Beating out Zhang Ziyi and Chen Fala becoming famous with “Godzilla vs. Kong 2” | Godzilla | Godzilla vs. Kong | MonsterVerse

[The Epoch Times, April 23, 2024](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Zhong Youchun) The Hollywood blockbuster “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” (Taiwanese translation: Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire ) has become popular around the world recently. This film, with a budget of US$135 million to US$150 million, has so far accumulated US$440 million in global box office, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film in 2024.

“Godzilla vs. Kong 2” is the fifth movie between Godzilla and Kong in the Hollywood version of the MonsterVerse. In 2014, “Warner Bros.” and “Legendary Pictures” collaborated for the first time on “Godzilla” (Godzilla), and then successively produced “Kong: Skull Island” (Kong: Skull Island), “Godzilla II: King of the Monsters” “(Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and “Godzilla vs. Kong” (Godzilla vs. Kong). This series of movies has been a hit and a hit all over the world. It is also the lowest-cost “Godzilla” in the series released this year. King Kong 2″ laid a solid foundation. (Previous reports:Monster movie ‘Godzilla vs. Kong: A New Empire’ has the lowest budget)

It is worth noting that among the six leading actors in this new film, there is an Oriental face that has been missing for a long time. She is Fala Chen, the former leading actress of Hong Kong TVB, who plays the role of Queen Iwi in the film. What is even more noteworthy is that Fala Chen relied entirely on her expressions and body movements in the film, without even a single line, and her acting skills were put to the test.

In fact, in 2021, the fourth movie in the series, “Godzilla vs. Kong”, mentioned that Jia, a little girl from the Ivi tribe, is the only human being who can communicate with King Kong in sign language. Data shows that most Iwe people communicate mainly through eyes and body language. This sequel will expand the description of the Iwe tribe. Fala Chen, who plays the queen of the Iwe tribe, needs sign language as a means of communication, and has many scenes with the protagonists.

Fala Chen revealed in an interview last month that in order to play the role of the dumb “Iwei”, she not only studied a lot of information in advance, but also tried her best to communicate with her co-stars in sign language and eyes outside the scene.

Fala Chen, 42, was born in Chengdu, Sichuan in 1982. She immigrated to Atlanta in the United States with her family when she was a child. In 2005, she received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Emory University (Emory University, or Emory University) in the United States. She was the Miss Asian beauty pageant champion, Miss Chinese New York champion, and Miss Chinese International runner-up, and later signed with TVB to make her debut. In 2005, when she was 23 years old, she first worked as a host on TVB, and later acted in movies.

Fala Chen’s representative works on TVB include the “Storm in the Heart” series, “The Heroes of the Sea of ​​Righteousness”, “Pu Songling”, “Up to the Sky 2”, “The Story of the East and West Palace”, “Cooking Wife in a Camp”, etc., and has won the “Boiled Wife in a Camp” twice. “Best Supporting Actress” at the Thousand Stars Awards Ceremony.

In “Godzilla vs. Kong 2”, Fala Chen played the role of the queen of the Ivi tribe with ease, and her acting skills were well received. This is also another Hollywood masterpiece she starred in after the Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (Shang-Chi for short).

The last Chinese actress invited to the “Godzilla” series was Zhang Ziyi, a mainland actress who was awarded the “International Chapter”. In 2017, Zhang Ziyizi took over the filming of “Godzilla II: King of the Monsters”, the sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla”.

Regarding Fala Chen, who debuted 6 years later than Zhang Ziyi, even the mainland media Tencent also commented: “She (Fala Chen) can get to where she is today, all because she chose a different track at an important moment in her life.”

In 2013, after filming “Up to the Sky 2”, Fala Chen also said goodbye to Xue Shiheng, a second-generation rich man worth billions, and answered the “seven-year itch”. In 2014, she left TVB after her contract expired. Already 32 years old at the time, she started her life over again and decided to go to the United States to study for a four-year master’s degree in drama performance. She graduated with A’s in all subjects and became the first Chinese student to receive a master’s degree in drama performance from the Juilliard School. After graduation, she signed a contract with a famous American management company and officially entered Hollywood.

While successfully signing a contract and gaining a career, Fala Chen also ushered in a new love. She married her French boyfriend Emmanuel Straschnov (Chinese name: Simano) in France, and her life focused entirely on Europe and the United States. When asked by Hong Kong media if she planned to return to Hong Kong to continue her acting career, she said no.

Starting in 2020, Fala Chen has successively appeared in film and television works such as “The Undoing”, with Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Alicia Vikander ), Dan Stevens (Dan Stevens) and other big-name European and American stars. Moreover, Fala Chen has a good career and family. She gave birth to her daughter “Little Minnie” at the end of 2020. In March this year, she announced that she was pregnant with her second child.

Editor in charge: Yang Ming

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