Chinese actress Fan Bingbing: disappearance last year for tax evasion ‘has made me calm down’
Star of Hollywood blockbusters like Iron Man 3 was placed under house arrest for four months while being investigated for not paying US$34 million in taxes
The 37-year-old actress – who has starred in dozens of Chinese films, as well the Hollywood blockbusters such as 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and Iron Man 3 – was not seen in public from July to October last year as provincial authorities investigated her for tax evasion.
It may be a trough I encountered in my life or in my work, but this trough is actually a good thing. It has made me calm down and think seriously about what I want to do in my future life.
Authorities found that she and her companies had avoided paying 248 million yuan (US$34 million) in taxes.
Fan, who used to share minute details of her life to her millions of social media followers, has kept a low profile ever since, breaking her silence from time to time only to praise the Chinese state.
In an interview with The New York Times, published on Saturday, Fan once again praised the Chinese state, and even appeared to thank the government for helping her disappearance.
It appears to be her first interview with Western media since she went missing.
“It may be a trough I encountered in my life or in my work, but this trough is actually a good thing,” she told the Times. “It has made me calm down and think seriously about what I want to do in my future life.
“No one can have smooth sailing throughout the journey,” she added, referring to her acting career.
The Times added that she spoke with “a calm – if perhaps practised – resignation”.
Many people with whom she was working – including her manager at the time – were arrested, the Times reported.