APRIL 17 10:08 PM ET

Before we get to the news excerpt, "muli" sent me a lovely picture of Crystal Liu Yi Fei via email:

Photo credit: as per the above.

In addition, "muli" pointed me to a link over at news.yahoo.com where "muli" found this pic:

Quote:

i love the way how liu yifei seems to avoid jackie chan in this pic:

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Photo credit: Reuters/yahoo! news.  Thanks again "muli."

Alrighty then, onto the news excerpt by Rick Bentley of McClatchy Newspapers:

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Actors hope 'Forbidden Kingdom' raises their profiles in Hollywood [..] "I think the work of some great Chinese directors has brought to an American audience more and more of a curiosity about China, especially now with the Olympics," Yifei says during an interview at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. She adds that this interest in China is creating more work in American films for Chinese actors. "Forbidden Kingdom" was directed by Rob Minkoff, the man behind the animated "Lion King" and "Stuart Little." [..] Yifei [..] was born in the Wuhan, Hubei, province of China, took a more artistic path to her career. The former model studied singing, dancing and the piano until she moved as a child to the United States with her mother. She returned to China four years later when she was a teenager to pursue an acting career. [..] In the past six or seven years since then, she has landed several lead roles in Chinese television series and has had a successful music career. She's released on album of rap and soft rock. Yifei easily related to her role of Golden Sparrow because like her, the character found a balance between her warrior and artistic sides. [..] Now that the film has been released, Chou and Yifei will go on to other movies. Both are ready for more work in American cinema. "Every actor wants to go to Hollywood because it is the largest film industry in the world," Yifei says.

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For the complete writeup, please click here.

JC