Zhang Ziyi (Chinese: 章子怡; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress. Her first major role was in The Road Home (1999). She later achieved fame for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. In the West, Zhang is best known for her appearances in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), 2046 (2004) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). Her most critically acclaimed works are Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), which earned her nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role; and The Grandmaster (2013), for which she won 12 different Best Actress awards to become the most awarded actress for a single film.
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Biography from TMDB.
- February 9, 1979 (47)
- Beijing, China
- Actor, also producer and director
- 31 on MovieCove · 57 credits in all
Known for
What are Ziyi Zhang's films like?
Across their 28 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 2 · Wry 0 · Earnest 25
A split, not a type: Light 7 · Serious 4 · Dark 16
Grounded 3 · Stylized 12 · Heightened 12
Gentle 3 · Charged 7 · Intense 17
Steady 5 · Shifting 18 · Whiplash 4
Straight-faced 21 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 4
Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 15 · Relentless 4
Casual 6 · Engaged 12 · Full focus 9
A split, not a type: Easy watch 8 · Affecting 6 · Heavy 13
A split, not a type: Resolved 14 · Open-ended 8 · Ambiguous 5
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 9 of 21 analyzed roles.
Show the 21 rolesHide the roles
- Allyas Zhao Di, Young in The Road Home (1999)
- Shadowas Jen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Heraldas Princess Bu-yong in The Warrior (2001)
- Threshold guardianas Hu Li in Rush Hour 2 (2001)
- Shapeshifteras Xiao Mei in House of Flying Daggers (2004)
- Shapeshifteras Bai Ling in 2046 (2004)
- Heroas Sayuri in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
- Shapeshifteras Tanukihime in Princess Raccoon (2005)
- Shapeshifteras Empress Wan in The Banquet (2006)
- Shadowas Karai in TMNT (2007)
- Shadowas Kristin in Horsemen (2009)
- Heroas Du Fenyu in Dangerous Liaisons (2012)
- Heroas Sophie in My Lucky Star (2013)
- Heroas Yu Zhen in The Crossing (2014)
- Heroas Yu Zhen in The Crossing 2 (2015)
- Shapeshifteras Xiao Liu in The Wasted Times (2016)
- Heroas Su Leqi in Run for Love (2016)
- Allyas Xu Ying in The Climbers (2019)
- Heroas Yu Kaiying in My Country, My Parents (2021)
- Heroas Wang Xuan in The Rebel Princess (2021)
- Heroas Zhan Zhoushi in She's Got No Name (2024)
Moods and endings
- Happy8
- Bittersweet10
- Tragic5
- Ambiguous5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Ziyi Zhang's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 14 of their 31 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (7).
Subscription and free streaming for Ziyi Zhang's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
57 credits, 31 with a MovieCove page; 12 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
首届CMG中国电影盛典 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
She's Got No Name(2024)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
进步班 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
"Moon rises in the Bay Area" 2023 Greater Bay Area Film and Music Gala (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Three Youths (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
My Country, My Parents(2021)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
The Rebel Princess(2021)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all shows
Everybody Stand By (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
The Climbers(2019)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Birth of an Actor (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Viva La Romance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Cloverfield Paradox(2018)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Forever Young (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Birth of an Actor (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
The Wasted Times(2016)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Run for Love(2016)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Trump Card (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Oh My God! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Where's the Dragon? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
The Crossing 2(2015)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
The Crossing(2014)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Zùiqiáng dànao(2014)
My Lucky Star(2013)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Better and Better(2013)
Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
The Grandmaster(2013)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
The Road to "The Grandmaster" (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Dangerous Liaisons(2012)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Love for Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Sophie's Revenge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Horsemen(2009)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Forever Enthralled (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Impossible Mission: Golden Rooster (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
TMNT(2007)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
The Banquet(2006)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Memoirs of a Geisha(2005)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Princess Raccoon(2005)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
2046(2004)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
House of Flying Daggers(2004)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Jasmine Women (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
My Wife Is a Gangster 2(2003)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Purple Butterfly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Hero(2002)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Warrior(2001)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Zu Warriors(2001)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Rush Hour 2(2001)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Road Home(1999)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Touching Starlight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Gold Mountain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Making of 2046 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
She's Got No Name: Part Two (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Undercurrent (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
游过海岸一百米 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 99th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 57 titles, 52 of them dated from 1996 to 2026; peak year 2005.
