October 5, 200816 yr Author Category 25-30, talent semifinal round 1: Natalie Portman vs. Zhang Ziyi Natalie by me In 1994, she auditioned for the role of a child who befriends a middle-aged hitman in Luc Besson's film Léon (aka The Professional) which opened on November 18, 1994, and marked her feature film debut at age 13. During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls. She initially turned down the lead role in the film Anywhere But Here, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In the late 1990s, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first part, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, opened in early 1999, and the popularity of the film made Portman well known to audiences. She then signed on to play the lead role of a persevering teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is. From June to September 2000, Portman filmed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. On 2001, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the comedy Zoolander. In 2002, the film opened around the world. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. In 2004, Portman appeared in Garden State and Closer. Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her performance in Closer saw Portman win a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. 2005 saw the worldwide release of the final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19. The film was the highest grossing film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Portman shaved her head for her role in the film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta, released in March 2006. Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Milos Forman's Goya's Ghosts. V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007. In late 2006, Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn. 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie. Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her first nude scene. She is scheduled to star opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the drama film Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film of the same name. 2009 New York, I Love You (wikipedia) Zhang by Reeyo At the age of 19, Zhang was offered her first role in Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Zhang further rose to fame due to her role as the headstrong Jen (Chinese version: Xia Long) in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won the Independent Spirit's Best Supporting Actress Award and the Toronto Film Critics' Best Supporting Actress Award. Zhang's first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2. She then appeared in Hero, with her early mentor Yimou, which was a huge success in the English-speaking world and an Oscar and a Golden Globe contender. Her next film was the avant-garde drama Purple Butterfly by Lou Ye, which competed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Zhang went back to the martial arts genre with House of Flying Daggers which earned her a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 2046, directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring many of the best-known Chinese actors and actresses, Zhang was the female lead and won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Best Actress Award and the Hong Kong Film Academy's Best Actress Award. Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang starred in Princess Raccoon, directed by Japanese legend Seijun Suzuki, who was honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005, Zhang landed the lead role of Sayuri in the film adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. For the film, she reunited with her 2046 co-star Gong Li and with her Crouching Tiger co-star Michelle Yeoh. For the role, Zhang received a 2006 Golden Globe Award nomination, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and a BAFTA nomination. In the fall of 2006, Zhang played Empress Wan in The Banquet, a film set in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang provided the voice of Karai in the TMNT movie that was released on March 23, 2007. She later starred in The Horsemen (2008) with Dennis Quaid and in Mei Lanfang (2008). 2009 Lost for Words, Mulan (wikipedia) WHICH ONE IS MORE TALENTED?
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