---
name: "Gong Li"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/gong-li"
fi1m_id: "gong-li"
imdb_id: "nm0000084"
tmdb_id: 643
wikidata_id: "Q150903"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "31 December 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-03T01:22:12.898290+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Gong Li

## Identity

Gong Li

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/gong-li
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** gong-li
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000084
- **TMDB ID:** 643
- **Wikidata ID:** Q150903
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gong_Li, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q150903, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000084/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/643

Actor. Born 31 December 1965 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 31 December 1965, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- **Active:** 1988–present
- **Also known as:** Lei Gung, Li Gong
- **Frequently works with:** [Zhang Yimou](https://film.one/person/zhang-yimou.md)
- **Berlin International Film Festival:** 1 Berlin prize (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 82 (1), 1990s 88 (2), 2000s 67 (1), 2020s 54 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 67 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 2, Adventure 1, Crime 1, Fantasy 1, History 1
- **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $257m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gong_Li, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q150903, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000084/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/643

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Farewell My Concubine*](https://film.one/film/farewell-my-concubine.md) (85)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Miami Vice*](https://film.one/film/miami-vice-2006.md) (67)
- **Disney+:** [*Mulan*](https://film.one/film/mulan-2020.md) (54)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Gong Li

> Gong Li makes it difficult to dismiss a woman simply because she complicates someone else's story. We value the plainness of her acting: in *Farewell My Concubine*, Juxian's demands feel reasonable even when they cause pain.

In *Farewell My Concubine* (1993), Gong Li gives Juxian's wishes as much weight as the bond between the two Peking Opera performers. She could have been there simply to get in the men's way. Instead, Gong makes us consider what Juxian wants before we decide whom to side with. We were moved by her insistence on being taken seriously, because Gong makes her wishes seem no less reasonable than the men's.

The long collaboration with director Zhang Yimou began with *Red Sorghum* (1988). The early parts include a concubine in *Raise the Red Lantern* (1991) and a peasant seeking justice in *The Story of Qiu Ju* (1992). These are women with different social positions, but each has to press for what she needs. Gong's direct gaze and unadorned acting suit characters whose choices are restricted and who have good reason to resist.

Chen Kaige puts that steadiness to useful work in *Farewell My Concubine*. Leslie Cheung makes Cheng Dieyi's attachment to Zhang Fengyi's Duan Xiaolou feel necessary, and Gong prevents their unhappiness from becoming an excuse to ignore Juxian's. The screenplay by Lu Wei and Lilian Lee Bik-Wah is strongest when all three have comprehensible reasons for making one another unhappy. The plotting sometimes pushes too hard, but Gong keeps Juxian understandable without making her conveniently accommodating. She gives Chen a supporting character whose needs deserve attention even when the men's relationship threatens to occupy all our sympathy.

The move towards Hollywood in the mid-2000s brought *Memoirs of a Geisha* (2005), followed by *Miami Vice* (2006) and *Hannibal Rising* (2007). Not all of that commercial work offers material as substantial as the earlier collaborations. Reunions with Zhang in *Curse of the Golden Flower* (2006) and *Coming Home* (2014) continued the partnership that had established her. There is plenty to explore, but the familiar description of Gong as a performer of strong women should not decide what we look for. Start with *Farewell My Concubine*, and resist treating Juxian as an interruption.

## Biography

Gong Li is a Chinese actress. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing in 1989. She made her film debut in Zhang Yimou’s *Red Sorghum* (1988) and collaborated with the director on several films, including *Raise the Red Lantern* (1991), in which she played Songlian.

She is also known for her role as Juxian in Chen Kaige’s *Farewell My Concubine* (1993). Gong Li has appeared in international productions such as *Memoirs of a Geisha* (2005) and *Mulan* (2020). She became a Singaporean citizen in 2008.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Mulan* (2020), Fi1m 54, as Xian Niang — [page](https://film.one/film/mulan-2020.md)
- *Miami Vice* (2006), Fi1m 67, as Isabella — [page](https://film.one/film/miami-vice-2006.md)
- *Farewell My Concubine* (1993), Fi1m 85, as Juxian — [page](https://film.one/film/farewell-my-concubine.md)
- *Raise the Red Lantern* (1991), Fi1m 91, as Songlian — [page](https://film.one/film/raise-the-red-lantern.md)
- *Red Sorghum* (1988), Fi1m 82, as Jiu'er — [page](https://film.one/film/red-sorghum.md)

