This post was originally published on South China Morning Post.
Zhang Ziyi follows Jackie Chan, Tom Cruise in playing a character much younger than she is, but fans and critics are not impressed
Emma Thompson did it in Ang Lee’s 1995 screen adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, as did Dustin Hoffman in the movie classic The Graduate in 1967. Actors taking on roles that are much younger than their real age – Thompson played a 19-year-old when she was 35 and Hoffman a college student at 30 – is nothing new.But when Zhang Ziyi attempted such a feat recently, the Chinese superstar received a torrent of criticism from audience and critics alike.Monarch Industry, a lavish 80…