Tang Wei

Tang Wei (born 7 October 1979) is a Chinese actress.

Tang graduated from a local vocational high school in her hometown in 1996, where her teachers described her as "athletic" and a "good student who always did her homework".

She had no plans to become famous; she originally aspired to become an archaeologist or lawyer.

Tang made the decision to enter the entertainment industry after doing some modelling in 1997 and played a minor role in the TV series Chinese Female Football.

She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama where she majored in directing.

Shortly after her university graduation, Tang met Stan Lai during one of his trips to China.

He was impressed by the actress, and was quoted as saying, "The number of stars may not be good actors, a lot of good actors may not be good stars, but Tang Wei was fortunate to have done it."

He proceeded to recommend her to several directors and was thus cast in more roles, although she was relatively unknown outside her hometown in China at this time.

Nonetheless, Tang starred in a TV series, Policewoman Swallow (2004) and a brief university drama, Che Guevara (2004).

After working with a more diverse group of actresses, she also appeared in TV dramas Sons and Daughters of the Red Cross (2004), Leaving Seafront Street (2005), East Meets West (2005), Born in the 60s (2006) and Silent Tears.

In July 2006, Tang was selected from more than 10,000 actresses to appear in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (2007).

Tang plays the film's main character, Wong Chia-chi, inspired by the story of the executed spy Zheng Pingru.

Tang learned both Shanghainese and the related Suzhou dialect for her role.

After the film premiered, Tang received wider fame throughout and beyond China.

She won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award.

Despite her success, China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) ordered a media ban due to Tang's performance of sexual acts in Lust, Caution.

All print ads and feature content using Tang were removed, and her endorsements were discontinued.

She rose to prominence for her appearance in Lust, Caution (2007), for which she received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award at the 61st British Academy Film Awards.

She was set to star in Tian Zhuangzhuang's big-budget period film The Warrior and the Wolf (2009), but was replaced by Maggie Q.

In February 2009, during her absence from the movie industry, she was reported to have briefly attended drama classes at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

From November 2009 to March 2010, Tang filmed alongside Hyun Bin in Late Autumn (2010), directed by Kim Tae-yong.

The film was shot in Seattle, Washington.

Tang's performance in Late Autumn, in which she played an inmate who strikes up a relationship with a man, won over South Korean audiences and made her the only non-Korean to win the Baeksang Awards for Best Actress.

She gained further acclaim for her leading performances in Late Autumn (2010), Finding Mr. Right (2013), The Golden Era (2014), Long Day's Journey into Night (2018), and Decision to Leave (2022).

Tang has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award, a Golden Horse Film Festival Award, a Blue Dragon Film Award, and two Baeksang Arts Awards.

Her Baeksang wins have, to date, made her the only non-Korean to receive the award in the Best Actress – Film category.

Tang made her return to the big screen in Crossing Hennessy (2010), a romantic drama by Ivy Ho which revolves around two people who are set up on a blind date by well-meaning relatives, despite the fact that they both have somebody else on their minds.

Tang, who plays a simple girl-next-door with a stubborn streak, learned Cantonese for her role.

As this was Tang's first film to be shown in China since Lust, Caution, a March 2010 news article quoted her as saying, "Coming to Hong Kong for this premiere, I can see director Ivy and co-star Andy On again. I've been very happy. Now I'm just excited to see the movie. I will be happy if everyone can see my work."

In September 2010, it was announced she was to appear in the patriotic tribute film The Founding of a Party.

However her scenes were all cut in the theatrical version, allegedly at the request of Mao Zedong's grandson, Mao Xinyu.

In December 2011, she also voiced the character of Pia Sahastrabuddhe in San Geshagua, the Mandarin Chinese dubbed version of the 2009 Bollywood blockbuster film 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, which was originally portrayed by Kareena Kapoor.

Tang returned to mainstream cinema with two major films; Speed Angels, a car-racing flick directed by Jingle Ma and Dragon, a martial arts epic directed by Peter Chan.

Though Speed Angels was a commercial flop, Dragon was successful and was named the eighth best movie of 2012 according to Time magazine.

Tang has appeared on multiple instances in Forbes China Celebrity 100 list, ranking 70th in 2013, 38th in 2014, and 55th in 2015.

Tang was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

She is the only child of a former stage actress and painter.

In an interview, she explained that she often travelled around China and learned to paint, adding that she was influenced by her parents.

In 2013, Tang starred opposite actor Wu Xiubo in the Xue Xiaolu directed romantic comedy Finding Mr. Right.

She plays a girl who goes to Seattle to give birth to a child by her wealthy, married boyfriend.