Chang started his film career at a young age. He was selected by a Taiwanese film director
Edward Yang to be the protagonist of a four-hour-long critically acclaimed film
A Brighter Summer Day, One of the earliest films Chang acted in was
Wong Kar-wai's
Happy Together (1997). He rose to fame for his role as "Dark Cloud" in the 2000 film
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by
Ang Lee. He also featured in Wong Kar-wai's
2046 (2004). Chang then co-starred with
Shu Qi in
Hou Hsiao-hsien's
Three Times (2005), Chang then starred in the historical war epic
Red Cliff (2008-2009), portraying the warlord
Sun Quan. He was nominated at the
Hong Kong Film Awards for
Best Supporting Actor. He next starred in the 2012 historical epic
The Last Supper directed by
Lu Chuan and the 2013 kungfu epic
The Grandmaster by
Wong Kar-wai. In 2014, Chang headlined the wuxia film
Brotherhood of Blades, which won commercial success and critical acclaim. He earned his third nomination for Best Actor in the Golden Horse Awards. Chang reunited with
Three Times director Hou Hsiao-hsien and co-star Shu Qi in the 2015 wuxia film
The Assassin, which competed for the
Palme d'Or at the
Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, Chang played the title character in the action film
Mr. Long, which was selected to compete for the
Golden Bear in the main competition section of the
67th Berlin International Film Festival. The same year, he returned for the second installment of
Brotherhood of Blades film. Chang served as a jury member at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, Chang played
Dr. Wellington Yueh in
Denis Villeneuve's epic science fiction film
Dune. which premiered at the
78th Venice International Film Festival. In the same year, he won
Best Leading Actor at the
58th Golden Horse Awards for his performance in the mystery film
The Soul, marking his first Golden Horse Award after three previous nominations without a win. Chang served as a jury member at the
59th Golden Horse Awards in 2022. In June 2023, Chang was invited to become a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. == Personal life ==