Durban - When Fan Bingbing arrived at the Oscars in 2013, hardly anyone recognised her.
She was shuffled over to a red carpet lane reserved for the less famous actors, socialites and studio executives. It wasn’t until she was spotted by a Chinese woman, who then shrieked and nearly fainted, did the photographers and organisers realise that Fan wasn’t just another woman in a pretty gown – this was a major star. And three years later, she’s the fourth highest paid actress in the world.
They actually should have known who she was. She is, after all, a movie star, who has topped Forbes China’s celebrity list since 2013 and has been the undisputed red carpet queen of the Cannes Film Festival since 2010.
The festival’s red carpet is not complete without Fan’s appearance. Her appearance at the festival causes so much mayhem, fans camp at Nice airport in the south of France just to wait for her arrival.
Even before photographers have captured the first image of her arriving, there’s always a fan tweeting a picture of the star, laden with her bags full of designer gowns, with the caption being: “She’s here. The #QueenofCannes is here.”
When Fan closed French designer Stéphane Rolland’s couture show in 2012, even Kim Kardashian couldn’t keep her eyes off the Chinese star. It’s rare for the reality star to not be the most gawked at person at an event. Her fashion prowess has been well documented.
She has designers clamouring to dress her for every major event. She has been decked out by Western brands like Valentino, Elie Saab, Armani Privé, Christian Dior, Atelier Versace and Chanel.
At the 2013 Academy Awards, she wore a gown from Marchesa, which had been presented less than a week before at New York Fashion Week, and upstaged a number of the nominated actresses, expect for Jennifer Lawrence.
At the after parties she wore Oscar de la Renta and Elie Saab. Her sense of style has led her to be the first Asian to be named in Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List. The magazine named her the best dressed actor in Hollywood.
As if that wasn’t enough, she was picked by fashion editor, Elizabeth Walker, as one of the world’s style icons in her book A Journey In Style. The book also features Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Kate Moss, Twiggy, Mick Jagger and Victoria Beckham.
It is star power that brands have noticed and because of that, she’s been signed to become the face of some of the most luxurious brands, including Louis Vuitton, Chopard, Cartier, Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Moët & Chandon, and L’Oreal.
She is regarded as the most successful brand ambassador in China. According to a report by Chinese online retail site Taobao, which calculated the searched names that brought in the most revenue and the total sales revenue of every brand using a celebrity ambassador, the actress generated $74-million in e-commerce revenue in 2013.
But her biggest move and accomplishment this year, was being named the fourth-highest paid actress in the world. According to Forbes magazine, Fan earned $21m last year and made more money than Hollywood mainstays such as Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
And with film studios specifically looking to her to make sure their films do better in China, it’s little surprise.
In the Chinese version of Iron Man 3, the producers added four minutes of footage for Chinese audiences featuring Fan as a doctor who helps treat Tony Stark. The success of the film in the country is believed to be because of her. Iron Man 3 was such a box office success, earning almost $100m in the first two weeks in China.
Her turn as Blink in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, also helped the film achieve box office success in China, so much so that she has signed a contract to appear in four more X-Men films.
It’s hard to deny why she’s the star that most people think of now when they think of China. And with a collection of awards for her film work and playing China’s only woman to ever rule, Wu Meiniang, in the controversial TV show, Empress Of China, there really is no doubt: Fan Bingbing is the queen of China.
And it’s not surprising even the most powerful man in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein, is friends with her – she holds the key to commercial success of films in China. And it doesn’t get bigger than that.
Sunday Tribune