Bai Ling

Bai Ling (b. October 10, 1970) is a Chinese American actress. "Bai Ling" in Chinese means "White Spirit/Light".

Biography

Bai Ling was born in Chengdu, China. Her father was a music teacher, and her mother was a dancer and stage actress. Her parents were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution because of their jobs, and soon after her birth, Bai moved to her grandmother's residence elsewhere in Sichuan. She has described herself as a very shy child who found that she best expressed herself through acting and performing. She has since said that acting allows you can ignore how society tells you to behave and allow other parts within you to be expressed. She began a three-year stint as a "soldier" in the People's Liberation Army in Tibet at the age of 14. Her main activity there was to entertain with musical theater.
As she matured, Bai's rebelliousness caused friction with the Chinese government. She was accused of insubordination for using tobacco and alcohol, was briefly hospitalized for depression by the end of her army service, and partook in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. She temporarily came to New York in 1991 to attend New York University's film department as a visiting scholar, but later obtained a special visa that allowed her to remain in the United States until she became a citizen in 1999.

Controversy

It must be noted that events in Ling's past have only been advanced by Ling herself. Ling's political past in China is in doubt. No independent source besides Ling has verified her claims of time in the Chinese army, her time in New York as a visiting scholar (when her age would have made her a suspiciously young candidate for such a status, especailly given the paucity of her academic achievements), or especially her participation in the Tiananmen Square protests.
There is evidence to suggest Ling lies about her history and personal life, and works hard to garner attention for her largely unknown acting career. Ling has claimed publicly and vocally in the past to being engaged to Nick Carter, but Carter immediately denied it and the two have never married. Ling has further has claimed that she was "cut out" of Star Wars due to her appearance in Playboy while also insinuating a large role for her character; immediately, George Lucas denied this, both citing the fact that the edit had been done months before the Playboy appearance was known and stating that Ling's role was only a few lines of unimportant dialogue. Additionally, Go Fug Yourself has documented Ling numerous times appearing publicly in revealing outfits that happen to "slip" and show her private areas in pictures, despite the fact that the events at which she is photographed neither have any overt sexual content nor is Ling involved in event in any capacity besides as a guest.

Acting career

Bai has starred in seven feature films and has appeared in many plays. Since coming to the United States, she has appeared in a number of American movies.
She began in the cult classic movie The Crow, playing the half-sister/lover of the main villain, Top Dollar. It was her character that figures out the key to The Crow's power. Hu guang was her most celebrated role in the Chinese film industry, and Red Corner would be considered her break-out role in English film.
She filmed scenes for (2005) as Senator Bana Breemu, but her role was cut during editing. She claimed that this was because of her posing nude for the June 2005 issue of Playboy magazine, whose appearance on newstands coincided with the movie's May 2005 release, but director George Lucas denied this, stating that the cut had been made more than a year earlier. Her scenes were included in the "deleted scenes" feature of the DVD release.
She was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 1998. She was briefly said to be romantically linked to Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. Rumors spread that Ling was engaged to him, but Carter denied the rumors, saying they were "just friends."
Later in 2005 Ling was a castmate of the VH1 program called But Can They Sing?. The show gave several non-singer celebrities an attempt at singing on every episode and then allowed the audience and home viewers to vote off one contestant each week. Bai Ling was most famous for her risquee and raunchy get-ups and her performances of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated". Bai was eliminated just before the grand finale but was invited back on the final week for a special performance of Divinyls' I Touch Myself.
Ling was singled out for ridicule in an episode of The Showbiz Show with David Spade in late 2005. Spade noted that her high level of exposure in magazines and tabloids, frequently being photographed at movie premiers and parties, was not justified by the relatively minor roles she has been playing, and he implied that she was engaging in desperate self-promotion.

Personal life

According to New York Daily News (May 19th, 2004), Ling "came out" as bisexual.