She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in The Road Home Kong , both sequels to the franchise reboot film Godzilla. Zhang was born and raised in Beijing , China. Her father was an accountant and later economist, and her mother, a kindergarten teacher. Zhang began studying dance when she was 8 years old; subsequently, she joined the Beijing Dance Academy at her parents' suggestion at the age of Zhang disliked the attitudes of her peers and teachers so much that, on one occasion, she ran away from the school.
Zhang made her acting debut in the television film Touching Starlight at the age of She plays the blind dancing girl Mei, who despite the lack of eyesight, is a skilled fighter. Zhang next starred in Wong Kar-wai 's romantic drama film , which featured many top Chinese actors and actresses.
For her role, Zhang took two weeks of singing and dancing lessons in Japan. Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang played the lead role of Sayuri in the American film adaptation based on the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. The film is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The film premiered in January In , Zhang received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her significant contributions to the film industry.
Zhang reunited with Wong Kar-wai and Tony Leung for The Grandmaster , which also marks her return to the martial arts genre after 7 years since The Banquet Critics praise Zhang's portrayal of Gong'Er as the "best performance she's ever delivered in the history of her career. In , Zhang starred in John Woo 's romantic epic The Crossing , based on the true story of the Taiping steamer collision and follows six characters and their intertwining love stories in Taiwan and Shanghai during the s.
Zhang plays a poor illiterate woman waiting for her soldier lover in 's Shanghai. She made a cameo appearance in the film. In , Zhang was cast in J. Abrams 's science fiction thriller The Cloverfield Paradox , which premiered in In , Zhang was cast in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters , playing a prominent character.