Biggest box office
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Highest rated
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Most popular right now
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Film career
Peak 2005 · back in prominent film roles after a quiet stretch. Top draw in 10 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1999Screen debut· The Road Home
- 1999First top-billed film· The Road Home
- 2004BAFTA Award nomination· House of Flying Daggers
- 2005Career best· Memoirs of a Geisha
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
Awards
1 major award from 6 major nominations, 2001–2006.
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
+1 other major body · 1 win
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Supporting Female
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Ziyi Zhang's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 50th percentile, the median of all 29; across their 27 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 49th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up9
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th7
- Below 25th7
Shape of the crowd
12 of their 30 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved7
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser8
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed12
Reviewers score the acting 66/100 in their films, across 24 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 42. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Ziyi Zhang's work okay for kids?
Across up to 10 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore and sex & nudity run heavier than most films and profanity and alcohol & drugs lighter.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Ziyi Zhang work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ziyi Zhang's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Zhongjun Wang shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Yimou ZhangShared titles: House of Flying Daggers (2004), Hero (2002), The Road Home (1999)See all 3 shared titles with Yimou Zhang
- John WooShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014)See all 2 shared titles with John Woo
- Wong Kar-WaiShared titles: The Grandmaster (2013), 2046 (2004)See all 2 shared titles with Wong Kar-Wai
Writers
- Hui-Ling WangShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)See all 3 shared titles with Hui-Ling Wang
- Chao-Bin SuShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Chao-Bin Su
- Ching-hui ChenShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Ching-hui Chen
- Bin WangShared titles: House of Flying Daggers (2004), Hero (2002)See all 2 shared titles with Bin Wang
Actors
- Xiaoming HuangShared titles: The Volunteers: To the War (2023), The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014), The Banquet (2006)See all 4 shared titles with Xiaoming Huang
- Jing WuShared titles: My Country, My Parents (2021), The Climbers (2019), Zu Warriors (2001)See all 3 shared titles with Jing Wu
- Song Hye-kyoShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014), The Grandmaster (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Song Hye-kyo
- Takeshi KaneshiroShared titles: The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014), House of Flying Daggers (2004)See all 3 shared titles with Takeshi Kaneshiro
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Fei ZhaoShared titles: The Volunteers: To the War (2023), The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Fei Zhao
- Shigeru UmebayashiShared titles: The Wasted Times (2016), 2046 (2004), House of Flying Daggers (2004)See all 3 shared titles with Shigeru Umebayashi
- Dun TanShared titles: The Banquet (2006), Hero (2002), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)See all 3 shared titles with Dun Tan
- William ChangShared titles: She's Got No Name (2024), 2046 (2004)See all 2 shared titles with William Chang
Producers
- Zhongjun WangShared titles: My Country, My Parents (2021), The Climbers (2019), The Wasted Times (2016), The Crossing (2014), The Banquet (2006)See all 5 shared titles with Zhongjun Wang
- Zhonglei WangShared titles: The Climbers (2019), The Wasted Times (2016), The Crossing 2 (2015), The Crossing (2014), The Banquet (2006)See all 5 shared titles with Zhonglei Wang
- Ruoqing FuShared titles: The Volunteers: To the War (2023), My Country, My Parents (2021), The Climbers (2019)See all 3 shared titles with Ruoqing Fu
- Xia ZhangShared titles: My Country, My Parents (2021), Dangerous Liaisons (2012), The Warrior (2001)See all 3 shared titles with Xia Zhang
Mixed roles
- Yong HouShared titles: The Rebel Princess (2021), The Road Home (1999)See all 2 shared titles with Yong Hou
