Shu Qi

Biography

Lin Li-hui (Chinese: 林立慧), known professionally as Shu Qi (Chinese: 舒淇, born 16 April 1976), is a Taiwanese actress and filmmaker. One of Asia's most successful actors, she won four Hong Kong Film Awards, two Golden Horse Awards, an Asian Film Award, and served on the main competition jury at Berlinale, Cannes and Venice Film Festival. Shu first gained recognition in Viva Erotica (1996). Since then, she has collaborated with director Hou Hsiao-hsien on three films: Millennium Mambo (2001), Three Times (2005), and The Assassin (2015). She also starred in the film series If You Are the One (2008-2025), A Beautiful Life (2011), Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013), and Gone with the Bullets (2014). She made her directorial debut with Girl (2025). Shu ranked 18th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 23rd in 2014, 32nd in 2015, 48th in 2017, and 90th in 2019.

== Early life == Born in Xindian township, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Shu Qi went to Hong Kong at the age of 17 to seek a film career. She began in the softcore pornography modelling industry, appearing in the Chinese edition of Playboy. She eventually came under the management of Hong Kong film producer Manfred Wong, who signed her to several Hong Kong Category III films such as Sex and Zen II (1996).

== Career ==

=== 1996–1999: Early roles ===

Shu starred in Derek Yee's 1996 film Viva Erotica, about the erotic film industry in Hong Kong, opposite Karen Mok and Leslie Cheung. For her performance, she won both Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1997. She also starred in Portland Street Blues (1998) opposite Sandra Ng, and won Best Supporting Actress at the 35th Golden Horse Awards for her performance. She has since appeared in Hong Kong films such as City of Glass (1998), the box office hit Gorgeous (1999), Stanley Kwan's The Island Tales (1999) and Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo (2001), making her transition into mainstream acting.

=== 2002–2009 === In 2002, Shu starred in the French film The Transporter, the first installment of the Transporter franchise. This marked her first foray into the American market. Among Shu's earlier notable works were The Foliage (2004), a romance film set in Yunnan during the Cultural Revolution. She won Best Actress at the 13th Shanghai Film Critics Awards for her performance. Shu worked with Hou again in Three Times (2005), which premiered in competition at the 58th Cannes Film Festival and won Shu Best Leading Actress at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards. In 2006, Shu starred in the third installment of the gangster film My Wife Is a Gangster alongside Korean actor Lee Beom-soo.

She then starred alongside Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro in the crime drama Confession of Pain (2006). In 2008, she had a small but memorable role in the American romantic comedy New York, I Love You. Shu served as a jury member at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in 2008, and the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in 2009. The same year, she was honored at the Huabiao Awards as Best Actress for the Taiwan and Hong Kong region for her performance in the romantic comedy film If You Are the One, directed by Feng Xiaogang. The romantic comedy was the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year.

=== 2010–2023 === Shu starred in Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013), directed by Stephen Chow and loosely based on the Chinese literary classic Journey to the West. The film overtook Lost in Thailand to become the highest-grossing Chinese movie. Shu reunited with Hou in his first wuxia film, The Assassin (2015), starring as the title character. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, and Shu won Best Actress at the 10th Asian Film Awards for her performance. The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. The same year, she starred in the blockbuster film Mojin: The Lost Legend, adapted from popular adventure novel series Ghost Blows Out the Light. In 2016, Shu, Feng Shaofeng and Victoria Song starred in the Chinese remake of My Best Friend's Wedding. She was also cast in fantasy comedy The Village of No Return, which premiered at the first day of Spring Festival in 2017. In 2017, Shu starred in Stephen Fung's The Adventurers alongside Jean Reno and Andy Lau. Shu appears in the 2019 science fiction film Shanghai Fortress, adapted from the 2006 novel Once Upon a Time in Shanghai. In 2023, Shu served as a jury member at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.