Zhang Ziyi To Star In Memoirs of a Geisha!
August 19, 2004
It's official!
It's been announced today by the film's producers and senior representatives of Columbia Pictures that British Academy Award nominee Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Yôki Kudô and Koji Yakusho have all either signed or are in final negotiations to star in Columbia Pictures / DreamWorks Films / Spyglass Entertainment's feature film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha, based on author Arthur Golden's exotic and enthralling best-selling novel.
Written by Ronald Bass, Akiva Goldsman and Robin Swicord, produced by Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher and Steven Spielberg and directed by Rob Marshall, Memoirs of a Geisha will also also utilize the talents of Liza Dalby, world-renowned geisha expert and author of many definitive works on the culture of the geisha, including The Tale of Murasaki, Geisha and Kimono, as consultant in the making of this film.
The primary cast was assembled after an exhaustive search, which began with several months in Japan and continued throughout Asia to find the perfect actor for each role. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi will portray Sayuri, the beautiful young orphan from a remote fishing village whose life changes forever when she is sent to the city to learn the ways of the geisha. Japanese actor Ken Watanabe will portray 'The Chairman,' the high-powered executive with whom the young geisha, Sayuri, falls in love.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh will portray Mameha, the elegant and experienced geisha who becomes Sayuri's mentor. Chinese actress Gong Li will portray Sayuri's stunning and treacherous rival Hatsumomo. Rounding out the principal cast is Japanese actor Koji Yakusho as Nobu, the brilliant but tragic businessman who seeks to become Sayuri's patron and another Japanese star Yôki Kudô as Pumpkin, Sayuri's closest friend since childhood who also struggles on the path to becoming a geisha.
Rob Marshall: "We could not be more excited about the extraordinary cast that we have in place for Memoirs of a Geisha. We are adapting a beloved piece of literature that has become a worldwide sensation, which made it important to me to assemble a cast with a prestigious international profile. I cannot wait to begin production this fall."
Wick and Fisher: "We are thrilled to be using this beautiful piece of literature as an opportunity to bring together some of the greatest actors in the world, and certainly the most distinguished team of Asian actors ever assembled for an American movie."
Spielberg: "From the time I first read Arthur Golden's novel, I wanted to see this as a film. It's a uniquely compelling story rich with characters who take you into a world you have never experienced before, and there is no one better than Rob Marshall to bring all the poetry and artistry of Arthur Golden's novel to movie theaters all over the world."
Zhang Ziyi: "This is the first time that I will play the lead in an English-language movie. It will be a big challenge, but the studios, producers and director have shown great confidence in me. I will continue to do my utmost to make this the best role I've ever played."
Memoirs of a Geisha begins production next month in Los Angeles and Japan for a scheduled 2005 release.