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Zhou Xun

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Zhou Xun is a highly acclaimed Chinese actress and singer. She is recognized as one of the Four Dan Actresses in China. This title refers to a group of prominent female actors. In 2009, she achieved a historic "Grand Slam" in the film industry. She became the first Chinese actor to win Best Actress at three major awards. These were the Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the Golden Rooster Awards.

Zhou Xun2007
Zhou Xun2007

Zhou's professional journey began with a strong interest in the dramatic arts. She was born in 1974 to a middle-class family in Quzhou, Zhejiang. Her father, Zhou Tianning, was a film projectionist. Her mother, Chen Yiqin, worked as a salesperson in a department store. Zhou attended the Zhejiang Art School to study acting. This decision went against her parents' wishes for a more practical degree. Even as a teenager in school, she was handpicked for a film role.

Her career saw a major breakthrough around the year 2000. She gained recognition for playing Princess Taiping in the historical drama Palace of Desire. That same year, she starred in the film Suzhou River. This performance won her the Best Actress award at the 15th Festival du Film de Paris. Shortly after, she was named one of the Four Dan Actresses. This group includes other famous performers like Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei, and Xu Jinglei. She also won her first major domestic award for the film A Pinwheel Without Wind in 2002.

Throughout the 2000s, Zhou demonstrated incredible versatility across many genres. She performed in the musical film Perhaps Love in 2005. In this role, she showed the difference between a rural girl and a wealthy urban woman. She also acted in the wuxia film The Banquet, which was inspired by William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In 2007, she played dual roles as twins in the film Ming Ming. Her range extended to romantic thrillers like The Equation of Love and Death in 2008. She even appeared in the horror-adventure film Painted Skin in the same year.

Zhou has also expanded her work into directing and international cinema. In 2011, she made her directorial debut with the short film Five Demon Traps. She later made her Hollywood debut in the science fiction film Cloud Atlas in 2012. This film required her to play multiple different roles. That same year, she starred in the sequel Painted Skin: The Resurrection. This movie was a massive commercial success. It grossed over 700 million yuan, which was about $109.8 million. At that time, it was the highest-grossing Chinese-language movie ever made.

Television has remained a significant part of her career as well. In 2014, she starred in the series Red Sorghum, based on a novel by Mo Yan. The author praised her ability to show the character's inner turmoil. In 2021, she played the real-life scientist Tu Youyou in the series Medal of the Republic. Tu Youyou is a Nobel Prize winner who helped develop treatments for malaria. Zhou's portrayal of the chemist's work in the 1970s received significant praise. Later, her drama A Little Mood for Love became a top-rated show on Chinese satellite television.

Beyond her acting, Zhou is a dedicated advocate for environmental sustainability. In 2008, she was named the first United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador for China.

LG전자-유엔환경계획, 세계권위‘지구환경대상’시상
LG전자-유엔환경계획, 세계권위‘지구환경대상’시상

She focuses her efforts on promoting a healthy planet. In 2010, she was named one of the "Champions of the Earth" by the UNDP. She was the first entertainer in the world to receive this specific honor. This role shows how she uses her global influence to support important social causes.

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