Profile | China actress Ni Ni, star of Zhang Yimou’s film ‘The Flowers of War’, dubbed ‘It girl’ by fans
After her debut, Ni became known as the new ‘Mou girl’, referring to actresses discovered by the legendary director Zhang Yimou
As the heroine of the legendary director Zhang Yimou’s acclaimed film The Flowers of War, Chinese actress Ni Ni embarked on her career from an impressive vantage point.
She continues to radiate in the entertainment industry and is widely recognised as an “It girl” - 14 years after her debut.
When Zhang’s film The Flowers of War premiered in 2011, the enigmatic leading actress who portrayed Yu Mo, the vibrant leader of a group of prostitutes engaged in an affair with an American priest played by Christian Bale, captivated the audience completely.
It was during this moment that the new “Mou girl”, a fresh-faced 23-year-old Ni, stepped into the spotlight. The term “Mou girls” refers to actresses who are plucked from obscurity by the esteemed director Zhang Yimou.
A complete novice prior to the film, she had no formal acting training and was a recent graduate from the Communication University of China Nanjing, located in the Jiangsu province of eastern China.
Ni confessed that she had little interest in subjects beyond English, her dream being to become an office lady in a foreign enterprise, much like her aunt, whom she had admired since childhood.