Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen, whose original name is Jiang Xiaojun, is a prominent Chinese actor and director and regarded as one of the three most talented actors who emerged on the Chinese mainland in the early 1990s, in addition to comedians Ge You and Chen Peisi.
Born in 1963 in Tangshan, Jiang moved to Beijing at age six. When he was young, he befriended Ying Da, a famous Chinese comedic actor and director, whose sitcom I Love My Family became a household name. Influenced by Ying’s father, an actor, Jiang took interest in performing. In 1980, he entered the Central Academy of Drama, China’s prestigious acting school. After graduating in 1984, he acted in several films and dramas, including Hibiscus Town, Black Snow and ''Red Sorghum''.
Jiang became famous for his role in the TV series A Native of Beijing in New York in 1992. In 1994, he wrote and directed his first film In the Heat of the Sun, which was adapted from the novel by Wang Shuo. The film won six Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, and lead actor Xia Yu won the Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Six years later, Jiang released his second film, Devils on the Doorstep. The film, set in the time of the Japanese invasion of China, won Jiang the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
His recent film was Let the Bullet Fly, a comedy released in late 2010. The movie starred several famous actors and actresses, including Ge You, Chow Yun-fat, Carina Lau, Zhou Yun (Jiang’s wife) and Jiang Wu (Jiang’s brother). The box office reached 30.18 million yuan ($ 4.54 million) when the film premiered the first day in the mainland. Positive comments flooded the internet community. Word spread that the film was not only commercially successful but also artistic. Yet, it also received its share of criticism for violence and obscenities.
