 2007 The Home Song Stories Best Director 1998 Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl Best Adapted Screenplay 1998 Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl Other Awards Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Actress 1980 Little Flower Paris Film Festival Special Jury Prize 1999 Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl NBR International Freedom Award 1999 Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl IF Award for Best Actress 2007 The Home Song Stories Torino Film Festival Award for Best Actress 2007 The Home Song Stories AFI Award for Best Actress 2007 The Home Song Stories AF Award for Best Supporting Actress 2008 The Sun Also Rises

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen.

Joan Chong Chen (Chinese name: simplified Chinese: 陈冲; traditional Chinese: 陳冲; pinyin: Chén Chōng; born April 26, 1961 in Shanghai) is a four-time Golden Horse, Asian Film Awards, AFI Award, Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award, Hundred Flowers Award and National Board of Review winning Chinese American actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor. She is also known for her roles in Twin Peaks, Red Rose White Rose, Saving Face and The Home Song Stories, and for directing the feature film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life and career 1.2 Acting career 1.3 Personal life 2 Awards and nominations 3 Other recognition 4 Filmography (as actress) 5 Filmography (as director) 6 Filmography (as writer) 7 Other media 8 References 9 Articles and interviews 10 External links

Biography

Early life and career

She was born Chen Chong in Shanghai, China, into a family of doctors (her grandparents were educated at Oxford and her parents were trained at Harvard).¹ She grew up during the Cultural Revolution. At age 14, Chen was discovered on the school rifle range by Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing, as she was excelling at marksmanship. This led her to be selected for the Actors' Training Program by the Shanghai Film Studio in 1975, where she was discovered by veteran director Xie Jin who chose her to star in his 1977 film Youth (青春, Qīngchūn)² as a deaf mute whose senses are restored by an Army medical team. She soon enrolled in the prestigious Shanghai International Studies University, at age 17 (one year before one could go), where she majored in English.³

Acting career

Chen Chong first became famous in China for her performance alongside Tang Guoqiang (唐国强) in Zhang Zheng's Little Flower (Chinese: 小花; pinyin: Xiǎo Huā) in 1979, for which she won the Hundred Flowers Award (Chinese: 百花; pinyin: Bǎi Huā Jiǎng), in which she played a revolutionary's daughter in pre-Maoist China, who falls in love with the wounded soldier whom she and her mother care for. Little Flower was her second film and Chen soon hit the status of China's most loved actress, which earned her to be dubbed "the Elizabeth Taylor of China" by Time magazine, for having achieved stardom while still a teenager.² In addition, Chen is famous in China for her role in the 1979 film Hearts for the Motherland (Chinese: 海外赤子; pinyin: Hǎiwài Chìzǐ) (aka Overseas Compatriots or A Loyal Overseas Chinese Family), which depicts an overseas Chinese family that returns to China from southeast Asia out of their patriotic feelings but encounter political troubles during the Cultural Revolution. The songs, "I Love You, China" (我爱你中国) and "High Flies the Petrel" （高飞的海燕）, sung by Chen's character, are perennial favorites in China.

At age 20, Chen moved to the United States, where she studied filmmaking at California State University, Northridge.

Her first Hollywood movie was Tai-Pan, filmed on location in China. She went on to star in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor in 1987 and the David Lynch/Mark Frost television series Twin Peaks. In 1993 she co-starred in Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth. She portrayed two different characters in Clara Law's Temptation of a Monk (Chinese: 誘僧; pinyin: Yòu Sēng): a seductive princess of Tang dynasty, and a dangerous temptress. The award-winning film was adapted from a novel by Lilian Lee.

In 1994 she came back in Shanghai to star in Stanley Kwan's Red Rose, White Rose (Chinese: 紅玫瑰白玫瑰) opposite Winston Chao, and subsequently won a Golden Horse Award and a Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for her performance.

Tired of being cast as an exotic beauty in Hollywood films, Chen moved into directing in 1998 with the critically acclaimed Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (Chinese: 天浴; pinyin: Tiān Yù), adapted from the novella Heavenly Bath (Chinese: 天浴; pinyin: Tiān Yù) by her friend Yan Geling. She later directed Autumn in New York, starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, in 2000.

In the middle of the 2000s, Chen made a comeback in acting and began to work intensely, alternating between English and Chinese-language roles.

