A scene from Fan Bingbing's latest movie "One Night Surprise." Photo provided to China Daily

Fan Bingbing also runs China's largest actor studio, an operation that goes beyond that of managing her affairs, but includes other artists and the development of projects from the ground up. Other than movie and television deals, she has numerous commercial engagements and dabbles in singing, philanthropy and an endless stream of activities.

One thing that she wants to experiment with but cannot find time for is the live stage. "If one day a play truly touches me, I'd go for it. It's not to prove to others but would be a new experience for myself," she says.

In the past year, Fan made two cameos that turned out to have the opposite effect. She was originally invited to play the female lead in Lost in Thailand, but had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict. The role was shrunk to one scene, and she as the object of desire for the idiot savant would pop up at the end of the movie as a surprise to the audience. In a sense, she fulfills the dream of tens of millions of young Chinese men at the bottom of the social echelon whose ideals are boiled down to a meeting with a stunner. The role has cemented her stature as the national "diva" or "goddess".

On the other end of the spectrum is Iron Man 3, in which Fan's brief appearance is featured only in the Chinese edition of the Hollywood movie. What was apparently designed to please the Chinese turned out to be offensive because her scene was cut from all screenings outside China. "Foreign filmmakers do not care about Chinese actors. They care about the Chinese market," Fan analyzes. "They put Chinese faces into their work to achieve better box-office in China. It's very passive for us actors."

However, Fan treats such gigs as a learning experience - "to broaden my horizon and to understand their work process and technology". Fan is to play Blink, an unstable mutant with the ability to teleport in the upcoming installment of X-Men, another Hollywood franchise.

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