Liu Xiaoqing is considered by many to be the quintessential empress of Chinese films for her portrayal early in her career of two of the most influential empresses in China's history - Wu Zetian and Ci Xi.
The 58-year-old made her film debut in Wang Haowei's Look at This Family in 1979 and has won a total of five Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers film awards over the years.
But a high-profile tax-evasion scandal in 2002 threatened to end Liu's career. She was held in jail pending trial for 14 months and received a large fine. Liu was reported to have gone into debt as a result of her legal costs.
After a five-year break from the screen, Liu is set to return next year in Dennis Chan Kwok-san's drama, 37, as a humble, elderly Mongolian woman, Ao You, who uses her singing to melt the hearts of a hard-working single mother (Charlie Young Choi-nei) and her introverted daughter (Lin Miaoke).
What was it that made you want to be in 37?
Initially, I had doubts about the film because Ao You is a native Mongolian woman and I didn't see how I could convince the audience that I was Mongolian. I felt I had nothing to prove because I had already won recognition for my acting ability. I thought that if I messed up the role it could jeopardise my future career, so of course I was worried about it. But after a long discussion with the director and my manager, Sun Yifeng, who is also my partner, I decided to give it a try. To be honest with you, on the flight to Inner Mongolia I still feared that I might fail. But having finished the film, I am now confident about my portrayal and I think it is the kind of film that could be considered for the foreign-language category of the Oscars.