With a career spanning Chinese and American films and TV, both acting and directing, Joan Chen is a recognizable and stellar talent in the industry. And a fair number of her acting roles have been historical, so it’s high time she’s featured as our woman crush!
May-May in Tai-Pan (1986)
Wan Jung in The Last Emperor (1987)
Princess Hong-e – Scarlet / Qing-shou – Violet in Temptation of a Monk aka You Seng (1993)
Mama in Heaven & Earth (1993)
Mo’s Mother / Elder Mo in Jasmine Flower aka Mo li hua kai (2004)
Rose Hong / Hong Meigui in The Home Song Stories (2007)
Mrs. Yee in Lust, Caution aka Se, jie (2007)
Empress Longyu in 1911 aka Xin hai ge ming (2011)
Madame Chiang Kai Shek in Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012)
Patricia Cheng in Serangoon Road (2013)
Soong Ching-ling in Cairo Declaration aka Kai luo xuan yan (2015)
Empress Chabi in Marco Polo (2014–2016)
In an interview with Northwest Asian Weekly, Joan Chen described her approach to this role:
“Mongols really valued queens as much as kings. In a way, queens had equal power to them, and that gave me the initial idea on how to create the character. Chabi isn’t on the battlefield, but she’s not shy about offering advice and expressing her opinion.”
Ula Nara Yixiu in Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace aka Ru yi zhuan (2018)
What’s your favorite frock flick role of Joan Chen’s?
Now I want a cheongsam.
The Last Emperor is the only historical film I’ve seen her in, so…yeah. Definitely one of the most beautiful women on the planet. But nice to have a list of things to look for. Vis-a-vis women in power in general, read “The Warrior Queens” by Antonia Fraser.
I have a soft spot for Lust, Caution. I enjoy Ang Lee as a director, and the visuals are excellent.
Sadly unfamiliar with this.. The Honk Kong and 1930s ones look interesting to me though!
A correction: Joan’s character in The Last Emperor should be Wan Rong, not Wan Jung.
Also, you’ve probably covered Marco Polo, but the costumes Joan wore as Empress Chabi bear no resemblance whatsoever to what said Empress wore IRL, as this portrait of her amply demonstrates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabi#/media/File:%E5%85%83%E4%B8%96%E7%A5%96%E5%90%8E.jpg
Too bad, I’d love to see that headdress in the cloth!
Joan Chen is gorgeous and also a great actress. Thanks for putting her back on my radar and giving us all a great filmography to explore. And the pic for The Last Emperor has now whet my appetite for a MCM on John Lone–he’s soo yummy!!
Ruyi’s Royal Love in The Palace is on Amazon Prime, and I just noted that the subtitles also make note of forms of address in them – someone was just greeted, and the subtitle explained that the language specified that he was addressed suitable to “an older male of the same generation, friends or family” which is very useful context.
I thank you for this post – I like watching other culture’s movies, but sifting through them to find ones worth the extra concentration it takes to read the subtitles (which means I can’t sew while watching, horrors!) is difficult.