GONG LI

She really is a complex character," Gong Li relates (in Mandarin) to kungfumagazine.com. "She's crazy, and I must admit it was a great opportunity to work with Zhang again. I needed to develop different emotions and feelings with respect to the relationships that empress has with the people she is surrounded with, like her love relationship with one son, the motherly love with the youngest son, the sexual relationship with the other son, and a love-hate relationship with her husband the emperor. And then add on the emotion of being poisoned, knowing that it can kill her, and then she has to face what she is lacking in life, love and the powerlessness of her situation- Well, it just adds up to one rich, challenging character. Also, when you do action films, it must be an action film; when it's a love or drama film, it must have love and drama in it. I like all these kinds of films, and I feel Zhang is the only director that can create a good mix of all of these things in one film."

Speaking of action, although most Hong Kong and Chinese actresses don't practice martial arts, many have made their name and fame by starring in martial arts films. Gong is one of the few big Chinese stars who has melded an incredibly diverse career without starring in a martial arts film. Furthermore, of the few martial arts films that she has appeared in (SEMI-GODS AND SEMI-DEVILS (1994)), she has resisted doing fight scenes. "It is easier to do action films because of course you can have action doubles and make it look like you have good fighting ability. But-" Gong pauses for an emphatic stare. "As an actor, I don't wish to follow the trend, and I want to keep doing drama films knowing that I don't need a double. Like in any film an actor must do, I don't want a director to waste my talent."