‘Shut up, idiot’: China actress Zhang Ziyi snaps back at netizen who claims she needs young actors to boost new film, gets 200 million views
- Takes lead role in new film after 8-year break, joined by mainland stars
- Rumours say she is no longer box-office draw, Zhang shuts them down
Internationally known China film star, Zhang Ziyi, has angrily denied speculation that she used two other famous mainland actresses to bolster her new film’s box office power.
After an eight-year hiatus from the film industry, Zhang is starring in the mystery, Jiang Xiang Yuan, the shooting of which was completed in Shanghai in March, the news outlet City Express reported.
The film, which is directed by Hong Kong’s Peter Chan Ho-sun, features Zhang in the lead role, alongside some first-tier mainland stars such as Yang Mi and Zhao Liying.
Yang, 37, and Zhao, 36, both enjoy enormous popularity on the mainland, particularly among film fans in their 20s and 30s.
The internet rumour mill was abuzz with speculation during filming, and one gossip made some bold claims.
On March 12, a Weibo user with the alias Cha Bao Dian Ping, claimed it was Zhang who asked Chan to invite Yang and Zhao to appear in the film, hoping to leverage their fame to increase public attention.
“Zhang’s previous films did not do well at the box office. She is not as popular as she once was. Therefore, her hope is that the new film will do better and revive her career,” the online observer said.
“After her divorce, Zhang needs to focus on her career. Relying on her own popularity is not a promising prospect for Jiang Xiang Yuan’s box office success. But with the involvement of Yang and Zhao, the film will definitely be in the spotlight,” he went on.
“So Zhang is the biggest winner. How smart she is.”
Half an hour after the post was released, Zhang replied directly to Cha Bao Dian Ping, saying: “No, I haven’t done this.”
“Shut up, idiot,” she then wrote in English.
After Zhang’s response went viral on mainland social media, and was viewed 200 million times on Weibo alone, the online observer apologised and said his previous post was based on gossip he had heard.
“I believe that your new film will be a blockbuster. I trust your acting skills,” he said.
Zhang, 45, is an award-winner who won best actress from the three most prestigious film festivals in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
She is better known as “international Zhang” in China for her frequent exposure on the global stage a decade ago.
She acted in director Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000 and in Memoirs of a Geisha along with Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li in 2005.
The celebrated actress also won a number of awards in Asia for her roles in the 2013 film The Grandmaster directed by Hong Kong’s Wong Kar-wai.
She married Wang Feng, a famous singer in China, in 2015 and divorced him last year. They have two children.
