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Bai
Ling
Actress
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Photo:
Andrew Cooper -
20th Century Fox
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A star of stage
and screen in her native China, Bai Ling is poised to match her
homeland
success here in America.
Bai Ling can currently be seen in a starring role opposite
Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat in Andy Tenant's "Anna And The King."
In this dramatic retelling of "The King and I," Bai Ling plays "Tuptim,"
the King's beautiful young concubine, who defiantly pursues her
true love with tragic consquences.
She was recently opposite Will Smith in Barry Sonnenfeld's
"Wild, Wild West" with Kevin Kline, Kenneth Brannagh and Salma Hayek,
as "Miss East," the cunning Asian seductress.
In 1997, Bai Ling won the coveted role opposite Richard Gere
in Jon Avnet's thriller, "Red Corner." She starred as the
court-appointed defense attorney to Gere's character, who is accused
of a brutal murder during a business trip to China. Critics
across the country cited Bai Ling's "mesmerizing," "powerful,"
and "luminous" performance. She received numerous accolades,
including the prestigious 1997 Breakthrough Award from the National
Board of Review. She also garnered the Discovery Star of 1997
awarded by the Hollywood Women's Press Club for their Golden Apple
Awards. As a cap-off to an incredible year, Bai Ling was selected
as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People
in the World."
Born in the Szechwan province of The People's Republic of
China, Bai Ling's first exposure to acting came at the age of 14,
when she served a three-year stint in the Chinese Army as part of
a performance troop entertaining soldiers in Tibet. The experience
allowed Bai Ling to cultivate her musical skills, which, in turn,
have resulted in her amazing ear for dialects. She went on
to refine her craft with the Szechwan Theater company, where she
came to the attention of both traditional and progressive Chinese
directors. Bai Ling was cast in a variety of film roles, from naive
peasant girl to pop singer, culminating with her convincing portrayal
of a mentally ill young woman in the critically acclaimed, contemporary
Chinese drama, "Arc Light."
Since relocating to the United States as a Visiting Scholar
with NYU's Film School, Bai Ling has transformed herself from traditional
Asian beauty to contemporary American girl. While developing
her remarkable facility with the English language, Bai Ling has
worked with such prestigious filmmakers as Ang Lee in "The Wedding
Banquet," Oliver Stone in "Nixon," and Terence Malick in the Brooklyn
Academy of Music's production of his play, "Sansho The Bailiff."
She starred as a proper Chinese daughter in the American Playhouse
production of "Nobody's Girl" for PBS, as a funky downtown diva
in the independent gem "Somewhere In The City," and as the mystical
villainess in Alex Proyas' dark thriller, "The Crow."
Bai Ling's other credits include the independent love story,
"Row Your Boat," opposite Jon Bon Jovi, and an extraordinary two-hour
season finale of the acclaimed TV series, "Touched By An Angel."
Biography
and filmography courtesy of Agency for the Performing Arts
Full
list of Bai Ling's filmography
Click
here for Highlights of AsianConnections' Interview with Bai Ling
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