## Complete filmography (37)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Saturday Fiction* (2021), as Jean Yu
- *The Hand* (2021), as Miss Hua
- *Leap* (2020), as Lang Ping · Executive Producer
- *Mulan* (2020), as Xian Niang — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/mulan-2020.md)
- *The Monkey King 2* (2016), as Lady White
- *Coming Home* (2014), as Feng Wanyu
- *What Women Want* (2011), as Li Yilong
- *Shanghai* (2010), as Anna Lan-Ting
- *Hannibal Rising* (2007), as Lady Murasaki
- *Curse of the Golden Flower* (2006), as Empress Phoenix
- *Miami Vice* (2006), as Isabella — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/miami-vice-2006.md)
- *Memoirs of a Geisha* (2005), as Hatsumomo
- *Eros* (2004), as Miss Hua
- *2046* (2004), as Black Spider / Su Li-zhen
- *Zhou Yu's Train* (2002), as Zhou Yu / Xiu
- *Breaking the Silence* (2000), as Sun Liying
- *The Emperor and the Assassin* (1998), as Lady Zhao
- *Chinese Box* (1997), as Vivian
- *Temptress Moon* (1996), as Pang Ruyi
- *Shanghai Triad* (1995), as Bijou / Xiao Jinbao
- *The Great Conqueror’s Concubine: Part II* (1994), Actor
- *The Great Conqueror's Concubine: Part I* (1994), as Lu Zhi
- *To Live* (1994), as Xu Jiazhen
- *A Soul Haunted by Painting* (1994), as Pan Yuliang
- *The Maidens of Heavenly Mountains* (1994), as Mou Hang-wan
- *Flirting Scholar* (1993), as Chou Heung
- *Farewell My Concubine* (1993), as Juxian — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/farewell-my-concubine.md)
- *Mary from Beijing* (1992), as Mary
- *The Story of Qiu Ju* (1992), as Qiu Ju
- *Crossing the World With Ease* (1992), Actor
- *Raise the Red Lantern* (1991), as Songlian — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/raise-the-red-lantern.md)
- *God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai* (1991), as Yu San / Yu Mong
- *Ju Dou* (1990), as Ju Dou
- *A Terra-Cotta Warrior* (1989), as Dong Er / Zhu Lili
- *Codename Cougar* (1989), as Ah Li
- *The Empress Dowager* (1989), as Guilian
- *Red Sorghum* (1988), as Jiu'er — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/red-sorghum.md)

## Gallery

- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-b31e452ff1cc.jpg) Gong Li — Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Gong_Li_Cannes_2016.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gong Li and Andie MacDowell at Cannes Film Festival 1998](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-c117fe5eb06f.jpg) Gong Li and Andie MacDowell at Cannes Film Festival 1998 — Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Gong_Li_Andie_MacDowell_1998.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Moscow - Russia - 13 July 2001 - City of Beijing has been elected to host the 2008 Olympic Games - Gong Li is there with the chinese delegation.](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-9ebad1a34f99.jpg) Moscow - Russia - 13 July 2001 - City of Beijing has been elected to host the 2008 Olympic Games - Gong Li is there with the chinese delegation. — Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Gong_Li_in_Moscow_2001.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![​巩俐 (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-23c63be8b3b5.jpg) ​巩俐 (2013) — mR.Hom, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/%E5%B7%A9%E4%BF%90_%282013%29.jpg/1280px-%E5%B7%A9%E4%BF%90_%282013%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-695ca34dda18.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-46c7114dd442.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-0668b05e9be2.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-4c53d6ba7fbd.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-90832a2d74a8.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB
- ![Gong Li](https://film.one/media/person/78870/gallery-4a778415dad6.jpg) Gong Li — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Berlin International Film Festival — 1 won

- 1993: Berlinale Camera (won)

### Other awards — 2 won

- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres 2010: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (won)
- Volpi Cup for Best Actress 1992: Volpi Cup for Best Actress (won), for *The Story of Qiu Ju*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/gong-li