Biography

Early life and career

Chen Chong was born in Shanghai, to a family of pharmacologists. She and her older brother, Chase, were raised during the Cultural Revolution. At the age of 14, Chen was discovered on the school rifle range by Jiang Qing, the wife of leader Mao Zedong and major Chinese Communist Party figure, as she was excelling at marksmanship. This led to her being 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 (Chinese: 青春; pinyin: Qīngchūn) as a deaf mute whose senses are restored by an Army medical team. Chen graduated from high school a year in advance, and at the age of 17 entered the prestigious Shanghai International Studies University, where she majored in English.

Acting career

Chen Chong performed alongside Tang Guoqiang in Zhang Zheng's (Chinese: 张铮) Little Flower (Chinese: 小花; pinyin: Xiǎo Huā) in 1979, for which she won the Hundred Flowers Award (Chinese: 百花奖; pinyin: Bǎi Huā Jiǎng). Chen portrayed a pre-Maoist revolutionary's daughter, who, reunited with her brother, a wounded Communist soldier, later learned that his doctor was her biological mother. Little Flower was her second film and she soon achieved the status of China's most loved actress; she was dubbed "the Elizabeth Taylor of China" by Time magazine for having achieved stardom while still a teenager.

In addition, Chen was in the 1979 film Hearts for the Motherland (Chinese: 海外赤子; pinyin: Hǎiwài Chìzǐ). The film directed by Ou Fan (Chinese: 欧凡) and Xing Jitian (Chinese: 邢吉田) 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" (Chinese: 我爱你中国) and "High Flies the Petrel" (Chinese: 高飞的海燕), sung by Chen's character, are perennial favorites in China. In 1981, Chen starred in Awakening (Chinese: 甦醒; pinyin: Sūxǐng), directed by Teng Wenji (Chinese: 滕文骥).

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 as Josie Packard. She starred alongside Rutger Hauer in 1989's The Blood of Heroes, written and directed by David Webb Peoples. 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 co-starred with Steven Seagal in the action/adventure On Deadly Ground; she then returned to Shanghai to star in Stanley Kwan's Red Rose, White Rose (Chinese: 紅玫瑰白玫瑰; pinyin: Hóng Méigui Bái Méigui) opposite Winston Chao, and subsequently won a Golden Horse Award and a Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for her performance. In 1996, she was a member of the jury at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.

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 (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 2009

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 alongside Sam Chow (Chinese: 邹爽) in Shi Qi (Chinese: 十七; pinyin: Shíqī), directed by Joe Chow (Chinese: 姬诚; pinyin: Jī Chéng), as a rural mother of a 17-year-old in eastern Zhejiang province. 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.

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.

In 2009, Chen starred alongside Feng Yuanzheng (Chinese: 冯远征) and Liu Jinshan (Chinese: 刘金山) in the Chinese TV series Newcomers to the Middle-Aged (Chinese: 人到中年), directed by Dou Qi (Chinese: 斗琪), in which she played a female doctor facing middle-age problems. She also played the part of goddess Guan Yin in the 2010 Chinese TV adaptation of Journey to the West, directed by Cheng Lidong (Chinese: 程力栋).

In October 2009 Joan Chen was the curator of the first Singapore Sun Film Festival, whose theme was The Art of Living Well. She selected and curated five films for screening during the festival: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Dead Man Walking, Hannah and Her Sisters, Still Life (Chinese: 三峡好人; pinyin: Sānxiá hǎorén) and Edward Scissorhands.

In 2010, Chen joined the cast of Leehom Wang's directorial debut Lian ai tong gao (Chinese: 恋爱通告; pinyin: Liàn ài tōng gào)., Alexi Tan's Color Me Love (alongside Liu Ye), Ilkka Järvilaturi's Kiss, His First (alongside Tony Leung Ka-fai and Gwei Lun-mei) and veteran acting coach Larry Moss' Relative Insanity (along with Juliette Binoche). In May 2010, she was set to star and direct one of the three parts of the anthology film Seeing Red.

As of the 2011 episode 3.13 entitled "Immortality" she plays Secretary Bishop's girlfriend on the J.J. Abrams created sci-fi television series Fringe.

