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.

I've discovered that I value simplicity above all in dressing. I don't like anything I wear to be too complicated or fussy.

There was one very special scene at the end of the film. My character, Zhao Di, has been sick. She wakes up and her mother tells her that the man she loves has come back from the city and had spent the day by her bedside.

I suspect people always thought I had a boyfriend, so nobody came after me.

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 was really interested in geishas' work, and wanted to meet real geishas.

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.