Ziyi Zhang

My parents sent me to a dance class, so it was a road chosen by them, not me. But I enjoyed it so much I knew I would become a performer.

China’s cinema has been rising for some time; it has more exposure, so my chances of becoming internationally known are better. But the first thing I have to do is learn English. If I can grasp the language, then perhaps I can think about the U.S.

I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher like my mother.

I knew nothing about martial arts. And I don’t really like it! But in the film, I not only had to pretend that I knew all about it, I had to be the best at it. That was very difficult.

Whatever you see – any good results – are all from the pressure.

I suspect people always thought I had a boyfriend, so nobody came after me.

It’s not that I wanted to be an actor; it’s that I didn’t want to be a dancer! I was trained in traditional Chinese dance, and after working so hard it seemed unfair to just disappear into a group.

In China, we don’t consider someone truly beautiful until we have known them for a long time, and we know what’s underneath the skin.