Chen was cast as the Yuan empress Chabi in the 2014 American television series Marco Polo. Being somewhat unfamiliar with the Mongols, Chen read The Secret History of the Mongol Queens in order to prepare for the role.

Personal life

Chen was formerly married to actor Jimmy Lau from 1985 to 1990. She married her second husband, cardiologist Peter Hui, on January 18, 1992. They have two daughters, Angela and Audrey. They live in San Francisco, California.

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" for the Washington Post objecting to the politicization of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Charitable work

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.

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

On January 8, 2010, Chen attended, alongside Nancy Pelosi, Nicole Kidman and Joe Torre, the ceremony to help Family Violence Prevention Fund break ground on a new center located in the Presidio of San Francisco intended to combat violence against women and children. During the ceremony, Chen performed an excerpt from the documentary play, "The Thumbprint of Mukhtar Mai" (presented as part of "Seven").

On January 15, 2010, Chen was set to appear, along with other Asian American personalities, in a series of videos supporting the Center for the Pacific Asian Family.

Filmography

Actress

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Youth 青春	Shen Yamei / 沈亞妹
1979	Little Flower 小花	Zhao Xiaohua / 赵小花	Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress Yugoslavia Film Festival Award for Best Actress
1979	Hearts for the Motherland 海外赤子	Huang Sihua / 黃思華	aka Overseas Compatriots, A Loyal Overseas Chinese Family
1981	Awakening 甦醒	Su Xiaomei / 蘇小梅
1986	Goodbye My Love 惡男	Ling Ti
1986	Tai-Pan	May-May
1987	The Last Emperor	Wan Jung / 婉容
1989	The Blood of Heroes	Kidda
1991	Wedlock	Noelle
1992	Turtle Beach	Minou
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me	Jocelyn 'Josie' Packard
1993	Heaven & Earth	Mama
1993	Temptation of a Monk 誘僧	Princess Hong'e (Scarlet) / 公主紅萼 Lady Qingshou (Violet) / 青绶夫人
1994	Golden Gate	Marilyn
1994	Red Rose White Rose 紅玫瑰，白玫瑰	Wang Jiao-Rui / 王嬌蕊	Golden Horse Award for Best Actress HKFCS Award for Best Actress Nominated — HKFA for Best Actress
1994	On Deadly Ground	Masu
1995	The Hunted	Kirina
1995	Wild Side	Virginia Chow
1995	Judge Dredd	Ilsa Hayden
1996	Precious Find	Camilla Jones
1999	Purple Storm 紫雨風暴	Shirley Kwan
2000	What's Cooking?	Trinh Nguyen
2004	Avatar	Madame Ong
2004	Jasmine Women 茉莉花开	Mo's Mother / 茉的母亲 Mo / 茉
2004	Saving Face	Hwei-Lan Gao
2005	Sunflower 向日葵	Xiuqing / 秀清
2006	Americanese	Betty Nguyen
2007	The Home Song Stories 意	Rose Hong / 洪玫瑰	Golden Horse Award for Best Actress IF Award for Best Actress TFF Award for Best Actress AFI Award for Best Actress FCCA Award for Best Actress Nominated — AF Award for Best Actress Nominated — APS Award for Best Actress
2007	The Sun Also Rises 太阳照常升起	Dr. Lin / 林大夫	AF Award for Best Supporting Actress
2007	All God's Children Can Dance	Evelyn
2007	Lust, Caution 色，戒	Mrs. Yee / 易太太
2008	The Leap Years	Li-Ann (age 49)
2008	Shi Qi 十七	Mother / 母亲	SIFF Press Prize for Most Attractive Actress
2008	24 City 二十四城记	Gu Minhua / 顾敏华
2009	Mao's Last Dancer	Niang / 娘
2010	Love in Disguise 恋爱通告	Joan
2010	Color Me Love 爱出色	Zoe
2011	1911 辛亥革命	Empress Longyu / 隆裕
2011	Kiss, His First 初吻
2012	White Frog	Irene Young
2012	Passion Island 熱愛島	Johanna / 祖安娜
2012	Let It Be 稍安勿躁	Niu Jie / 牛姐
2012	Double Xposure 二次曝光	Dr. Hao / 郝医生
2014	For Love or Money 露水红颜
2015	You Are My Sunshine
2015	Lady of the Dynasty	Consort Wu
2015	Cairo Declaration	Soong Ching-ling
2015	Relative Insanity	Pearl	pre-production
2016	Unconventional Mind 放浪记		pre-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	MacGyver	Lin	Episode 1.2 The Golden Triangle
1985	Miami Vice	May Ying	Episode 1.14 Golden Triangle
1989	Wiseguy	Maxine Tzu	Episode All or Nothing
1990	Twin Peaks	Jocelyn 'Josie' Packard	TV series — Series regular (2 seasons, 1990-1991)
1992	Strangers	The Girl	TV movie
1992	Shadow of a Stranger	Vanessa	TV movie
1992	Nightmare Cafe	First customer	Episode 1.1 Nightmare Cafe
1993	Tales from the Crypt	Connie	Episode 5.4 Food for Thought
1997	Homicide: Life on the Street	Elizabeth Wu	Episode 5.15 Wu's on First?
1998	The Outer Limits	Major Dara Talif	Episode 4.24 Phobos Rising
1999	In a Class of His Own	Linda Ching	TV movie
2009	Newcomers to the Middle-Aged 人到中年	Tian Wenjie / 田文洁	TV series
2010	Journey to the West 西游记	Guan Yin / 观音	TV series
2011	Fringe	Reiko	Episode 3.13 Immortality
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Madame Chiang Kai-shek	HBO TV movie
2012	Sui Tang Yingxiong 隋唐英雄	Empress Dugu / 独孤后	TV series
2013	Serangoon Road	Patricia Cheng	TV series
2013	Meng's Palace 海上孟府	Er Jie / 二姐	TV series
2014	Marco Polo	Chabi	TV series