In 2004, she starred in Hou Yong's family saga Jasmine Women (simplified Chinese: 茉莉花开; pinyin: Mòlìhuā Kāi), alongside Zhang Ziyi, in which they played multiple roles as daughters and mothers across three generations in Shanghai. She also starred in the Asian American comedy Saving Face as a widowed mother, who is shunned by the Chinese-American community for being pregnant and unwed and therefore has come to live with her lesbian daughter.

In 2005, she appeared in Zhang Yang's family saga Sunflower (Chinese: 向日葵; pinyin: Xiàngrìkuí), as a mother whose husband and son have a troubled father-son relationship over 30 years. She then starred in the Asian American independent film Americanese and in Michael Almereyda's Tonight at Noon, the first part of a two part project, scheduled to be released in 2009⁴

In 2007, Chen was acclaimed for her performance in Tony Ayres' drama The Home Song Stories. She portrayed a glamorous and unstable Chinese nightclub singer who struggles to survive in seventies Australia with her two children. Chen. The role earned her four awards including the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress and the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress. The same year saw her co-starring in two other acclaimed films: Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, opposite Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises, opposite Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, for which she received an Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2008, she starred in Shi Qi (Chinese: 十七; pinyin: Shíqī), directed by Ji Cheng (姬诚), co-starring Sam Chow (邹爽), as a rural mother of a 17-year-old in eastern Zhejiang province⁵⁶. The same year Joan Chen portrayed in Jia Zhangke's 24 City a factory worker once fancied because she resembled Chen herself in the 1979 film Little Flower, but who missed her chance at love.

Chen narrated the MP3 audio guide Louis Vuitton Soundwalk Shanghai City Guide, one of the three audio guides for Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong) produced by Louis Vuitton and Soundwalk, and released in June 2008.⁷

She then co-starred in Bruce Beresford's 2009 adaptation of the autobiography of dancer Li Cunxin Mao's Last Dancer, along with Wang Shungbao and Kyle MacLachlan.⁸

In 2009, Chen appeared on two Chinese television productions. She starred in Xin Ren Dao Zhong Nian (Chinese: 新人到中年) alongside Feng Yuanzheng (冯远征) and Liu Jinshan (刘金山), as a female doctor facing middle-age problems.⁹ She also played the part of goddess Guan Yin in the 2009 Chinese TV adaptation of Journey to the West.¹⁰

Personal life

Chen married her second husband, cardiologist Peter Hui, on January 18, 1992. She was formerly married to actor Jimmy Lau from 1985 to 1990. Joan and her current husband have 2 daughters and live in San Francisco, but spend part of every year in Shanghai, China with Joan's family, so their daughters can be familiar with Chinese culture.

During her early years in California Chen attended California State University, Northridge.

In 1989, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

On April 9, 2008, Chen wrote an article entitled "Let the Games Go On" on the Washington Post, about the politicization of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.¹¹

In May 2008, Chen appeared alongside James Kyson Lee and Amy Hanaialiʻi Gilliom in a public service announcement for the Banyan Tree Project campaign to stop HIV/AIDS-related stigma in Asian & Pacific Islander communities.¹²¹³

In October 2008, Chen made the cover of Trends Health magazine alongside actresses Ke Lan (柯蓝) and Ma Yili (马伊琍) to promote the Chinese Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Prevention campaign.

Awards and nominations

Hundred Flowers Awards

1980: won for Best Actress – Little Flower (小花)

Asian American International Film Festival

1994: won the Asian Media Award for significant contribution to Asian American media¹⁴

Golden Horse Awards

1994: won for Best Actress – Red Rose, White Rose (紅玫瑰白玫瑰)

1998: won for Best Director – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

1998: won for Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium (shared with co-writer Yan Geling) – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

2007: won for Best Actress – The Home Song Stories

Hong Kong Film Awards

1995: nominated for Best Actress – Red Rose, White Rose (紅玫瑰白玫瑰)

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards

1995: won for Best Actress – Red Rose, White Rose (紅玫瑰白玫瑰)¹⁵¹⁶

Berlin International Film Festival

1998: nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

1998: won the Jury Award – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

Paris Film Festival

1999: won the Special Jury Prize – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

1999: nominated for the Grand Prize – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

