Joan Chen Biography

Joan Chen (or Chen Chong; born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. In China she performed 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.

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 () 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 () Little Flower () in 1979, for which she won the Hundred Flowers Award (). 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 (). The film directed by Ou Fan () and Xing Jitian () 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" () and "High Flies the Petrel" (), sung by Chen's character, are perennial favorites in China. In 1981, Chen starred in Awakening (), directed by Teng Wenji ().

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 (): 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 () 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 (), adapted from the novella Heavenly Bath () 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 (), 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 (), 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 () in Shi Qi (), directed by Joe Chow (), 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 () and Liu Jinshan () in the Chinese TV series Newcomers to the Middle-Aged (), directed by Dou Qi (), 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 ().

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 () and Edward Scissorhands.

In 2010, Chen joined the cast of Leehom Wang's directorial debut Lian ai tong gao ()., Alexi Tan's Color Me Love (alongside Liu Ye), Ilkka Jrvilaturi'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 married her second husband, cardiologist Peter Hui, on January 18, 1992. She was formerly married to actor Jimmy Lau from 1985 to 1990. The family is now living 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 Hanaiali?i 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 () and Ma Yili () 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 ??	Shen Yamei / ???
1979	Little Flower ??	Zhao Xiaohua / ???	Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress Yugoslavia Film Festival Award for Best Actress
1979	Hearts for the Motherland ????	Huang Sihua / ???	aka Overseas Compatriots, A Loyal Overseas Chinese Family
1981	Awakening ??	Su Xiaomei / ???
1986	Goodbye My Love ??	Ling Ti
1986	Tai-Pan	May-May
1987	The Last Emperor	Wan Jung / ??
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 ??	Princess Hong'e (Scarlet) / ???? Lady Qingshou (Violet) / ????
1994	Golden Gate	Marilyn
1994	Red Rose White Rose ???????	Wang Jiao-Rui / ???	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 ????	Shirley Kwan
2000	What's Cooking?	Trinh Nguyen
2004	Avatar	Madame Ong
2004	Jasmine Women ????	Mo's Mother / ???? Mo / ?
2004	Saving Face	Hwei-Lan Gao
2005	Sunflower ???	Xiuqing / ??
2006	Americanese	Betty Nguyen
2007	The Home Song Stories ?	Rose Hong / ???	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 ??????	Dr. Lin / ???	AF Award for Best Supporting Actress
2007	All God's Children Can Dance	Evelyn
2007	Lust, Caution ???	Mrs. Yee / ???
2008	The Leap Years	Li-Ann (age 49)
2008	Shi Qi ??	Mother / ??	SIFF Press Prize for Most Attractive Actress
2008	24 City ?????	Gu Minhua / ???
2009	Mao's Last Dancer	Niang / ?
2010	Love in Disguise ????	Joan
2010	Color Me Love ???	Zoe
2011	1911 ????	Empress Longyu / ??
2011	Kiss, His First ??
2012	White Frog	Irene Young
2012	Passion Island ???	Johanna / ???
2012	Let It Be ????	Niu Jie / ??
2012	Double Xposure ????	Dr. Hao / ???
2014	For Love or Money  ????
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 ???		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 ????	Tian Wenjie / ???	TV series
2010	Journey to the West ???	Guan Yin / ??	TV series
2011	Fringe	Reiko	Episode 3.13 Immortality
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Madame Chiang Kai-shek	HBO TV movie
2012	Sui Tang Yingxiong ????	Empress Dugu / ???	TV series
2013	Serangoon Road	Patricia Cheng	TV series
2013	Meng's Palace ????	Er Jie / ??	TV series
2014	Marco Polo	Chabi	TV series

Director

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	?? (Ti?n Y)	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	???? (F?idi?n qngrn)	short film "? post-production (also known as ???????)

Writer

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	?? (Ti?n Y)	Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium shared with Geling Yan
2012	Shanghai Strangers	???? (F?idi?n qngrn)	short film "? post-production (also known as ???????)

Producer

Year	Title	Chinese title	Notes
1995	Wild Side		Associate producer
1998	Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	?? (Ti?n Y)	Producer, Executive producer Nominated "? Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Over $500,000 shared with Alice Chan Wai-Chung
2012	Shanghai Strangers	???? (F?idi?n qngrn)	short film "? post-production (also known as ???????)

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

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.