Meng'er Zhang ( zh, s=张梦儿, p=Zhāng Mèng'er; born April 22, 1987) is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Xu Xialing in the 2021

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU) film ''

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is List of Marvel ...

''.

Early life

Zhang is the daughter of an actor and a stage designer. She grew up heavily-devoted to theater arts in order to follow in her mother's footsteps. Prior to becoming a professional actress, she starred in stage and musical productions in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, where she was born and raised, and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. In 2009, she graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts with a bachelor's degree. She attended the East 15 Acting School in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and the Russian Institute of Theater Arts in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Career

Early career

In 2009, Zhang participated in China's ''Super Girl'' TV singing contest and was amongst the top 20 participants nationwide before withdrawing as her parents had arranged further schooling overseas for her. She later starred in numerous theatre productions. In 2013, in a Chinese stage adaptation, titled ''Finding Destiny'' (寻找初恋), of the Korean musical, '' Finding Mr. Destiny'', Zhang played the female lead Luo Yan. In 2017, she starred in the Chinese musical adaptation of '' The Street of Dawn'' (黎明之街) where she played Nakanishi Akiba (仲系秋叶), and in ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' where she played Dodger. In 2019, she was in ''In the Mood for Sorrow'' (马不停蹄的忧伤) where she was nominated for the Best leading Actress Award at 13th Daegu International Musical Festival.

Hollywood

''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' was her debut mainstream film role. Before being cast, she sent an audition-tape for an unknown role in an unknown film for women who could speak both

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

and English. After being cast for ''Shang-Chi'', she received intense

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...

training. During production of ''Shang-Chi'', she took advice from co-star

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

on the distinction between stage- and camera-acting, and director

Destin Daniel Cretton Destin Yori Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the drama films ''Short Term 12'' (2013), ''The Glass Castle (2017 film), The Glass Castle'' (2017), ''Just Mercy'' (2019) as well as the Marvel Studios film ''S ...

also coached her in on-screen acting as she had little experience working with camera framing. Her casting in the film was revealed at the Disney Investor Day 2020 in December of that year. Zhang joined the cast of ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' (, ) is a series of 9 fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the ...

'' for its third season as a human hunter named Milva.

Personal life

On May 10, 2021, Zhang married Yung Lee, an action designer on ''Shang-Chi'', whom she met on the set of the film. The ''Shang-Chi'' cast and crew, including her costars

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He rose to prominence by starring as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021). Liu was born in Harbin and raised in Ontario. ...

and

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina (), is an American actress, comedian and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

, hosted a surprise wedding reception for them at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Meng'er 1987 births 21st-century Chinese actresses Actresses from Nanjing Alumni of East 15 Acting School Chinese expatriates in Russia Chinese expatriates in the United Kingdom Chinese expatriates in the United States Chinese film actresses Chinese stage actresses Living people Nanjing University of the Arts alumni Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni