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Maggie Cheung is one of the major stars of Hong Kong cinema. From 1983 to 2001 she made nearly 80 films. An action star, a serious dramatic actress, and a skilled comedienne, Cheung is probably best known to international audiences for her roles in Jackie Chan's 'Police Story' (1985), Ann Hui's 'Song of the Exile' (1990), Johnny To's martial arts fantasy 'The Heroic Trio' (1993), Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love' (2000), and Stanley Kwan's 'Actress' (1992) for which she earned Best Actress honors at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Born in Hong Kong, Cheung moved with her family to England at the age of eight. She returned to Hong Kong on completing secondary education and in 1983, entered the Miss Hong Kong Pageant where she picked up First Runner Up and Miss Photogenic. This led to contracts with local film and television production outfits TVB and Shaw Brothers Studios. After appearances in several TV drama series and low budget comedies, Cheung teamed up with Jackie Chan for her first major film role in 'Police Story' (1995).

A turning point in Maggie Cheung's career came in 1988 when she was cast in Wong Kar-Wai's 'As Tears Go By' with Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year, and would later go on to picking up this honors five times throughout her career 'A Fishy Story' (1990), 'Actress' ('Yuen Ling-Yuk') (1992), 'Comrades: Almost a Love Story' (1996), 'The Soong Sisters' (1997) and 'In the Mood for Love' (2000) making her the only quintuple HKFA Best Actress winner to date.

Cheung's remarkable talent has also propelled her to success far beyond her homeland. In 1996, Cheung caught the attention of the acclaimed French director, Olivier Assayas, who cast her as his reincarnation of the super-criminaline of Feuillade's silent serial Les Vampires. The film, 'Irma Vep' (1996), marked Maggie Cheung's first international motion picture. Since Irma Vep she has co-starred with Leon Lai in Peter Chan's award-winning Hong Kong-New York romance 'Comrades, Almost a Love Story' (1996), Mabel Cheung's historical saga 'The Soong Sisters' (1997), and Wayne Wang's 'Chinese Box' (1997) in which she co-starred with Jeremy Irons and Gong Li.

Cheung is a five-time Best Actress winner of Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Awards for her performances in 'Full Moon in New York' (1989), 'Red Dust' (1990), 'Actress' (1992), 'Comrades: Almost a Love Story' (1996) and 'In the Mood for Love' (2000). Her role as tragic silent era starlet Yuen Ling-Yuk in 'Actress' (1992) made her a quadruple award winner, sweeping the Best Actress category in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chicago, and making her the first Asian performer to win the prestigious Silver Bear Award in Berlin.