Gong Li 'Golden' in sumptuous period drama
Angela Dawson
Jan. 5, 2007 12:00 AM
HOLLYWOOD - Acclaimed Chinese actress Gong Li is considered the closest thing to royalty in her native land. In 2001, her government selected her to travel to Moscow with the Chinese Olympic Committee to help secure the 2008 Olympics for Beijing. (They succeeded.) Such is her renown, one almost expects Gong to appear in an ornate gown for an interview. Instead, she arrives in designer jeans, spiked heels and a sleek cream-colored blouse. Though a tea service has been set out for her, she sips from a bottle of juice she has brought with her.
Gong, 41, hasn't gone completely Western. Though she speaks some English and has made two English-language movies, the actress makes use of an interpreter for this interview.
"The simple stuff I have no problem with," she says of her English limitations. "But more in-depth or complicated stuff, like an interview, there are some things I can't say in the right way."
Despite the language barrier, Gong is witty, charming and direct. She is eager to talk about her new film, "Curse of the Golden Flower," which reunites her with Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
The two launched their careers with 1987's "Red Sorghum," while Gong was still a student at Beijing's Central Drama Academy and Zhang was a first-time feature film director. They paired up on other films and became involved romantically through the mid-1990s. Their last film together was the drama "Shanghai Triad," released in 1995.
Gong went on to marry a wealthy Chinese tobacco company executive. Her career soared as she starred in a succession of Asian films, including the 1993 Cannes winner "Farewell My Concubine."
In the past couple of years she has been making headway into Hollywood. She starred in Rob Marshall's lavish "Memoirs of a Geisha" in 2005 and in the big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice."
So what reunited Gong and Zhang more than a decade after their last collaboration?
"We'd hoped that we'd have a chance to work again together," she says. "We always had that hope. So when he came to me and said, I think you're right for this part,' I felt I was also."
"Curse of the Golden Flower" is an ornate costume drama about China's royal family. Zhang adapted a popular Chinese play called "Thunderstorm," resetting it from the 1930s to the 10th Century Tang Dynasty, with co-writers Wu Nan and Bian Zhihong.
Gong plays the empress, whose husband the emperor (played by Chow Yun Fat) is slowly poisoning her to death with his herbal "tonics." She is aware of his doings but is obliged to take the bitter poison nevertheless. Understandably, she harbors ill feelings toward her husband, whose heart belongs to the memory of his first wife.
Angry, jealous, crazy and dying, the empress copes with her situation the best she can. She is having an affair with her stepson, the heir to the throne. Her stepson, though, is two-timing her and plots to escape the palace - and his royal obligations - with the beautiful daughter of the emperor's physician. Meanwhile, the empress' eldest son shows promise as a leader, which prompts the emperor to change the line of succession.
On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, a September holiday still celebrated in China, golden chrysanthemums fill the Imperial Palace. As the family gathers for the celebration, pent up emotions and long hidden secrets are revealed on a grand scale worthy of Shakespeare.
"It was a good fit for me," says Gong of her role. "The empress is very interesting, deep, a little crazy and sick, with a complex inner life."
The costumes, she says, were heavy and elaborate. She was bedecked in beautifully handmade gowns, most with four to six layers of material. It took artisans nearly two months to construct each one.
While the costumes, hair and makeup were stunning, she had to sit patiently for hours each morning in preparation for her scenes. Mostly, she used her time to contemplate her character.
"When I'm getting ready, I like it quiet so I can concentrate," she recalls. "I don't like spending time chatting with people around me or making small talk. Zhang knows how I work, so at the beginning of production, he told everyone this is the way I like to work."
Though they play antagonists in the film, Gong and Chow got along well offscreen. "I had not met him before, but he's obviously famous throughout the world as a matinee idol and in many people's hearts he's the ideal man," she says, smiling.
She had long wanted to work with the actor but feared she might not have that opportunity once he began making Hollywood films. "I didn't think I'd get a chance to work with him after all," she says. Despite his fame, Gong says, the star of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was genuinely nice to everyone on the set and treated everyone equally.
Gong and Chow compared notes about their Hollywood experiences. "We'd talk about how back home making movies we felt more relaxed," she says. "Over here, it sometimes feels a little more constrained. You're not sure if it's appropriate to joke around."
Still, Hollywood has welcomed Gong, who even has a song written about her by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Born in Shenyang, China, Gong is the daughter of an economics professor. A music lover from an early age, she dreamed of a singing career. But when she failed to gain admission to China's top music school in 1985, she opted for acting instead.
Her performance as the meek bride who becomes a powerful woman after her husband's death in "Red Sorghum" earned her international acclaim. Her collaborations with Zhang include "Ju Dou," "Raise the Red Lantern," "To Live" and "The Story of Qui Ju," which earned her a best actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 1992.
The glamorous actress is the face of L'Oreal cosmetics in Asia and has been named one of People magazine's "Most Beautiful People." She has lent her name to campaigns for children and environmental causes in China, and has worked with the United Nations in various aid programs.
She next stars in the thriller "Hannibal Rising," a prequel to "Silence of the Lambs," in which she plays the woman who raises teenage Hannibal Lecter after World War II.
"Filming it was quite satisfying for me," she says, smiling. "It's a mysterious, strange kind of character that I like a lot."
(entertainment news wire)
(TFS should make an exception for me so I can karma you multiple times a day, lol.) 
