Singapore – Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is passive when it comes to love.
“I’ve never taken the first step when it comes to chasing guys. It’s always the guys who woo me,” she said.
“Maybe that’s why I am still not married yet,” she said in Mandarin.
The 34-year-old was in town to promote her new film My Lucky Star, which opens in cinemas here on Thursday.
Zhang had reportedly been in a relationship with popular Chinese CCTV host Sa Bei Ning since September 2011, but they split up recently, allegedly because her mum disapproved.
The relationship came to light after the pair were photographed by paparazzi when Sa visited her on the set of her movie, The Grandmaster, last year.
He subsequently admitted to dating Zhang on a TV show early this year even though she declined to talk about it.
Before Sa, Zhang was in a long-term relationship and engaged to Israeli billionaire Vivi Nevo until they split in late 2010. They reportedly broke up due to cultural differences.
Despite her past failed relationships, the actress is not giving up on love.
Zhang believes in taking risks, be it in her career or love life.
As if referring to her recent break-up, she said at the media interview at Marina Bay Sands on Friday: “If we don’t take risks, we will never know what may happen.
“I want to live my life with no regrets. Even if something doesn’t go smoothly and I fall along the way, all I need to do is to keep looking forward and start afresh.”
Zhang’s passive take on love is completely opposite to that of her character Sophie in the comedy My Lucky Star, which sees her chasing her dream guy David (Wang Lee Hom).
In one of the scenes, David saves Sophie from the bad guys by hugging her and jumping off the Marina Bay Sands skydeck together, flying across the sky on a parachute.
Zhang is more easily satisfied in real life.
When asked what were the most romantic things she had experienced, the actress said after pondering: “A simple drive in a car with my other half for a quick getaway is very romantic to me.”
She smiled and said: “I like doing spontaneous stuff too. It’s exciting and romantic and warms my heart.”
Zhang recalled how she and Wang decided to take the speedboat rather than the car back to their hotel in Hong Kong after filming as they wanted to escape the glare of the paparazzi.
“It was an impromptu decision and it was fun as we sped through the waters in a raging thunderstorm. I enjoyed myself and I find that very romantic as well,” she said.
My Lucky Star sees Zhang breaking away from her usual serious roles to play a silly, clumsy woman who yearns for love.
Her character Sophie wins an all-paid trip from China to Singapore and bumps into handsome David, who happens to be a CIA agent.
She tries to woo him while he is on a mission to arrest some criminals, and ends up getting involved in his mission.
In one scene, Zhang dresses up as a nurse and pretends to be a dancer in a club to seduce a criminal.
Zhang, who made her movie debut in 1999 when she was 19 in director Zhang Yimou’s The Road Home, has acted in international box-office hits such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005).
Affable
The star, who often gives off an ice-queen image, is affable in person, answering questions from the local media in a friendly and candid manner.
“My personality in real life is more similar to Sophie. I am quite bubbly and naughty, and I like to tease people I am close to.
“Even though I seldom act in comedies, it felt natural acting in this,” she said.
“I think people’s impression of me is that I am quite a serious person because of the movies I have acted in before.”
When asked about the kiss she and Wang shared in one of the scenes, Zhang teased Wang, who was also at the press conference, saying: “Oh, it was so thrilling kissing Wang, the man of all girls’ dreams. I am such a lucky girl.”
She added jokingly: “We did such long takes for the kissing scene, and we shot it many times as well.
“I think we did pretty good.”
