I knew nothing about martial arts. The coach told me I was talented with learning martial arts, and put me in a school. Three years later I got my first championship in China.

I didn't go to normal children school. I went to sports school when I was 8. So I studied martial arts.

I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years.

When you have a friend you work with for 15 years, you become like brothers.

I wish heroes didn't exist. Whenever we need a hero, it's because there's a problem that needs to be solved; it's because two groups of people, or two countries, are hurting one another, so a hero is needed to save us. If everyone were at peace, if everyone were happy, why would we need heroes? The world is better off without heroes.

I never stopped studying Buddhism. In the past few years, in between movies, I do a retreat.

Zhang Yimou is an artist. Sometimes we did only two or three shots a day because we were waiting for the sun.