Even though she was only on screen for 10 minutes, Li Bingbing's appearance in the new Transformers movie has helped propel her career to a new level.
The Chinese A-lister plays the CEO of a technology company in Transformers: Age of Extinction, which has grossed $300.4 million at the box office on the Chinese mainland in just four weeks, and $886 million worldwide.
Li, 41, has received international attention for her head-turning role as a sexy, powerful company executive in the blockbuster film. Those accolades helped her land contracts worth 80 million yuan ($12.9 million) to be the spokeswoman for two international companies and one domestic business.
Li, a native ofHarbin,Heilongjiangprovince, may be best known overseas for her role in Transformers: Age of Extinction, but it wasn't her first appearance on the international stage.
She played a leading role in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, produced by Wendi Deng in 2011, and starred in the 2012 science-fiction action movie Resident Evil: Retribution.
She landed the role in Transformers while vacationing and studying English in theUnited Statesin 2012, when her agent in the country invited her to audition for the film.
Li was initially unsure how it would look for an Asian woman to play a leading role in the action series. However, she was drawn to the project after she saw the exquisite models of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee－two of the Transformers－in director Michael Bay's studio.
"Bay is very nice, with an active mind. He talked about the Transformers with an expressive face," Li was quoted by theBeijingNews as saying.
In the original script for Transformers, Li's character was a man. But Bay told Li that he was willing to change the character to a female so she could play the role.
Li Bingbing attends the New York premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction at the Ziegfeld Theatre on June 25.
She spoke with Bay often about her character's image while making the film. Li's studio even gave her character a new name, Su Yueming, because the original one didn't sound believable for a Chinese female CEO.
Li wanted Su to appear courageous and resolute, so she took her ideas to Bay, who asked one of his friends, an Asian makeup artist, to work with her. They discussed every detail of her character's appearance, from her eyebrows, eyelashes to the color of her lipstick.
Li, a martial arts fan, performs kung fu in one of the movie's scenes shot in Hong Kong. Bay also asked her to perform in a motorcycle－racing scene, after he found out she was comfortable behind the wheel.
With appearances in international films such as Transformers, Chinese audiences have noticed that Li's English has improved greatly.
Like many other Chinese celebrities working inHollywood, the language barrier was her biggest hurdle, but Li was determined to improve her English. Her secret is never being embarrassed, regardless of whether she makes a mistake.
In the beginning, her vocabulary was limited, but she used all of the words she knew. If Li couldn't understand what other people were saying, she studied harder.
In addition to improving her English while working overseas, Li says her experience in Hollywood has helped her grow as an actor.
Li said working with talented people like Bay has taught her that it's important to give your own opinions and suggestions to the director.
"In a Hollywood blockbuster, you can't just listen to others all the time like a puppet," Li told the Beijing News.
Li, who isn't married, says she's in no rush to leave her busy career and start a family.
"I'm not celibate. It's just that I haven't met my Mr Right. But getting married is not the final aim of my life, and I don't want to be kidnapped by traditional values," Li told the Beijing News.
"As long as I feel peaceful and unrestrained while getting along with myself, it's OK."
虽然李冰冰在《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》（以下简称《变4》）中的戏份只有10分钟，但她在影片中的亮相着实将她的事业推向了新的高峰。
华人一线女星李冰冰此次在《变4》中饰演一名高科技企业的首席执行官。该片在中国大陆上映仅4周时间，就成功吸引了3.04亿美元的票房，全球票房也高达8.86亿美元。
41岁的李冰冰凭借《变4》成为全球瞩目的女星，她在片中饰演一名公司高管，性感的女强人形象赚足了回头率，同时也让她成功地拿到了价值8000万元人民币的合同，成为两家国际公司和一家中国商家的代言人。
出生于黑龙江省哈尔滨市的李冰冰，因出演《变4》在国外名声大噪，但这并非她在国际舞台上的处女秀。
2011年，李冰冰在邓文迪制作的《雪花秘扇》中担任主角，随后还主演了2012年的科幻动作片《生化危机5：惩罚》。
2012年，李冰冰在美国休假，学习英语时，她美国的经纪公司安排她为《变4》试镜，后来就接下了这部电影。
刚开始，李冰冰很难想象为什么外国导演要找一个亚洲女性来出演这部动作系列片。但当她一看到迈克尔·贝导演（Michael Bay）工作室里的擎天柱和大黄蜂，这两个造型精美的变形金刚模型后，她就被电影吸引了。
《新京报》援引李冰冰原话：“迈克尔·贝导演人很好，思维活跃。说到《变形金刚》就眉飞色舞。”
在《变4》的原剧本中，李冰冰所饰一角原定为男性参演，但迈克尔·贝导演告诉李可以为她改成女性角色。
6月25日，李冰冰参加在纽约齐格菲剧院（Ziegfeld Theatre）举行的《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》首映。
在电影的拍摄过程中，李冰冰常与导演讨论她的角色形象。她的工作室甚至还为角色换了一个名字，苏月明，因为原来的名字（廖秀梅）不像是中国女高管的名字。
李冰冰希望让苏月明这个角色呈现出干练果敢的形象，并把想法告诉了导演。后来，导演让一个亚裔化妆师朋友来和她商量。他们对角色造型进行了细致周密的讨论，包括睫毛的粘法，眉眼的勾画，唇色等。
李冰冰很喜欢动作戏，她在香港拍摄的戏份里有武打场面。得知李冰冰喜欢驾驶，导演迈克尔·贝还给她加了一场摩托车飙车的戏份。
李冰冰在《变4》这样的国际大片中频频亮相之后，中国观众发现她的英语水平突飞猛进。
与众多在好莱坞演戏的中国明星一样，语言障碍也是李冰冰的最大的软肋。但她决心要提高自己的英语水平，而其中秘诀就在于她不怕犯错，不怕丢脸。
起初，她的词汇量有限，但她会尽量用上她知道的所有词汇。如果发现自己听不懂别人在说什么，她就会加倍努力地学习。
在海外工作不仅是提升了她的英语水平，李冰冰表示在好莱坞的拍戏经验也让她成了一个更优秀的演员。
李冰冰认为和像导演迈克尔·贝这样优秀的人一同工作，让她知道，跟导演反馈自己的意见建议是很重要的。
“在这么牛的好莱坞大片里，你不能跟个提线木偶似的，总听别人在说，”李冰冰对《新京报》这样说道。
李冰冰至今仍是单身，她说自己不急着放下手头忙碌的工作，开始家庭生活。
“我不是独身主义者。我只是还没遇到我的白马王子。但是，结婚并不是我人生的终极目标，我也不想被传统价值标准绑架，”李冰冰对《新京报》如是说道。
“只要在与自己的相处中，我觉得自在，安宁，这就够了。”