Chinese Actress/Director Jing Lei Xu

Xu Jinglei, born in 16 April 1974, is very lucky in many unexpected ways: she had no interest in calligraphy, but was forced to practice and became really good at it. Her dream was to become a painter, but instead became a successful actress and director.
Usually, the 168cm lass gives people the impression of being gentle and quiet girl but she is not what people perceive, at least not when she was growing up. According to her younger brother Xinyu, “When we were young, my sister teased me a lot. We once competed against each other on who was quicker at peeling melon seeds. Out of my expectation, my sister suddenly grasped away my pile of shelled melon seeds, put them all into her mouth and ran away, leaving me crying and chasing after her.”

When asked about why she took up directing, Jinglei answered, “The happiest thing about entering the film academy is I can dress up any way I like, and nobody would blame a girl majoring in acting for this. Before that, whenever I wore new clothes, my father would say something. But such pleasure didn’t last long. So I shifted from an actress to a director. Now I can feel the pleasure of expressing myself in my films. And that’s what I want.”

A reporter once asked Xu Jinglei, “Aren’t you afraid of revealing your inner thoughts [in your films]?”

“No, I am not,” she said. “Everyone has a colorful inner world, and others just see part of it. I have different sides, the good ones and the bad ones: jealousy, anger, impatience and sympathy… Sometimes I don’t know myself. And each day such feelings get stronger.”<