 |
 |
|
|
| Zhao Wei
with Justin Lin and Huang Xiaoming |
|
Forecourt Ceremony held on Wednesday, June 3, 2015
|
| |
Born: March 12, 1976, in Wuhu, Anhui, China
Age at the time of the ceremony: 39 |
| |
Zhao Wei is the most popular star in the Chinese-speaking world. Small and cute, Zhao can fool you with her powerhouse energy and wit. Prone to getting herself into hot water on occasion, Zhao has become one of the best-paid performers in the world.
Born the second child to an engineer father and school teacher mother, Zhao was originally educated to become a teacher while also studying piano, dance and ink wash painting. When she was only 18, a film crew had come to her hometown of Wuhu, so Zhao lobbied for an got a bit part as a prostitute in
Hua hun - A Soul Haunted by Painting (released in March 1994) with Gong Li. Meeting with Gong inspired Zhao to become an actor.
Dropping out of teacher school, she moved to Shanghai, and took lessions at the Xie Jin Star Academy, run by director Xie Jin, who gave her a role as a prison inmate in Nü er gu - Penitentiary Angel (released in March 1996) with Chiu La-La. Zhao returned to study at the Beijing Film Academy, where she graduated with top honors.
Novelist Chiung Yao chose Zhao to star as her heroine Xiao Yanzi, an orphan girl who makes a friendship with the Emperor's daughter for 24 episodes of Huan zhu ge ge - My Fair Princess with Ruby Lin, aired over China Television (CTV) from April to May 1998. The show, a heady mixture of costume drama and The WB, became a phenomenon throughout China and Southeast Asia. Almost everyone in the show became a star, which certainly happened to Zhao — she bacame a huge star overnight. My Fair Princess was so popular that Zhao then starred for 48 more episodes in 1999.
Zhao did a dual role for 25 episodes of Lao fang you xi - My Cousin Ji Xiang with Alec Su, aired over CtiTV from September to November 1999, and played Princess Phoenix in the period action comedy Kuet chin chi gam ji din - The Duel (released in February 2000) with Andy Lau.
Working with Chiung Yao once more had her playing the lead role of Lu Yiping and sang the title song for 49 episodes of Qing shen shen yu meng meng - Profound Love in Heavy Rain with Ruby Lin, aired over China Central Television (CCTV) in 2001. It became the highest rated television show in Chinese history.
Zhao stared as Mui in the soccer / martial arts comedy Siu Lam juk kau - Shaolin Soccer (released in July 2001) with Stephen Chow, which was a hit, as was her playing Phoenix in the period romance Tian xia wu shuang - Chinese Odyssey 2002 (released in February 2002) with Tony Chiu-Wai Leung.
She played Wen Zhu in the action movie Tian di ying xiong - Warriors of Heaven and Earth (released in September 2003) with Jiang Wen, then starred as Yao Mulan for 43 episodes of Jing hua yan yun - Moment in Peking with Pan Yueming, aired over CCTV from October to November 2005. It became her fourth straight television show to became the most-watched show of the year.
She played Chen Xiaoxiao for 16 episodes of Che Shen - Fast Track Love with Lu Yi, aired over FTV in August 2006; she had a small role as Kiuy Dafan in Yi ma de hou xian dai sheng huo - The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (released in September 2006) with Chow Yun-Fat. At this time, Zhao returned to the Beijing Film Academy to obtain a degree in film direction.
Zhao played taxi driver Lin Xi in the romance Yoru no Shanghai - The Longest Night in Shanghai (released in June 2007) with Masahiro Motoki, and played Tan Yuwei for 32 episodes of Xie xie ni ceng jing ai guo wo - Thanks for Having Loved Me with Zhou Yiwei, aired over Hunan Economy TV from June 2007.
For director John Woo, Zhao appeared as Sun Shangxiang who goes undercover as a man in the hit historical film Chi bi - Red Cliff (released in June 2008) with Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, and played Tian Sufei for 30 episodes of the drama Yi ge nü ren de shi shi - An Epic of a Woman with Zhang Xi, aired over Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation in January 2009.
Zhao played the warrior Hua Mulan in the live-action biography of Hua Mulan - Mulan (released in November 2009) with Chen Kun. Having married businessman Huang Youlong in 2008, Zhao took time off to give birth to a daughter, April Huang in April 2010.
Zhao then put her directing skills to work in the feature Zhi wo men zhong jiang shi qu de qing chum - So Young (released in April 2013) with Mark Chao as a young man attending college. It was a monster hit. Zhao played "Young Aunt May" in the comedy about prositution (!)12 gam ngap - 12 Golden Ducks (released in February 2015) with Sandra Kwan Yue Ng, and was co-executive producer and played the lead Bi Shengnan for 45 episodes in the family comedy Hu ma mao ba with Tong Dawei, aired over Anhui Television in May 2015.
As co-producer (with Justin Lin) of the Chinese film Hollywood Adventures (released in June 2015) with Huang Xiaoming; she helped both of them make their imprints in the Chinese Theatre Forecourt together with her own.
Zhao starred in Gang jiong - Lost in Hong Kong (released in September 2015) with Xu Zheng, played Dr. Tong Qian in San ren xing - Three (released in June 2016) with Louis Koo, and was co-producer on the action / mystery Yin bao zhe - Explosion (released in August 2017) with Duan Yihong. She has a role in the animated period romance Jiyuántái qiháo - No. 7 Cherry Lane (released in September 2019) with Sylvia Chang. She is in the comedy caper movie Liang zhi lao hu - Two Tigers with Ge You (released in November 2020). Zhao co-starred with Huang Xiaoming in Crazy Fist (released in August 2021).
Zhou has been in two more television shows: As Long as We Are Together with Qin Hao (released in October 2021), and stars in a Chinese remark of The Good Wife (released in April 2022). |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
| TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, Hollywood, California. FrZhao Wei Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Wednesday, June 3, 2015. 30 x 20 inches. |
|
 |
|
| TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, Hollywood, California. Justin Lin / Zhao Wei / Huang Xiaoming Forecourt ceremony, Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Zhao Wei shows off her cementy hands. |
|
|
