Chang Chen (born 14 October 1976) is a Taiwanese actor. He is best known for his roles in A Brighter Summer Day (1991), Happy Together (1997), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Three Times (2005), Brotherhood of Blades (2014), The Assassin (2015) and The Soul (2021). For his performance in The Soul, he won Best Leading Actor prize at the 58th Golden Horse Awards.

Chang Chen
張震
Chang at the presentation of Mr. Long at the Berlinale 2017
Born (1976-10-14) 14 October 1976 (age 48)
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1980–present
Spouse
Chuang Wen-ju
(m. 2013)
Children1
ParentChang Kuo-chu
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張震
Simplified Chinese张震
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Zhèn
Wade–GilesChang1 Chen4
IPA[ʈʂáŋ ʈʂə̂n]
Yale RomanizationJeūng Jan
JyutpingZoeng1 Zan3
IPA[tsœŋ˥ tsɐn˧]
Hokkien POJTiuⁿ Chìn

Career

edit

Chang started his film career at a young age. He was selected by a Taiwanese film director Edward Yang to be the protagonist of a four-hour-long critically acclaimed film A Brighter Summer Day,[1] which won the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival. After the first film, he took a part-time job at a film company and worked there for two years until he graduated from high school.[2]

One of the earliest films Chang acted in was Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together (1997). He rose to fame for his role as "Dark Cloud" in the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee.[1] He also featured in Wong Kar-wai's 2046 (2004).[3]

Chang then co-starred with Shu Qi in Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times (2005),[4] which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and won Golden Horse accolades for Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year, among other awards. For his performance in that film, Chang was also nominated for Best Leading Actor at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards.

In 2006, Chang was nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor for his role in The Go Master, a dramatisation of the life of the Go master Wu Qingyuan. The following year, Chang made his Korean debut in Kim Ki-duk's Breath, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[5][6]

Chang then starred in the historical war epic Red Cliff (2008-2009), portraying the warlord Sun Quan. He was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor.[7] He next starred in the 2012 historical epic The Last Supper directed by Lu Chuan and the 2013 kungfu epic The Grandmaster by Wong Kar-wai.[8]

In 2014, Chang headlined the wuxia film Brotherhood of Blades, which won commercial success and critical acclaim. He earned his third nomination for Best Actor in the Golden Horse Awards.[9]

Chang reunited with Three Times director Hou Hsiao-hsien and co-star Shu Qi in the 2015 wuxia film The Assassin, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[4]

In 2017, Chang played the title character in the action film Mr. Long, which was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.[10] The same year, he returned for the second installment of Brotherhood of Blades film.[11]

Chang served as a jury member at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[12]

In 2021, Chang played Dr. Wellington Yueh in Denis Villeneuve's epic science fiction film Dune.[13] which premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.[14] In the same year, he won Best Leading Actor at the 58th Golden Horse Awards for his performance in the mystery film The Soul, marking his first Golden Horse Award after three previous nominations without a win.[15]

Chang served as a jury member at the 59th Golden Horse Awards in 2022.[16]

In June 2023, Chang was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[17]

Personal life

edit

Chang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His father Chang Kuo-chu and his brother Chang Han are also actors.[18][19]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year English title Original title Role Notes Ref.
1980 Helpless Taste 三角習題 Hsiao-chien
1986 Dark Night 暗夜 Huang Cheng-te
1991 A Brighter Summer Day 牯嶺街少年殺人事件 Chang Chen (Xiao Si'r)
1996 Mahjong 麻將 Hong Kong
1997 Happy Together 春光乍洩 Chang
2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 臥虎藏龍 Lo Xiaohu
Flyin' Dance 第一次的親密接觸 Tai
2001 Betelnut Beauty 愛你愛我 Feng
2002 Chinese Odyssey 2002 天下無雙 Emperor Zhengde
2003 Sound of Colors 地下鐵 Chung Cheng
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Sinbad Taiwanese version, voice
2004 2046 2046 Cc1966
Eros 愛神 Zhang Segment: "The Hand"
2005 Three Times 最好的時光 Chen / Mr. Chang / Zhen
2006 Silk 詭絲 Yeh Chi-tung
The Go Master 吳清源 Wu Qingyuan
2007 My Blueberry Nights Jeremy Taiwanese version, voice
Blood Brothers 天堂口 Mark
Breath Jang Jin
Into the Faraway Sky 遠くの空に消えた Smith Cameo
2008 Red Cliff 赤壁 Sun Quan
Missing 深海尋人 / 謎屍 Simon
Parking 停車 / 車位 Chen Mo
2009 Red Cliff: Part 2 赤壁:決戰天下 Sun Quan
2010 Here Comes Fortune 財緣萬歲 Cheng Yu
2011 The Blue Cornflower 藍色矢車菊 William
The Founding of a Party 建黨偉業 Chiang Kai-shek
2012 The Last Supper 王的盛宴 Han Xin
Passion Island 熱愛島 Chuell Kim
When Yesterday Comes 昨日的記憶 Chen Sheng Segment: "Healing"
2013 The Grandmaster 一代宗師 Yi Xian Tian / Razor
Christmas Rose 聖誕玫瑰 Winston
2014 Brotherhood of Blades 繡春刀 Shen Lian
2015 The Assassin 聶隱娘 / 刺客聶隱娘 Tian Ji'an [4]
Helios 赤道 Gam Dao-nin
Monk Comes Down the Mountain 道士下山 Boss Zha
2016 The Secret Life of Pets Snowball Taiwanese version, voice
2017 Mr. Long ミスター・ロン/ 龍先生 Long
Brotherhood of Blades 2 繡春刀·修羅戰場 Shen Lian
2018 Forever Young 無問西東 Zhang Guoguo
Savages 雪暴 Wang Kanghao [20]
2021 Dune Dr. Wellington Yueh [21]
[22]
A Garden of Camellias 椿の庭 Huang Japanese film
The Soul 缉魂 Liang Wenchao
2024 The Embers 餘燼 TBA

