Born in Shenyang in northeast China, Gong enrolled at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing and graduated in 1989. While still a student, she was discovered by director Zhang Yimou and made her film debut in “Red Sorghum,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and propelled her to international prominence.
Over her career, Gong has starred in three of the four Chinese-language films nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film: Zhang Yimou’s “Ju Dou” and “Raise the Red Lantern,” and Chen Kaige’s “Farewell My Concubine.”
According to The Straits TimesGong married Singaporean tycoon Ooi Hoe Seong in 1996 and was granted Singapore citizenship in 2008. Media reports in late 2021 suggested she was in the process of renouncing that citizenship.
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