Joan Chen (Chen Chong)

Biography

Joan Chen is a Chinese-American actress and director born in 1961 in Shanghai to a medical worker family. She began her acting career in the 1970s, gaining recognition in the film "Youth" (1977) and achieving stardom with her role in "Little Flower" (1979), for which she won Best Actress at the Hundred Flowers Award and the Yugoslav Film Festival. She moved to the United States in 1981 to continue her studies and break into Hollywood, appearing in the TV series "Miami Vice" and the film "Tai-Pan" (1986). She achieved major international success with "The Last Emperor" (1987), which won nine Academy Awards, making her the first Chinese star to appear on the Oscar stage. In the 1990s, she starred in notable works including David Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks," Oliver Stone's "Heaven & Earth," and "The Temptation of a Monk," which competed at the Venice Film Festival. She also appeared in the TV drama "What Comes After" (1998). Joan Chen is the only person to have won both the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress and Best Director. She has served as jury president at major film festivals including the Berlin Film Festival (1996), Venice Film Festival (2014), Asian Film Awards (2019), and the FIRST Film Festival (2023).