Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s.[2] Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum (1986), and more recently as Baze Malbus in the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016). He is the older brother of fellow actor Jiang Wu.
Early life, family and education
Hebei was born in Tangshan to a family of military personnel. He relocated to Beijing at the age of ten. In 1973 he attended Beijing No. 72 Middle School, where he studied alongside Ying Da.[3] In 1980, he entered China's foremost acting school, the Central Academy of Drama, graduating in 1984.
Career
Acting
After graduation from acting school, Hebei was assigned to China Youth Art Institute as an actor.[3] That same year, he started acting both on the stage (with the China Youth Theater) and in films.
Jiang's debut role was in the film The Last Empress, portraying Puyi.[4] He then starred in Hibiscus Town directed by Xie Jin; his role as an intellectual revolutionary earned him the Best Actor Award at the Hundred Flowers Awards.[5] Jiang once again paired with Hibiscus Town co-star in the film Chun Tao directed by Ling Zifeng.[6] Jiang was cast in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum.[7] He also performed in the France-Chinese film Tears of the Bridal Sedan and his first commercial film The Trial.
He performed in many television series, becoming especially known for his role in the 1992 television series A Native of Beijing in New York (based on the novel Beijinger in New York. It made him one of the most popular Chinese actors of his generation.[8]
Jiang co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One, released in December 2016. In the film, he portrays Baze Malbus, a native of the moon of Jedha who is drawn into the war against the Galactic Empire.[15]
Jiang is set to return to the small screen in the historical drama Cao Cao.[16]
In 2000, Jiang co-wrote and directed the black comedy film Devils on the Doorstep. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and clinched the Grand Prix[18] but was subsequently banned in its home country;[19] said to undermine the country because it "seriously distorts Chinese history". Jiang himself was banned from making films for seven years.[20] In 2001 he was a member of the jury at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival.[21]
Jiang returned with his fourth feature The Sun Also Rises in 2007; a fantasy realism film which contains a polyptych of interconnected stories in different time-zones; the film received positive reviews from critics but bombed at the box office.[22][23] He then collaborated with 10 other directors on the romance anthology film New York, I Love You.[24]
Jiang's fifth feature, a Western-styled action comedy Let the Bullets Fly set a box office record by becoming the fastest Chinese-language film to break RMB100m mark ($15.15m) in Chinese cinemas; and received critical acclaim.[25][26]
Jiang Wen's father is Jiang Hongqi, a veteran of the Korean War. Described as taciturn and bookish, he played a minor role in his son's 2011 film, Let the Bullets Fly. Jiang's mother Gao Yang — “a cheerful, extroverted woman” — worked as a piano teacher. Jiang Wen is the eldest son in the family; in addition to his younger brother, Jiang Wu, he has a younger sister, Jiang Huan.
Close to his family, Jiang has a deep bond with his parents: whenever he is on site for shooting or acting, he arranges for them to come to his workplace so that he can spend time with them. Each movie he makes, he saves the best seats for them and asks for their opinions. Even on artistic composition, he sometimes resorts to them for advice. It was his parents' endorsement on the original novel of A Native of Beijing in New York that propelled Jiang into his performance. Later, during the filming of his first feature film, In the Heat of the Sun, Jiang again considered their evaluation of Xia Yu, before settling on him as the leading actor.[35]
Relationships
Jiang met his first partner, Liu Xiaoqing during the production of his debut film Hibiscus Town. As he was 23 and she was 31, their relationship was controversial in the entertainment industry at that time, although it was reported that the crew was very supportive of their relationship. Liu Xiaoqing never confirmed the relationship, but only claimed that the media pressure was so suffocating that she once considered going abroad. Years later at one ceremony, Director Xie Jin finally verified this rumor, revealing that they had actually lived together for three years. Liu and Jiang separated amicably in 1994.[36]
In 1995, Jiang began a relationship with Sandrine Chenivesse, a Doctor of Anthropology at the University of Paris, researching philosophy and Taoism in China, at an artistic event. They married in Paris in 1997 and had a daughter together, but the marriage remained discreet until their appearance on the red carpet of the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005, Chenivesse announced their divorce, citing long-distance separation as the cause.[37]
In 2001, during the filming of Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Jiang was introduced to cast member Zhou Yun, by fellow actress Zhao Wei. Later, Jiang recommended Zhou to the cast of The Music Box, but each left the crew after a creative difference between Jiang and the director Chen Yifei. Jiang and Zhou married in 2005 and have two sons together.[38]
^ abLi Erwei (2008). "Jiang Wen: The First Step Towards the Art Circle" 《姜文：走向艺坛的第一步》. 《青年文摘》 [Youth Literary Digest] (in Chinese). Beijing: China Youth Press. pp. 117–121. ISBN978-7-5006-6468-0.
^"姜文谈《一步之遥》 故事源自北洋阎瑞生案" [Jiang Wen talks about "One Step Away" The story is based on the Beiyang Yan Ruisheng case] (in Chinese). NetEase Entertainment. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
In 2010, the list started to include Chinese celebrities born in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries. Prior to that it only included celebrities born in mainland China.
