I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn’t just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom’s voice that I came out of my hiding place.

Absolutely not, because in acting I’ve found a domain that suits me perfectly. And that is so utterly rare.

The atmosphere at my school was very competitive. Young girls were competing with each other every day for status, for leadership, for the affection of the teachers. I hated it.

They’re not willing to admit that I’ve also shed blood and tears and often paid dearly for my success. This makes me feel extremely sad.

When I watch a movie for the first few times I’m usually thinking about where I was in a given scene, who was next to me, what we were doing etc. But after I’ve gotten through all of this, when I’m really watching the film itself, then I get moved.

Most people spend their whole lives looking for the right job. There are others who never get an opportunity to do work that fulfils them.

Today’s China is not in the least shut out from the rest of the world. Trends come to us from all over the world. And the Internet is really developed in China. We get news from all over the world.

Men are different. When they are in love they may also have other girlfriends.

Actually I ran away from school when I was 13. No one could find me, and the police were called. I was just hiding in a little thicket of grass at my school, and went to sleep.

There are films you see that only reach your eyes. Then there are films that you can watch… that reach down to your throat, or reach your heart. “In the Mood for Love,” though, reached all the way to my belly.

From beginning to end I worried that Ang Lee wouldn’t be satisfied with my work. So I worked as hard as I could to earn his trust, because you only get a chance like this once.

After I learn more English, I’ll work hard and make more films.

We’re still working out the details, but I’d be delighted to do the film. The problem at the moment is my busy schedule. Shooting on this film has been extended by a month, but I need to be in the U.S. by Dec. 20.

There are actors who spend 20 years working and still don’t achieve what I’ve achieved so quickly. So I think my only course of action is to work as hard as I can, not just for the sake of the film, but also to prove to these people that I do have talent.

Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles – poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that.

When two people first meet, they can only have a very ordinary kind of friendship. But when you begin to understand each other, when you get close to them, you discover that you’re suddenly eager to know him or her even better.

That whole environment was just incompatible with my beliefs and my personality. It was a dark time for me.

There was one very special scene at the end of the film. My character, Zhao Di, has been sick. She wakes up and her mother tells her that the man she loves has come back from the city and had spent the day by her bedside.

Ordinarily if an actor gets chosen for the lead in a film, he or she has already built up a repertoire, and everyone knows what he or she is capable of.

Zhang Yimou is always going to need young, pretty girls for his films. But I don’t really concern myself with what Zhang Yimou’s next starlet looks like.

I’m not really interested in politics, because I think it’s just too removed from my own life. If there’s a war, though, or a disaster, I want to know what’s happening.

Obviously I’d love to work with any of these great directors because every time I’ve worked with them I’ve gained a tremendous amount as an actor. Each director has his own way of pushing you towards improving yourself.

Wanting to be in a Western film won’t get me very far. Unless the opportunity arose, it doesn’t matter how much I want to be in one. But if an opportunity did arise, no actor would pass it up.

I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn’t just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom’s voice that I came out of my hiding place.