Prolific and multi award-winning Hong Kong based actress Cheng Pei-pei has joined the cast of Ivan Sen’s outback noir thriller Goldstone now shooting in Queensland.
Known for her prowess in swordfighting on screen and referred to as the ‘Queen of Martial Arts’, Ms Cheng’s career spans more than five decades and includes leading roles in over 50 feature films and television series.
Her credits include some of the most significant wuxia films of the 1960s, playing expert swordswomen and she was much lauded for her role in King Hu’s 1966 classic Come Drink With Me. It was her role as Jade Fox in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that brought her wide international acclaim and, notably, was the first time she was cast as a villain in a martial arts film.
Producer David Jowsey said, “It was a truly great moment when the iconic star of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema arrived in Goldstone, a most iconically outback Australian location, to work with acclaimed director Ivan Sen.”
Speaking of her role in Goldstone, Cheng Pei-pei said “My family emigrated to Australia when I was young and I stayed in Hong Kong to be an actor. My career has taken me all around the world, to many countries but this is the first time I have come to work in Australia, to my family’s home. It means a lot to me.”
Screen Australia's Head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe welcomed the announcement and said, "It is exciting to have such a notable international talent join the stellar Australian ensemble. Cheng Pei-pei's screen presence will not only be a fantastic addition to a significant Australian story by an award winning Indigenous filmmaker, but it also promises to deliver a story that reflects multicultural Australia."
Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira said “We are proud to be supporting two of Queensland’s most talented filmmakers, Ivan Sen and David Jowsey, who have brought together a stellar cast and crew to deliver Goldstone to a global audience.
“Along with Greer Simpkin and the Bunya Productions team, and following on from the critical success of Mystery Road, we are seeing a whole new ‘Queensland-genre’ film mixed with outback western grit and characters who survive in our tough yet spectacular outback terrain. Goldstone showcases the very best in Queensland storytelling, craftsmanship and indeed, our unique cultural diversity and voice on screen.”
Ms Cheng joins a cast headlined by Aaron Pedersen (The Fear of Darkness, Mystery Road) and Alex Russell (Chronicle, Cut Snake), and featuring Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom), David Gulpilil (Charlie’s Country, The Proposition), David Wenham (Lord of the Rings, 300), Aaron Fa’Aoso (Black Comedy, The Straits) and Tom E. Lewis (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Red Hill).
The contemporary western thriller is written and directed by Sen (Mystery Road, Toomelah) and is produced by Jowsey, (Mystery Road, Toomelah) and Greer Simpkin (Executive Producer The Code, The Secret River).
Goldstone is a Bunya Productions film in association with Screen Queensland and Screen Australia and will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Transmission Films, with international sales by Arclight Films.