Maggie Cheung

Maggie Cheung (Cheung Man-yuk; Chinese: 張曼玉; pinyin: Zhāng Mànyù; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong actress. She is considered to be one of the most successful and internationally acclaimed actresses in Asia. Cheung is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Hong Kong Film Awards and five Golden Horse Awards, holding the record for most awards in the Best Actress category. Internationally, she is best known for winning the Silver Bear for Center Stage (1991) and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Clean (2004), making her the first Asian actress to receive the latter and the only Asian actress to have won Best Actress awards at two of the three major European film festivals.

Cheung first rose to prominence in the 1980s, gaining wide recognition through her collaboration with Jackie Chan in the 'Police Story' movies. She quickly expanded her work from commercial action and comedy to dramatic roles, appearing in films such as As Tears Go By (1988), Days of Being Wild (1990), Irma Vep and Comrades, Almost a Love Story (both 1996). Her international breakthrough came with Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000), which not only gained her worldwide fame but also received widespread acclaim, ranking fifth on Sight & Sound magazine's 2022 list of the top 100 films in film history. The website of Entertainment Weekly in the United States once listed the "51 classic performances overlooked by the Oscars" in the 86-year history of the Oscars, and Cheung's performance in In the Mood for Love became one of the only two Asian performances on the list.

Since the late 2000s, Cheung has largely stepped back from acting, making only occasional public appearances at festivals, fashion events, and industry ceremonies. Beyond acting, she has taken on selective creative and philanthropic roles, including serving as a UNICEF ambassador.