Gong Li cites "personal choice" as reason for switching citizenship

Gong Li cites "personal choice" as reason for switching citizenship

For the first time in public, acclaimed Chinese actress Gong Li addressed the controversy about her switch in citizenship. She said on a popular China talk show, that she sees no need to explain and appease the public on why she switched citizenship, despite fuming criticisms from Chinese netizens.

"If I am ever bothered by those criticisms, I would have lost myself and my personal life. Becoming a Singapore citizen is my personal choice; there is no need for any explanations to the public," she said.

Last November, media disclosed that Gong has collected her Singapore's pink identification card and is officially a Singaporean. As soon as news broke out, Chinese netizens bombarded forums with criticisms. With her switch in nationality, she was also excluded as a delegate of the China Film Association. Though she has attended several public events after becoming a Singaporean, she has declined all questions targeted at this issue. That was the first time she publicly addressed the issue.

She said that though she is a public figure, she is never bounded by her status. "If I do not have my own life, I would have lost freedom." She added that she never brings an assistant on shopping trips. "My life will be meaningless to still have so many people surrounding me when I'm off work."

Though an internationally renowned Chinese superstar, Gong expressed regrets in her poor performance for movie "Flirting Scholar" which she worked on with comedian Stephen Chow. "I regretted it immediately after we finished filming. At that time, I didn't understand why the movie has to be filmed in a comedic way. I refused to get into my role. I should have just gone ahead and have fun; if I had tried to be less serious and have fun with the rest of the cast, I believe the movie would have been much better," she said.

Gong revealed that her next film will be a comedy partnering Hollywood actor Jim Carrey. She also promised to work extra hard this time round, but hopes that the film will be one with dark humor instead of corny jokes.

However, she expressed no wish in winning an Oscar for her Hollywood performance. She also said she will not even venture into screenplay, directing or film production. "I have limited energy. I only wish to do well in acting in this life time. My work is to be a humble actress," she said.

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090106/ten-382-gong-li-cites-personal-choice-2fbb342.html