Television series

edit
Year English title Original title Role Ref.
2019 Love and Destiny 三生三世宸汐缘 Jiu Chen [23]
2022 Narco-Saints 수리남 Chen Jin [24][25]

As director

edit
Year English title Original title Notes
2014 Three Charmed Lives 三生 segment "Inchworm"

Music video appearances

edit
Year Artist Song title
1996 Zheng Zhihua "Mahjong"
2001 Brown Eyes "Already One Year"
2001 Brown Eyes "Bit By Bit"
2002 DJ Shadow "Six Days"
2020 Tarcy Su "Eternity and A Day"

Theater

edit
Year English title Mandarin title
1986 The Adventures of Pinocchio 木偶奇遇記

Discography

edit
Title Album details Track listing
Walk Away
一走了之
Track listing
  1. 一走了之
  2. 只想讓你美麗
  3. 真相大白
  4. 下雨
  5. 無法逃避
  6. 打擾了你對不起
  7. 早熟
  8. 箱子呢
  9. 無能為力
Chang Chen
張震就是張震
Track listing
  1. 無法逃避
  2. 下雨 (I Will Never Change My Love)
  3. 箱子呢
  4. 無法逃避(練唱版)

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1991 Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actor A Brighter Summer Day Nominated
1998 17th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Happy Together Nominated
2001 20th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Nominated
2005 Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actor Three Times Nominated
2007 1st Asian Film Awards Best Actor The Go Master Nominated
2008 Osaka Asian Film Festival Best Actor Won
2010 29th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Red Cliff: Part 2 Nominated
2014 Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actor Brotherhood of Blades Nominated
2018 25th Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Actor Brotherhood of Blades 2 Won [26]
2019 26th Huading Awards Best Actor (Historical drama) Love and Destiny Nominated [27]
Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival Best Actor Nominated [28]
2021 23rd Taipei Film Awards Best Actor The Soul Nominated
30th Huading Awards Nominated
58th Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actor Won [15]
2024 Golden Horse Awards The Embers Pending [29]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Int'l Star You Should Know: Chang Chen". Variety. 17 January 2004. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. ^ Pavan, Benoit (18 May 2018). "Interview with Chang Chen, member of the Feature Film Jury". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Report: Taiwan's Chang Chen eyes Hollywood". The Star Online. Associated Press. 4 May 2005. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "Artist Spotlight: Chang Chen". The Harvard Crimson. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Breath". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  6. ^ "Cannes sees Korean debut for Taiwan's Chang Chen". Reuters. 20 May 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  7. ^ "Editors' Choice for 29th Hong Kong Film Awards". Travel CNN. 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Historical drama "The last supper" to hit screen". China Network Television. China Central Television. 22 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  9. ^ Hawker, Philippa (4 November 2014). "Brotherhood of Blades review: Ming Dynasty musketeers on a mission". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Berlin Film Review: 'Mr. Long'". Variety. 13 February 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  11. ^ "'Brotherhood of Blades 2' confident in quality". China.org.cn. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  12. ^ "The Jury of the 71st Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. 18 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  13. ^ Couch, Aaron (17 March 2019). "Chang Chen Joining Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2021 - Dune by Denis Villeneuve to have world premiere at the Venice Film Festival". Biennale. 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  15. ^ a b Ruey Yan, Lim (28 November 2021). "Golden Horse Awards: First wins for Chang Chen and Alyssa Chia". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Jury of the 59th Golden Horse Awards Announced". Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. 17 October 2022.
  17. ^ "THE ACADEMY INVITES 398 TO MEMBERSHIP". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 28 June 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Chang Chen". chinesemov.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  19. ^ "Idol thoughts". South China Morning Post. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  20. ^ "张震倪妮主演犯罪片《雪暴》定档4.26". Mtime (in Chinese). 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Chang Chen Joining Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  22. ^ Lui, John (16 September 2021). "Taiwanese actor Chang Chen landed Dune role through networking". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  23. ^ Wu, Zhi (9 April 2019). "张震首次出演电视剧,搭档倪妮演绎《三生三世宸汐缘》". The Beijing News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  24. ^ Lee Da-won (15 July 2021). "[단독] 장첸, '수리남' 합류…하정우·황정민과 호흡" [[Exclusive] Chen Chen joins ‘Suriname’… Breathing with Ha Jung-woo and Hwang Jung-min]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  25. ^ Kim Na-yeon (8 August 2022). "하정우X황정민→장첸 '수리남', 9월 9일 넷플릭스 공개 확정 [공식]" [Ha Jung-woo X Hwang Jung-min → Jang Chen 'Suriname', confirmed to be released on Netflix on September 9 [Official]] (in Korean). MT Star News. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022 – via Naver.
  26. ^ "Student film festival draws down the curtain". China Daily. 7 May 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  27. ^ "第26届华鼎奖提名名单:李现肖战获新锐演员提名". Sina Corporation (in Chinese). 8 November 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  28. ^ "金骨朵网络影视盛典提名揭晓 王一博肖战杨紫等入围". Beijing Youth Daily (in Chinese). 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  29. ^ Frater, Patrick (3 October 2024). "'Dead Talents Society' Heads Golden Horse Film Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
edit