Director Peter Chan’s highly anticipated film She Has No Name 慱园弄, also known as The Murderer, is facing additional drama. Buzz surrounding Yang Mi and Zhao Liying’s casting began to circulate even before anything official was announced. Although Zhang Ziyi is without a doubt the film’s biggest star, fans of the two A-list actresses have started bickering over who gets more credit. Rumors even circulated that the women were engaging in ruthless competition to get the better-supporting part. And it appears that the drama off-screen has persisted.
Zhang Ziyi allegedly asked the director to invite Yang Mi to appear in the movie, according to a recent report made by a Netizen. The aforementioned Netizen also mentioned that Zhao Liying’s involvement was expected because she was already friends with Zhang Ziyi. “The film’s popularity won’t suffer if Mi Li and I are both in it. Zhang Ziyi is actually the biggest winner of which, the Netizen wrote.
In essence, it said that Zhang Ziyi’s career had changed from a few years ago. Therefore, the Netizen asserted that the 45-year-old A-list star was relying on Zhao Liying’s and Yang Mi’s notoriety to launch her own career in order to guarantee a profitable box office. Never one to hold back, a furious Zhang Ziyi vehemently denied the rumors, saying, “Of course not! Idiot, shut up!”
Earlier, at the closing party for the movie, Zhang Ziyi praised Peter Chan profusely for “giving her a chance to be reborn.” She feels as though this is the beginning of a new chapter in her life. The actress’s first production following the finalization of her divorce from her ex-husband Wang Feng in October of last year was the movie She Has No Name. But the joyous atmosphere was short-lived when rumors circulated online a few hours later, suggesting Zhang Ziyi might have played a role in Zhao Liying and Yang Mi’s casting. The Netizen later apologized and amended his post, stating that what he had heard was “just gossip,” in response to her furious denial.
In the meantime, the cast of She Has No Name was revealed in an exclusive article published by the entertainment website Variety. In addition to Zhang Ziyi, Jackson Yee, Zhang Zifeng, Fan Wei, Yang Mi, Wang Chuan-jun, and Zhao Liying are also featured. It chronicles the agony of a single woman in Shanghai in the 1940s while bringing attention to the revolution that followed in China over women’s social rights.