Director

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	天浴 (Tiān Yù)	Golden Horse Award for Best Director Mons International Love Film Festival Grand Prize National Board of Review International Freedom Award Paris Film Festival Special Jury Prize FLIFF Jury Award for Best Drama Nominated — Golden Bear Award Nominated — Paris Film Festival Grand Prize
2000	Autumn in New York
2012	Shanghai Strangers	非典情人 (Fēidiǎn qíngrén)	short film — post-production (also known as 爱在非典的日子)

Writer

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	天浴 (Tiān Yù)	Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium
2012	Shanghai Strangers	非典情人 (Fēidiǎn qíngrén)	short film — post-production (also known as 爱在非典的日子)

Producer

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1995	Wild Side		Associate producer
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	天浴 (Tiān Yù)	Producer, Executive producer Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Over $500,000
2012	Shanghai Strangers	非典情人 (Fēidiǎn qíngrén)	short film — post-production (also known as 爱在非典的日子)

Other media

• 2008: "Shanghai," narrator—an audio walking tour by Louis Vuitton and Soundwalk

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1980	Hundred Flowers Awards	Best Actress	Little Flower	Won
	Yugoslavia International Film Festival	Best Actress		Won
1994	Asian American International Film Festival	Asian Media Award		Won
	Golden Horse Awards	Best Actress	Red Rose, White Rose	Won
1995	Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress		Won
1998	Golden Horse Awards	Best Director	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	Won
		Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium		Won
	Berlin International Film Festival	Golden Berlin Bear		Nominated
	Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival	Jury Award		Won
1999	Paris Film Festival	Grand Prize		Nominated
		Special Jury Prize		Won
	Mons International Love Film Festival	Grand Prize		Won
	National Board of Review	International Freedom Award		Won
2000	Independent Spirit Awards	Best First Feature Over $500,000		Nominated
2007	Golden Horse Awards	Best Actress	The Home Song Stories	Won
	Hawaii International Film Festival	Achievement in Acting		Won
	Asia Pacific Screen Awards	Best Performance by an Actress		Nominated
	Inside Film Awards	Best Actress		Won
	Torino Film Festival	Best Actress		Won
	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Actress		Won
2008	Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards	Best Actress		Won
	Asian Film Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	The Sun Also Rises	Won
	Shanghai International Film Festival	Press Prize for Most Attractive Actress	Shi Qi	Won

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 as Number 45 on its compilation of "The 120 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
• In James McKenzie's 2013 urban fantasy e-novel Janis and Saint Christopher, Chen runs for the US Senate and befriends Janis Joplin.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]