Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun (Chinese: 周迅, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. Regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China, Zhou became the first Chinese actor to achieve the "Grand Slam" in 2009, winning Best Actress at the three most prestigious Chinese-language film awards, the Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Rooster Awards.

Zhou first rose to prominence with Lou Ye's Suzhou River (2000), followed by films such as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002), Perhaps Love (2005), The Equation of Love and Death (2008), Painted Skin (2008), The Message (2009), Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), Our Time Will Come (2017), and Across the Furious Sea (2023).

On television, she is known for dramas such as Palace of Desire (2000), The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2003), Red Sorghum (2014), Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018), A Little Mood for Love (2021), and Imperfect Victim (2023).

Zhou was born to a middle-class family in Quzhou, Zhejiang. Her father, Zhou Tianning (周天宁), was a local film projectionist, and her mother, Chen Yiqin (陈以琴), was a salesperson at a department store. She had her schooling in Quzhou No.1 Middle School. After she graduated, Zhou enrolled at the Zhejiang Art School to further her interest in dramatic arts, against the wishes of her parents, who wanted her to pursue a practical degree. She was handpicked for a role in the film Strange Tales Amongst Old and Desolate Tombs during her teenage years in school.

Zhou debuted in the comedy movie The Pampered Wife (1995). She next starred in Chen Kaige's films, Temptress Moon (1996) and The Emperor and the Assassin (1999). But it was not until in 2000 that Zhou received recognition in China. With her role as young Princess Taiping in historical drama Palace of Desire, Zhou received the Audience's Choice for Most Popular Actress and Audience's Choice for Supporting Actress awards at the 18th China TV Golden Eagle Awards.

Zhou achieved breakthrough on the big screen with Lou Ye's Suzhou River (2000), which won her the Best Actress award at the 15th Festival du Film de Paris. That year, she was named one of the Four Dan Actresses alongside Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei and Xu Jinglei. She further achieved international recognition when she starred in the Franco-Chinese romance drama film Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002). With her praised performance in Liu De-kai's film A Pinwheel Without Wind (2002), Zhou won Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress, marking the first time she won a major domestic film award.

A string of successful projects followed. In her first Hong Kong film Hollywood Hong Kong directed by Fruit Chan, which was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice International Film Festival, Zhou received her first Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress nomination and impressed critics with her performance. Hollywood magazine Variety praise Zhou saying "Zhou is superb, moving with ease between her various personalities and always convincing in each". Among Zhou's earlier notable works also include television series April Rhapsody (2000), Love Story in Shanghai (2001), Ripening Orange (2002) and The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2003).

In 2005, Zhou starred the leading role in the musical film Perhaps Love directed by Peter Chan. For her nuanced performance in capturing the stark contrast between a rural girl and a woman living at the pinnacle of urban wealth in this film, she was awarded the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress, in addition to Hong Kong Film Award, Golden Bauhinia Awards and Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award. She next starred in Feng Xiaogang's wuxia film The Banquet (2006), inspired from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Zhou plays the girlfriend of the crown prince, equivalent to Ophelia. This role later earned her Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, which made her the first mainland Chinese actress to win both Best Actress (2006) & Best Supporting Actress (2007) at the Hong Kong Film Awards in two consecutive years. In 2007, she starred in Susie Au's film Ming Ming, which was highly praised at the 11th Pusan International Film Festival. Zhou played dual roles – twins with absolutely different characteristics and personalities.