Then 38YO Zhang Ziyi Responds to Criticisms of Her Playing a 15YO Role

Unlike an alarming obsession with bubble tea and credit card debt, age is hard to deny unless you live in a house devoid of mirrors.

You can convince yourself you’re 10 years younger than you actually are, but the mirror will tell you otherwise.

However, when you’re a woman, people seem to enjoy reminding you of your age, especially if you’re past your 20s.

And that’s exactly what happened to one Chinese actress who tried to play a young teenager in a TV show.

Zhang Ziyi Criticised For Playing 15YO in Drama Seris

Forget Alice in Borderland and The Crown, the hottest show in China right now is an 80-episode period drama called Monarch Industry.

Chinese actress and model Zhang Ziyi stars as Wang Xuan, the daughter of a prime minister who has to suppress her feelings for her love interest to enter into a political marriage.

The drama was highly anticipated as it was Zhang Ziyi’s first foray into television dramas, but it ended up being heavily panned by viewers.

One of their criticisms was that Zhang’s portrayal of Wang as a 15-year-old in the first few episodes was unconvincing and even embarrassing.

One viewer said this was a poor casting choice as it forced the production team to select middle-aged actors to play her maidservants, friends, and siblings.

“The visual disharmony the actress’ age engenders made it difficult for the audience to pay attention to the plot,” the viewer said.

Another more biting post said that while Zhang played a shy, young girl convincingly in her first movie The Road Home (1999), the age on her face is now all too visible.

Zhang’s Response

Zhang responded to the online backlash on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter) saying that she was fully aware that she wasn’t a teenager anymore.

“Don’t impose this label of a young girl on me. When I played Wang Xuan, I was 38 years old. I am turning 42 next month,” she said.

“These two numbers have nothing to do with being young. I know that with much clarity. When I got the script, I knew the character grew and evolved over time. I have tried my best to flesh out the role”.

She also urged the producers of Monarch Industry to stop using her portrayal of a young Wang to market the show.

While there have been countless actors who’ve played roles much younger than their real age, some felt casting Zhang as a 15-year-old was taking it too far.

“With [make-up], it’s always possible [for an actor] to go older. But there’s a limit to how much you can do with soft focus and so on to make being younger credible,” said film professor Chris Berry.

He added that mainstream culture tends to lose its interest in women if they do not look like they are in their twenties.

Featured Image: A Koala’s Playground