Mons International Festival of Love Films

1999: won the Grand Prize – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

National Board of Review

1999: won the International Freedom Award – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)¹⁷

Independent Spirit Awards

2000: nominated for Best First Feature Over $500,000 (shared with co-producer Alice Chan Wai-Chung) – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

Chlotrudis Awards

2000: nominated for Best Director – Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴)

Hawaii International Film Festival

2007: Achievement in Acting Award

Asia Pacific Screen Awards

2007: nominated for Best Performance by an Actress – The Home Song Stories

Inside Film Awards

2007: won for Best Actress – The Home Song Stories

Torino International Film Festival

2007: won for Best Actress – The Home Song Stories

Australian Film Institute Awards

2007: won for Best Actress – The Home Song Stories

Asian Film Awards

2008: nominated for Best Actress – The Home Song Stories

2008: won for Best Supporting Actress – The Sun Also Rises (太阳照常升起)

Other recognition

• In 1992 People magazine chose her as one of the 50 most beautiful women in the world.
• Chen inspired indie rock band Xiu Xiu, named after her film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.
• Chen was chosen by Goldsea Asian American Daily as one of the "100 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".

Filmography (as actress)

Year	English title	Chinese title	Country	Role	Director/Series creator	Other notes
1977	Youth	青春 Qīngchūn	China	Shen Yamei / 沈亞妹	Xie Jin (谢晋)
1979	Little Flower	小花 Xiǎo Huā	China	Zhao Xiaohua / 赵小花	Zhang Zheng (张铮)	Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress
	Hearts for the Motherland	海外赤子 Hǎiwài Chìzǐ	China	Huang Sihua / 黃思華	Ou Fan (欧凡), Xing Jitian (邢吉田)
1981	Awakening	甦醒 Sūxǐng	China	Su Xiaomei / 蘇小梅	Teng Wenji (滕文骥)
1985	Miami Vice (ep. 1.2 The Golden Triangle)		USA	Lin	Paul Stanley	TV series — guest appearance
1986	Goodbye My Love	惡男 È Nán	Hong Kong	Ling Ti	Frankie Chan (陳勳奇)
	Tai-Pan		USA	May-May	Daryl Duke
1987	The Last Emperor	末代皇帝 Mò Dài Huángdì	UK / France / Italy / China	Empress Wanrong	Bernardo Bertolucci
1989	The Blood of Heroes		Australia / USA	Kidda	David Peoples
1990	Twin Peaks		USA	Jocelyn "Josie" Packard	David Lynch, Mark Frost	TV series — series regular (2 seasons, 1990–1991)
1991	Wedlock		USA	Noelle	Lewis Teague
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me		France / USA	Josie Packard	David Lynch	scenes deleted
1993	Heaven & Earth		France / USA	Mama	Oliver Stone
	Temptation of a Monk	誘僧 Yòu Sēng	Hong Kong	Princess Hóng'è / 公主紅萼 (Scarlet) Qīngshòu / 青绶夫人 (Violet)	Clara Law
	Tales from the Crypt (ep. 5.4 Food for Thought)		USA	Connie	Rodman Flender	TV anthology series
1994	Golden Gate		USA	Marilyn	John Madden
	Red Rose, White Rose	紅玫瑰，白玫瑰 Hóng Méigui, Bái Méigui	Hong Kong / Taiwan	Wáng Jiāo-Ruǐ / 王嬌蕊	Stanley Kwan	Golden Horse Award for Best Actress HKFCS Award for Best Actress Nominated for HKFA for Best Actress
	On Deadly Ground		USA	Masu	Steven Seagal
1995	The Hunted		USA	Kirina	J.F. Lawton
	Wild Side		USA	Virginia Chow	Donald Cammell
	Judge Dredd		USA	Ilsa Hayden	Danny Cannon
1996	Precious Find		USA	Camilla Jones	Philippe Mora
1997	Homicide: Life on the Street (ep. 5.15 Wu's on First?)		USA	Elizabeth Wu	Tim McCann	TV series — guest appearance
1998	The Outer Limits (ep. 4.24 Phobos Rising)		USA	Major Dara Talif	Helen Shaver	TV anthology series
1999	Purple Storm	紫雨風暴 Zǐ Yǔ Fēngbào	Hong Kong	Shirley Kwan	Teddy Chan
2000	What's Cooking?		USA	Trinh Nguyen	Gurinder Chadha
2001	Avatar		Singapore	Madame Ong	Kuo Jian-Hong	released in 2004
2004	Jasmine Women	茉莉花开 Mòlìhuā Kāi	China	Mo's Mother / Mo	Hou Yong
	Saving Face		USA	Hwei-Lan Gao (Ma)	Alice Wu
2005	Sunflower	向日葵 Xiàngrìkuí	China	Xiuqing	Zhang Yang
2006	Americanese		USA	Betty Nguyen	Eric Byler
2007	The Home Song Stories	意 Yì	Australia / Singapore	Rose Hong / 洪玫瑰	Tony Ayres	Golden Horse Award for Best Actress IF Award for Best Actress TFF Award for Best Actress AFI Award for Best Actress Nominated for AF Award for Best Actress Nominated for APS Award for Best Actress
	The Sun Also Rises	太阳照常升起 Tàiyáng Zhàocháng Shēngqǐ	China	Dr. Lin / 林大夫	Jiang Wen	AF Award for Best Supporting Actress
	All God's Children Can Dance		USA	Evelyn	Robert Logevall
	Lust, Caution	色，戒 Sè, Jiè	Taiwan / USA / Hong Kong / China	Mrs. Yee / 易太太	Ang Lee
2008	The Leap Years (aka Leap of Love)		Singapore	Li-Ann (age 49)	Jean Yeo
	Shi Qi	十七 Shí Qī	China	Ma	Joe Chow (姬诚)
	24 City	二十四城记 Èr shí sì chéng jì	China	Gu Minhua "Xiao Hua" / 小花	Jia Zhangke
2009	Tonight at Noon		USA	Joan	Michael Almereyda	post-production (filmed in 2005)
	Mao's Last Dancer		Australia	Li Cunxin's mother	Bruce Beresford	post-production
	Newcomers to the Middle-Aged	人到中年 Réndào Zhōngnián	China		Dou Qi (斗琪)	TV series
	Journey to the West	西游记 Xī Yóu Jì	China	Guan Yin / 观音	Cheng Lidong (程力栋)	TV series — in production

