They're not willing to admit that I've also shed blood and tears and often paid dearly for my success. This makes me feel extremely sad.

I always think it's really hard if you are Asian or Chinese to be really in Hollywood. There are not so many really great characters for you.

I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher like my mother.

For myself I don't like the geisha look. It's like a mask.

I'm not really interested in politics, because I think it's just too removed from my own life. If there's a war, though, or a disaster, I want to know what's happening.

A movie has its own fate, which often doesn’t depend on the performances of the director and actors.

Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles - poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that.