How Well Mandarin Is Spoken by Actors, Ranked
We need to talk about Amy.
I know mastering an accent as an actor is hard. Just ask Harry Styles. And pretending to speak a foreign language with fluency is even harder. So why oh why do people keep on insisting on doing it, especially with Mandarin?
There are countless examples of Mandarin being used in movies and TV, either for narrative purposes or to show off a (usually white) character’s linguistic abilities. Some have excelled; some have fared fine. And some have been Bradley Cooper in “Limitless.”
So who has spoken Mandarin better and who has produced sounds that have ventured beyond the intelligible and landed straight in the absurd? To answer that question, I’ve ranked the worst to best Mandarin delivered by actors in recent movies and shows. My evaluation is based on two criteria: Clarity (how much I can understand them without subtitles) and how much their delivery hurt my soul.
It’s a highly subjective list, and to be clear, when I’m judging their Mandarin, I’m putting less stock into things like accents because accents and fluency are two different things. Instead, I’m judging more by whether their usage of the language is intelligible and makes sense given the character and the context of the story.
11. Bradley Cooper in “Limitless”
After taking a pill that allows him to access 100% of his brain’s faculties. Cooper’s character, much to his girlfriend’s surprise, can now speak multiple languages, including Mandarin. Supposedly.
In this scene, he orders food in a Chinese restaurant in Mandarin and banters with Johnny M. Wu, who plays the waiter, about not wanting MSG.
If you ever have any doubt about what real acting looks like, let me tell you this: Wu having to smile and jest with Cooper as if he understood the Mandarin spoken here is acting.
Clarity: 1/5. It starts out *almost* intelligible but barely, and by the time we get to Cooper’s last two lines, it’s a car crash of sound and fury signifying nothing. But let’s chuckle like Wu is doing here ha ha ha to hide the sounds of us dying inside.
Did this hurt? 3.5/5. Because it’s meant to be impressive, this scene feels more awkward because it is very much not. Also, the line 千萬不要給我味精 (“No MSG”) feels kinda racist in hindsight.
10. John Cena Apologizing to China
OK, so this is not in a movie or TV show, but it’s hard not to include Cena’s apology to China after he called Taiwan a country during his promotional tour of “Fast and Furious 9” because it’s one of the most high-profile usages of Mandarin by Hollywood actors as of late.
Not wanting to risk the wrath of the Chinese audience, which at that time was one of the biggest box office markets in the world (it’s now No.1), Cena posted a video apologizing profusely for his “mistake” without once spelling out exactly he was apologizing for, possibly to avoid ruffling further feathers.
Clarity: 4/5. Cena’s Mandarin is pretty decent, which is not surprising given that he actually put in the time to learn the language with the help of tutors and flash cards. And when you’re trying to stop a country from boycotting your movie, you really put 150% into enunciating.
Did this hurt? 5/5. It’s not every day we get an apology video that uses the powers of flash cards for evil.
9. Bill Hader and Anna Faris in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
Someone needs to explain to me why a movie about food falling from the sky has a scene where two white characters exchange Mandarin proverbs for no good reason. I’m actually asking. Though I’m using the words “Mandarin” and “proverbs” both very loosely because a) the Mandarin spoken here is excrrrrruciating and b) the proverbs they’re referencing, 惡棍給的食物肯定有毒 (“Any food given by a bully is surely poisoned”) and 惡霸變成朋友，永遠是朋友 (“A bully turned friend will be a friend till the end”) are nonexistent.
Clarity: 2/5. When I first heard this clip, I burst out laughing, though I have to say, Faris acquits herself a bit better than Hader.
Did this hurt? 4/5. Stop. Using. Proverbs. Especially. Fake. Ones.
8. Amy Adams in “Arrival”
Amy Adams. 6-time Academy Award loser. Not quite a Mandarin speaker. According to her interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she had two weeks to learn four lines of Mandarin dialogue, and the work really shows. Sorry, Amy. I still love you though!
