Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun (Chinese: 周迅, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. She gained international fame for her roles in Suzhou River (2000) and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002). In 2009, she became the first Chinese actor to win the "Grand Slam", after winning the three biggest film awards, the Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Rooster Awards. Zhou has won Best Actress honors from Asian Film Awards, Asian Television Awards, Beijing College Student Film Festival, China Film Director's Guild Awards, China TV Golden Eagle Award, Chinese Film Media Awards, Golden Bauhinia Awards, Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Golden Rooster Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, Hundred Flowers Awards, Huading Awards, Shanghai Television Festival and Shanghai Film Critics Awards; as well as the French award-giving body Festival du Film de Paris. Zhou was born to a middle-class family in Quzhou, Zhejiang. Her father, Zhou Tianning (周天宁), was a local film projectionist, and her mother, Chen Yiqin (陈以琴), was a salesperson at a department store. She had her schooling in Quzhou No.1 Middle School. After she graduated, Zhou enrolled at the Zhejiang Arts Institute to further her interest in dramatic arts, against the wishes of her parents, who wanted her to graduate from a university. She was handpicked for a role in the film Strange Tales Amongst Old and Desolate Tombs during her teenage years in school.