Maggie Cheung was born on September 20, 1964, in Hong Kong, and moved at the age of eight with her family to England. After finishing secondary school, she returned to Hong Kong, where she began modeling and appearing in commercials. In 1983 she participated in the Ms. Hong Kong pageant, winning first runner-up, which proved not to be a detriment since she went on to become a star of both Hong Kong television and film.
Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 1997. First runner-up Miss Hong Kong. [1983] Spokesmodel of Hermes. Spokesmodel of LUX shampoo. Clean was turning point in her career. Before this film was made, she was only offered the roles of beautiful Asian women in Western films. Olivier Assayas wrote the characters of Maggie Cheung (in Irma Vep) and Emily Wang (in Clean) specifically with her in mind. The first Chinese actress ever to win the Best Actress award at the Berlin International Film Festival (1992 - for Yuen Ling-yuk) and Cannes Film Festival (2004 - for Clean) Her parents are Shanghainese. While she cannot speak the dialect, she understands it. In Hong Kong, she has been handed every role she has played since she was 18 without an audition. Wanted to be a hairdresser as a child. Was offered a role in X2 but turned it down because "If I start making films like that, they won't be proud. I'd feel like I was cheating. And I don't want half the world, we have 1.3 billion people in China, to know I'm cheating. That matters to me. I have more pride than that." Learned French for her role in Augustin, King of Kung-Fu. Grew up in Bromley, Kent, when she lived in the UK. Signed her divorce paper with Olivier Assayas on the set of Clean: Hollywood, USA which was directed by her ex-husband. She and Tony Leung Chiu Wai made 7 movies together: 2046, _A Fei jing juen (1991)_ , Dung che sai duk, In the Mood for Love, Party of a Wealthy Family, _Sediu yinghung tsun tsi dung sing sai tsau (1993)_ and Hero. They also starred together in a short-lived tv-series: _"Sun sap si hing" (1984)_ Acted in 6 movies with Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia, whom she considered her idol and an actress she respected. She was a finalist to star in Memoirs of a Geisha. Declined lead role in "Memoirs of a Geisha" because of racial sensitivity between the Japanese and the Chinese, due to WWII. Although an icon of Asian cinema, she is actually a European with extended residence in Hong Kong. Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1999. Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.