Zhou Xun

On July 16, 2014, she married American actor Archie Kao. They tied the knot onstage following a charity show in Hangzhou, China. She is a citizen of Hong Kong under the "Quality Migrant Admission Scheme".

Zhou is involved in social work that has brought her several recognitions. In 2008 she was made the first United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador for China.

She is the first entertainer across the globe who became the Laureate of Champions of the Earth (Inspiration & Action) of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2010.

Zhou Xun was born on October 18, 1974, in Quzhou, Zhejiang in the middle-class family of Zhou Tianning and Chen Yiqin. Her father was a local film projectionist while her mother worked in a department store as a salesperson.

She studied at the Quzhou No.1 Middle School. Although her parents wanted her to pursue graduation from a university, but due her passion for dramatic arts, she enrolled at the Zhejiang Arts Institute.

Her acting debut happened in the early 1990s with films like ‘Old Grave’ (1991), ‘The Pampered Wife’ (1995) and ‘Temptress Moon’ (1996) among others.

She forayed into television with the 1997 series ‘Hong Chu Fang’ which was followed by a few others until she earned her first notable role of young Princess Taiping in the Chinese television historical series ‘Palace of Desire’. It earned her Audience's Choice for Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards that year at the 18th China TV Golden Eagle Award.

The 2000 film ‘Suzhou River’, written and directed by Lou Ye, turned out to be her breakthrough film on the big-screen. In the film she played dual roles of Mei Mei and Mou Dan and it was well-received abroad. It not only garnered her international recognition but also won her Best Actress award at the 15th Festival du Film de Paris.

In 2000, she along with Xu Jingleias, Zhao Wei and Zhang Ziyi was named as the Four Dan Actresses, which means that these divas were considered Mainland China’s four most bankable young actresses.

Moving on with other films like ‘Beijing Bicycle’ (2001) and TV series like ‘April Rhapsody’ (2000) and ‘Love Story in Shanghai’ (2001), she landed up with her first Hong Kong flick ‘Hollywood Hong Kong’. This Fruit Chan directed 2001 film that released in 11 countries including in the US, South Korea, Singapore and Italy earned her critical acclaim.