Taiwan actress/singer Rene Liu jokes about her hairstyle in her latest film Love in Space, a romantic comedy to be released on Sept 9, calling the small buns "bullshit".

Acclaimed for her 18 albums, four books, and award-winning performances in hit films, such as Feng Xiaogang's A World without Thieves and Sylvia Chang's Siao Yu, Liu is usually portrayed as smart and elegant, but proved she is also funny, in her first interview after marrying on Aug 9.

"I had no idea being married was so exciting, because I've never been married before," the 41-year-old says, laughing.

Liu, who has often expressed a wish to marry, announced she had wed her Beijing businessman husband, who is two years younger, on her website. It shocked her fans, who didn't even know she had a boyfriend.

When asked how she kept the secret, she laughs again: "Do you really think I would tell a journalist?"

Since her big screen debut in 1995, she has rarely talked about her love life, but has in the past 11 years often been referred to as a "sheng nu" - an unmarried lady older than 30. As a result, she would often be asked to share her feelings about other actresses getting married.

"I've been asked so often and every time what I was actually thinking was, 'What the hell is the matter with me?' Thank god I won't be asked that question now."

She says she will continue her acting and singing career after marriage. Her new essay collection, Incomplete Me, has just hit the bookstores, too.

Her new film, Love in Space, co-produced by Fox International and the mainland's Huayi Brothers, tells the hilarious love stories of three sisters. Liu's love story takes place in a space capsule, in zero gravity. "The other two actresses were in a romantic film, but I thought I was in a kungfu flick," she says.

The first day of shooting she had to fly on a wire for eight hours. "When I stood on the ground again I told my agent, return the money because I quit," she jokes.

She describes filming as "exhausting".

As for having a baby, the question journalists are now asking, she is straightforward. "No, I am not pregnant," she emphasizes. "The best thing about my life so far is that I never know what will happen the next day. The baby thing will happen when it happens."

China Daily