She's no Barbie

She attributes her ability to master dialects and languages like Cantonese in Lust, Caution, and English in Late Autumn, to her "shamelessness". She insists her English used to embarrass her. At a press conference in New York for Lust, Caution years ago, she says she forgot the word for "building". People laughed, but she said the mistake only made her remember the word better.

She claims she is not smart, good at painting - which she learned from her painter father - or acting. And adds her rise through the acting ranks is just the result of working hard, in what she describes as a "dumb way".

In her latest film, Finding Mr. Right, she plays a Chinese woman who travels to Seattle to deliver her baby, whose father is the rich husband of some other woman. She filled a bag with rice and a ball of lead, and carried it around all day except when bathing or sleeping, to get an idea of what it was like to be a pregnant woman.

"I am not one of those gifted actors, so I try to live the character's life as best I can, hoping the physical practice brings mental change." For instance, when playing a farmer's wife in Peter Chan's Dragon, the eighth best movie of 2012 according to Time Magazine, she put mud under her nails for the role.

She is an avid learner. She improved her Cantonese when making Crossing the Hennessey, a small budget romance that takes place in Hong Kong's narrow streets and tiny restaurants; learned tai chi for her role in Speed Angels; and some Korean when making Late Autumn, in which her character falls in love with a Korean conman in Seattle. The latter film helped her become the first foreigner to win best actress at the PaekSang Arts Awards in South Korea.

Tang Wei covers ELLE magazine

She once said in an interview she is so curious she would willingly go to the South Pole some day and learn from the penguins.

Even so, her favorite place is still China, where she can speak Mandarin, take public transport and be among friends. She also likes looking for good, small, difficult-to-find eateries.

If discovered by a fan, she says, "I just change direction and keep on eating".

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