More than a pretty vase

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-11 09:09

She calls learning English "torture", because she was not traditionally schooled in the language, as she became a professional actress at 16.

For her role in Stretch, she had to recite the lines of 60 scenes in 15 days, which involved staying up all night.

When she arrived in Macao for the first scene, the director found she was able to recite all her lines perfectly.

She attributes her strong will and early entry to the industry to her mother, who encouraged but never spoiled her.

Fan's mother used to run a clothes shop in Yantai, Shandong province, and worked hard to pay for Fan's piano, flute and singing training.

"She treated me as if I were a boy, so even if I was bullied, I would still go home with a smile."

When she was young, Fan often led a gang of girls that argued with the boys who bullied them.

As a young girl Fan liked watching TV. She would stick chopsticks in her hair to copy some actress' hairstyle and act in front of the television.

"Being an actor means you can be a nurse today and a policeman tomorrow, that seems so fun to me," she says.

She left home for an acting school in Shanghai when she was 15. One year later she quit the school and left for Beijing, where she got a role in a TV series.

The city seemed full of opportunities, but for two years she was an obscure actress shuffling between a rented house and different sets. Her parents lived with her, supporting their daughter's dream with all their savings and care.

The turning point for Fan came in 1999, when she played a maid in the smash TV drama Princess Huanzhu (Huanzhu Gege) and she soon became a household name.

But she did not join the A-listers until she had played a shrewd mistress in Feng Xiaogang's film Cell Phone (Shouji), the box-office champion of 2003.

For this role she was named the Best Actress in the Full Blossom Film Festival, one of the mainland's top film awards.

But the side effect was getting typecast.

She was also the target of gossip columns that implied she enchanted men to get film roles, and she was accused of having plastic surgery.

In response, she was examined by a team of surgeons and notaries in 2006, who confirmed she had never gone under the knife.

"I would do that again today," she says agitatedly.

"You think I am not good at acting, ok, this is something subjective, but you blame me for something I never did, I must prove you are lying."

For the same reason she sued a hospital after it illegally used her name in online ads for plastic surgery. The case lasted two years and she finally won.

The rumors did not stop, however, and even today colleagues and friends inquire where she had surgery.

"I am tired of explaining now," she says. "My bottom line now is family and morality. Beyond that I am like chewing gum, very elastic. I choose to believe the audience will grow up with me."

She also has other business to take care of. Her studio produces a TV series each year. Her new hobby is English. She has hired a teacher who accompanies her everywhere, not necessarily in preparation for Hollywood roles, but for frequent cultural exchanges.

She also dreams of designing costumes, opening a spa and a cinema, where she can enjoy films and invite friends for a good time.

"I am so young, and love has not come ... why not try something new and fun?" she says. "Even if love comes, I believe really able women can balance a career and relationship well."

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