Shu Qi Biography | Shu Qi Actress | Shu Qi News

Shu Qi Bio

Shu Qi

Shu Qi is one of East Asia’s most popular actresses who branched out into mainstream film from the soft porn industry in 1996 with the Cantonese film Growing Up. She is best known in the Western world for her role in her first and only English film, 2002’s The Transporter.

Born to a poor family in Taipei, Taiwan on April 16, 1976 as Li-Hui Lin, Shu disliked the strictness of her home life and ran away several times. When she was 16 she left home for good, staying with friends and taking on odd jobs to earn money.

But the odd jobs didn’t make her enough money. So when Shu was approached by a modeling agency to do some very naughty photo shoots for magazines when she was 17, she jumped at the opportunity.

Shu continued to pose for still soft porn shoots until her current manager and agent, Hong Kong producer Manfred Wong, noticed her on a magazine cover. With his help Shu made her transition to the soft porn film industry in 1996. She appeared in films like Sex & Zen II and Viva Erotica.

Manfred spread the word in the film industry about what he considered to be his budding actress. It wasn’t long before the mainstream film industry began to take notice. Shu was offered typically subordinate and redundant female roles that are common in Hong Kong cinema.

While most actors find that making the transition from adult to mainstream film very difficult and almost unheard of in Hong Kong, Shu took the change in stride. Her first mainstream movie Growing Up was followed by Queer Story and Till Death Do Us Laugh. In 1997 she starred in five movies playing the roles of pretty airheads.

In 1998 Shu appeared in Chinese films like Portland Street Blues and City of Glass. In 1999 Shu emerged as China’s favorite leading lady when she appeared opposite Jackie Chan in Gorgeous.

In 2000, Qi was director Ang Lee’s first choice for the role of Jen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She worked on the movie for eight weeks before being pulled by her manager to work on a Coca-Cola commercial for Japan.

In 2005 Shu was nominated for a Golden Horse Award (regarded as the Asian Oscars) in Taiwan for her role in the movie, Three Times. The same year she starred in The Best of Our Times.

Qi is working on a few movies for 2006 including My Wife is a Gangster 3 (filming began April 2006), Death of Forest aka Forrest of Death (filming reportedly began in March 2006), and Heaven’s Gate (filming reportedly began September 2006).