Clarity: 1.5/5. I remember seeing “Arrival” in movie theaters and understanding nothing beyond the opening words 將軍 (general), which is frustrating given that this phone conversation is pivotal to the movie. In the scene, Adams’s character repeats the last words of General Shang’s late wife to him, and it helps humanity narrowly avert warfare with the aliens.
Did this hurt? 3/5. Let’s consider first the fact that Shang’s late wife’s dying words are 戰爭不會讓你成為英雄。它只留下寡婦和孤兒 (“War will not make you a hero. It only leaves behind widows and orphans”), which are really weird last words, if you really start to think about it. Similar to the “proverbs” used in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” the Mandarin phrases here feel like they’re meant to express a sense of exoticized wisdom. It all sounds very sage until you start to dig into the logic of it.
7. Gal Gadot and Saïd Taghmaoui in “Wonder Woman”
In “Wonder Woman,” Gadot and Taghmaoui, who plays a spy and a gifted polyglot, have a good ol’ linguistic showdown where they compete in speaking different languages, including Spanish, Mandarin, and Greek.
Clarity: 3/5. Gadot’s line reading sounds unnecessarily harsh, but at least I got what she’s saying after a few tries. Taghmaoui’s, on other hand, I cannot comprehend for the life of me apart from the word 姑娘 (girl) at the end. Do love his voice though and he sounds amazing, whatever he is trying to say.
Did it hurt? 2.5/5. I appreciate the gesture, but it’s not a showdown when there is no show.
6. Sally Phillips in “Veep”
Considering how often China is a plotline in “Veep,” it’s funny that the most Mandarin spoken in the show isn’t by anyone in Selina Myer’s administration, but by Finnish politician Minna Häkkinen, who’s played by the delightful Sally Phillips.
In the episode “Camp David,” Minna is an intermediary in Selina’s secret talks with the Chinese government because of her fluency in Mandarin and her familiarity with Chinese customs.
Clarity: 4/5. I understand Phillips fairly well, though one of her lines, “I don’t know the Chinese word for it, but the President’s lady fruit is rotting,” a reference to Selina Myer facing menopause, made me roll my eyes. “Lady fruit is rotting” is a phrase that should be banned in every language.
Did it hurt? 3/5. In all honesty, I think Phillips did a fairly good job. I was more offended by the stuffed panda and the cheap-ass paper lantern they used in this scene to welcome the Chinese delegates.
Also, let’s not forget the real crime that’s been committed: This incredibly ugly robe that the show wanted to pass off as an artifact from the Qing dynasty. The emperors are rolling in their graves and in much better clothes.
5. Timothée Chalamet in “Dune”
I had not expected Mandarin to pop up in “Dune,” but the girl is not complaining.
In “Dune,” Dr. Wellington Yueh, played by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, and Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, have a furtive conversation in Mandarin about the Bene Gesserit before Paul has to see the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother.
Basically, Yueh’s talking shit about someone in a foreign language, much like how my siblings and I used to speak English when we wanted to complain about our parents right in front of them.
Clarity: 5/5. I’m only going to judge Chalamet’s Mandarin here because Chang is a native speaker. Chalamet’s delivery is smooth enough that after my first viewing of the movie, I had forgotten he had even spoken Mandarin in it at all because it was far less obtrusive a performance than many of the others on the list.
One of the things Chalamet has in his favor, however, is his line is shorter. He’s also whispering it under his breath, which makes it hard to nitpick his pronunciation. He deserves an honorable mention, but the other people who made top four had much more of a challenge on their hands.
Did this hurt? 0/5. It only hurts that the exchange didn’t last longer. I could watch Chang Chen all day, any day.
4. The cast in “Fresh Off the Boat”
It’s Chinese New Year, and every member of the Huang family is trying to speak only in Mandarin as a New Year’s game. One by one, each member fails, until only Evan (Ian Chen) and his mother Jessica (Constance Wu) are left standing.
