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Zhang Yimou Will Not Work With Actresses Who Have Had Plastic Surgery

The acclaimed 71-year-old director says “it’s over” once an actress has had work done to her face.

The acclaimed 71-year-old director says “it’s over” once an actress has had work done to her face.

The acclaimed 71-year-old director says “it’s over” once an actress has had work done to her face.

In Asian cinema, there’s this a term called ‘Mou Girls’ — actresses who get plucked from obscurity by legendary Chinese director Zhang Yimou to star in his movies.

The most famous Mou Girl is, of course, Gong Li, who was picked by the auteur to star in Red Sorghum when she was just a student at The Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

She went on to work with Zhang Yimou seven more times, becoming China’s most lauded actress along the way. P/S: Gong Li actually loathes the term 'Mou Girls', and once called it “vulgar”.

1 of 3 Gong Li in Red Sorghum (1987) when she was 22.
2 of 3 An 18-year-old Zhang Ziyi in The Road Home (1999)

Then there’s Zhang Ziyi, who first met Zhang Yimou when she was a 17-year-old student auditioning for a commercial he was directing. She didn’t get the job but a year later, he called to cast her in The Road Home, which earned the newbie her first Best Actress award.

Other Mou Girls include Golden Horse Best Actress Zhou Dongyu, who was only a high school student when Zhang Yimou handpicked her to star in Under The Hawthorn Tree, and Ni Ni who was discovered by the director and then cast in The Flowers of War when she was a broadcasting major in college.

In short, who the director picks almost certainly gets catapulted to stardom.

So what does Zhang Yimou look for in a Mou Girl?

“She must have a face that’s suitable for the big screen,” he said, when asked in a recent interview, adding that women who are very beautiful in real life may not shine on screen.

What he looks for in a leading lady, he said, “isn’t just attainable through plastic surgery”, adding that that only works for photos.

He then said “it’s over” once an actress has had work done to her face, before stressing that he is “against plastic surgery”. “I believe that plastic surgery will destroy your facial muscles and what have you… I feel that it’s best not to do it,” he added.

  • 3 of 3 Zhou Dongyu, then 18, in Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010)

    So what would he do if an actress who has had plastic surgery auditions for his movie? “It’s okay if I don’t find out, but once I do, I will avoid [casting her] as much as possible,” he said.

    The director went on to say that he doesn’t know which year plastic surgery became “fashionable” and laments how it has now become the norm to go for non-invasive procedures.

    “I know it’s human nature to be vain but I believe that your looks are given by your mum and dad. It’s what you inherited from them and it's a way for one’s ancestors to continue living through your body,” he said

    “So if you alter your looks until you are unrecognisable, you are just doing it for this generation’s idea of beauty.”

    He then said that he believes beauty that is obtained through plastic surgery does not last forever.

    Though it may sound otherwise, Zhang Yimou avers that he is not against the plastic surgery industry.

    He feels that from a filmmaker’s point of view, a face that has undergone plastic surgery will create problems during shoots. “When the face is magnified tens of thousands of times on the big screen, any little flaw cannot be hidden,” he said.

    Photos: Weibo

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