Filmography (as director)

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Main cast	Other notes
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl / 天浴 (Tiān Yù)	Yan Geling, Joan Chen	Alice Chan, Joan Chen	Lulu Li (李小璐), Lopsang (洛桑群培)	also producer, executive producer and co-writer
2000	Autumn in New York	Allison Burnett	Gary Lucchesi, Amy Robinson, Tom Rosenberg	Richard Gere, Winona Ryder

Filmography (as writer)

• 1998: Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴, Tiān Yù)

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Other media

• 2008: "Shanghai," narrator--an audio walking tour by Louis Vuitton and Soundwalk¹⁸¹⁹

References

Articles and interviews

External links

• Joan Chen at the Internet Movie Database
• (Chinese) Joan Chen at the Chinese Movie Database
• Joan Chen at Yahoo! Movies
• Joan Chen at Allmovie
• Joan Chen at Art and Culture
• Joan Chen profile at EmanuelLevy.com

Awards and achievements
Australian Film Institute Awards
Preceded by Emily Barclay for Suburban Mayhem	Best Actress 2007 for The Home Song Stories	Succeeded by Monic Hendrickx for Unfinished Sky
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
Preceded by None	Best Actress 1994 for Red Rose, White Rose	Succeeded by Siqin Gaowa for The Day the Sun Turned Cold Josephine Siao for Summer Snow
Golden Horse Awards
Preceded by Carrie Ng for Remains of a Woman	Best Actress 1994 for Red Rose, White Rose	Succeeded by Josephine Siao for Summer Snow
Preceded by Fruit Chan for Made in Hong Kong	Best Director 1998 for Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	Succeeded by Ann Hui for Ordinary Heroes
Preceded by To Kwak Wai for Love Go Go	Best Adapted Screenplay 1998 for Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	Succeeded by Vacant
Preceded by Zhou Xun for Perhaps Love	Best Actress 2007 for The Home Song Stories	Succeeded by Prudence Liew for True Women for Sale

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Persondata
NAME	Chen, Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	actress, film director, screenwriter, producer
DATE OF BIRTH	1961-4-26
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shanghai, China
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH