Zhang Ziyi Officially Retires From Kung Fu Movie Roles

Reports are being forwarded from Chinese media with breaking news that actress Zhang Ziyi, star of director Wong Kar-Wai’s latest martial arts epic, The Grandmaster, is announcing her retirement from kung fu movies, citing longstanding injuries dating back to filming director Ang Lee’s 2000 kung fu adventure, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. “I don’t believe there’s another role that can surpass this. And I’ve had so many injuries from a long time ago during Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when I injured my neck.” she tells the public. “Those old injuries really bother me and after three years of this one, my body cannot take it any more. So I think this is a pretty good finale.”

It was a year ago in January at the height of The Grandmaster movie’s promotion and film festival circulation prior to its theatrical and home releases thereafter, when Ziyi went on record in Chinese media, detailing her lack of martial arts experience at the time in relation to an injury she suffered in a tendon in her neck. Furthermore, she also reflected on a head injury she suffered while filming Zhang Yimou’s martial arts romance epic, House Of Flying Daggers, in addition to her injuries while filming The Grandmaster, which purported her to take advice from her doctor and choose ultimately to leave martial arts cinema behind while she could. The report comes just as The Grandmaster earned her an award for Best Actress, in addition to the film’s award for Best Film by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.

Ziyi has since back on set with actor Huang Xiaoming and fellow House Of Flying Daggers co-star Takeshi Kaneshiro for director John Woo’s two part romantic epic, The Crossing. Meanwhile, it has been previously reported that she was in talks appear in The Weinstein Company’s upcoming kung fu sequel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Green Destiny, which would feature the actress in flashback sequences to explain what happened to her character at the end of the first film.

Filming is expected to kick off this Spring under helmer and legendary action filmmaker Yuen Woo-Ping, from script by John Fusco based on the pentalogy of classic novels by Wang Du Lu. The film will star returning actress, international leading lady of action Michelle Yeoh, and actors Xiaoming and action star Donnie Yen, the latter two who previosuly appeared together with Sammo Hung and Darren Shahlavi in the Wilson Yip-directed eponymous martial arts action biopic, Ip Man 2.

Stay tuned for more information.

H/T: Express