Anecdotes

Name means "white spirit" in English.

Bai Ling served three years in the People Liberation's Army in China entertaining troops in Tibet. She had a bout of depression which sent her to a mental hospital. She then became a Chinese movie star. All of this occurred before she was 18.

Claimed that her role on Star Wars, épisode III : La Revanche des Sith (2005) was cut during editing because of her posing for the June 2005 issue of US "Playboy" magazine. She was the first woman from the People's Republic of China on its cover. George Lucas strongly denied that this was the reason she was cut.

Cut off all her hair and completely shaved her head for her role in Anna and the King.

Cut off all of her waist-length hair for her role in Anna et le roi (1999).

She turned in one of her most acclaimed performances in her first Hong Kong movie 3 Extrêmes (2004) ("Three Extremes: Dumplings"). Her character is a creepy 60-year-old ageless beauty, and she helps women by performing illegal abortions, but also uses the unwanted fetuses to be made into dumplings, which is her secret for ageless beauty.

She took classes at The Lee Strasberg Institute (1991) and New York University. (1991)

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2005. Memorable for her light dresses that didn't always cover her essentials all the time. German tabloids nicknamed her "die Berlinackte" ("the Berlinaked").

Perhaps her first public appearance in the U.S. was on Jan. 16, 1994, when she accepted the Best Supporting Actress Award on behalf of the winner, her countrywoman Gong Li, who could not attend, at the annual New York Film Critics Circle ceremony held at the Pegasus Room (Rockefeller Center).

Had a four-line appearance in Star Wars, épisode III : La Revanche des Sith (2005). Unfortunately her appearance (along with a small cameo of George Lucas' daughter) got cut out. Lucas explained, "It wasn't like it was a major thing to begin with and I just cut that whole secondary story out of the movie quite a while ago".

One of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World 1998".

Lives in Southern California.

Was the July 2007 entry in Stuff magazine's 2006-2007 pin up calendar.