Returning to Tokyo International Film Festival 15 years after she won best actress for Buddha mountain in 2010, Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing is winning plaudits for her distinctly unglamorous turn in competition entry Mother Bhumi.

Borderline unrecognizable as a single-mother-cum-farmer-cum-spiritual healer in an ethnic and religious melting pot of a rural Malaysian village, Fan carries the probably overambitious picture. Chong Keat Aun weaves the film in and out of colonial legacy, ethnic tensions, land rights, politics, misogyny, family drama, spirituality and the supernatural. Holding it together is some stunning cinematography from Leung Ming-kai making full use of the Bujang Valley setting, and Fan.

Once China’s highest-paid actress, and one of the highest-earning globally, Fan appeared in a succession of hits including I Am Not Madame bovary, The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom and One Night surprise. And she was introduced to worldwide audiences with appearances in Hollywood productions such as Iron Man 3, X-Men: Days of Future past and The 355.But fan’s world came crashing down in the late 2010s amidst tax evasion allegations that culminated in fines and retroactive tax bills reportedly in the region of $100 million. She then disappeared fully from screens for around five years, before beginning to reappear in projects overseas in 2022. Her mesmerizing turn in Mother Bhumi, which translates as mother earth, suggests a renaissance that is exploring new depths to her acting.

Fan sat down with The Hollywood Reporter during the festival in Tokyo to talk about her demanding role, what she learned during her five-year hiatus, the state of Chinese arthouse cinema and whether she will ever make another film in her homeland.

I understand you approached the director about this film, what drew you to the story?

Before meeting the director, I had already

Delving into Ritual and Resilience: An Interview with Fan Bingbing

How did you study the healing rituals?

The director’s father is a very famous healer in that region. When something strange happens or peopel feel unwell, they go to him for help. The shamanic elements of the character were modeled directly on the director’s father: his way of performing rituals, his expressions, everything. I videoed him and then studied from the video – his speech, his chants, his breathing, even the emotions when he was “possessed” by spirits. I learned it all by mimicking him.

Were there things you learned from this role that you will use in the future?

It was a very special experience. In China it’s extremely rare to get a role like this. The character is powerful, she helps everyone around her, but despite being seen by her village as someone with grate powers, she still has her own confusion, pain, and pressures she can’t resolve. Even though others see her as almost divine, she remains human, with all the helplessness that entails. It made me think deeply: what really is “power,” and what does it mean to simply be human? The character is rich and multilayered-a very weighty role. The story itself is also about conflict over land, and about defending your rights to the land you live on.

Through this role, I felt again that even when life is tough, we need confidence to face tomorrow. That strength is something I took from this character.

Fan Bingbing in Feng Xiaogang’s ‘I Am Not Madame Bovary.’

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what was it like working on a film as unique as Youthful Days?

It was a very special, almost magical film. About 80 percent of my dialogue was in Japanese, so I learned another new language!

You were out of the film business for about five years. Did it change the way you think about acting and cinema?

I was away from Chinese cinema for a while, but it opened a new window for me. I got to encounter subjects and collaborators I’d never have met otherwise, and discovered new creative impulses. For me, that was actually a gift. Those five years became a time to pause and absorb. Being an actor means constantly outputting – expressing – but rarely having time to take in new experiences. This was a period of reflection and learning. I came to understand life more deeply – the difficulties and things that are hard to attain. some people, when faced with hardship, give up. But the brave ones grow stronger and want to express more. I think I’m that brave girl (laughs).

There’s a Chinese saying: “To rebound, you must first hit the bottom.” If you only fall halfway, you can’t spring back. Hitting the lowest point gave me resistance, courage, and new emotional depth – anger, helplessness, pain – all of which become fuel for an actor. Without such emotions, you can’t truly play a character convincingly.