Clarity: 4/5. I can understand what everyone is saying without subtitles (even Randall Park, who’s Korean-American), with a special shout-out to Chen, who trumped practically everyone with his Mandarin, with the exception of Lucille Soon, who plays Grandma Huang.
Did it hurt? 0/5. The Mandarin spoken largely reflects the story context within the show. Soong is a native Mandarin speaker, similar to her character in the show. The Mandarin spoken by the child actors mirrors their characters’ backgrounds as first-generation immigrants who don’t speak Mandarin as often. All in all, everyone is able to express themselves when they’re speaking Mandarin and demonstrate a certain degree of comfort with the language, if not necessarily fluency.
3. Awkwafina in “The Farewell”
In “The Farewell,” Billi Wang, portrayed by Awkwafina, travels to China under the guise of attending her cousin’s wedding. In reality, she’s coming to see her grandmother, who’s been diagnosed with a terminal case of cancer, though nobody in the family has the heart to tell the grandmother the truth.
Clarity: 4.5/5. It’s obvious that Awkwafina doesn’t speak Mandarin as a native language, but I didn’t have much of a problem understanding what she was saying.
Did it hurt? 1/5. I flipped-flopped on Awkwafina’s Mandarin a few times while watching this movie. One of the things I took issue with was the awkwardness in her delivery, which feels at odds with her character. Billi is Chinese-American, but she’s close to her grandmother and speaks exclusively in Mandarin with her. For me, there should probably be an ease with the language reflected in the character’s speech, which I didn’t always see in Awkwafina’s performance.
That being said, “The Farewell” blew me away and the gap I felt existed between the actress and the character’s linguistic abilities fell mostly to the wayside the more I watched the movie.
Part of it is because “The Farewell,” directed by Lulu Wang, is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen when it comes to depicting the nuances of living as a Chinese-American. Part of it is due to Awkwafina’s strength as an actor and how I could feel her emotions shining through, regardless of which language she was speaking. Not hurt that much. Considering Awkwafina learned Mandarin for this movie, I’m actually impressed.
2. Tzi Ma in “Tigertail”
You’ve probably seen Tzi Ma in more than a couple of things. In “The Farewell,” he plays the father to Awkwafina’s Billi. He was also the president of China in “Veep” and General Shang in “Arrival.”
“Tigertail” finally gives Tzi Ma the chance to play a central role in a movie. The movie, directed by Alan Yang, who people might know best for being a writer on “Parks and Recreation” and “Master of None,” is about a man’s journey emigrating from Taiwan to the U.S. and the often painful memories that come with it.
Clarity: 5/5. Tzi Ma’s performance was spellbinding, and I didn’t even mind that his accent is not Taiwanese. Ma emigrated from Hong Kong at the age of seven, so I’m guessing his accent is closer to a slight Cantonese accent.
Did it hurt? 0/5. I was confused at first because I had believed that the narration at the beginning and the end of the movie was voiced by Ma and the accent was different there. I later learned that the movie was actually narrated by Alan Yang’s father, whose life story largely inspires the movie.
My initial confusion aside, I appreciate the movie for its copious usage of Mandarin and Taiwanese. The dialogue feels like it was written by someone who actually speaks Mandarin, and it’s performed by people fluent in Mandarin. That’s all I’m asking for, really.
1. Simu Liu in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
Let’s be honest, I came into this movie with super low expectations. A Marvel movie where Chinese culture and Mandarin would be heavily featured? So much could go wrong. I could be offended. I could die from secondhand embarrassment.
Luckily, I was spared. I was not expecting Simu Liu’s level of fluency in Mandarin. And the rest of the cast also spoke in Mandarin in ways that felt natural to their characters.
Clarity: 5/5. No quibbles. I actually wanted more Mandarin in the movie, because the actors were all doing such a good job at it. I will say that the English subtitles of the movie, though accurate, sometimes struggle to convey the emotional depth of the Mandarin dialogue.
Did it hurt? 0/5. You can tell when there’s money and resources being poured into making sure a culture represented is as authentic as possible. Mandarin that’s actually understandable in a movie? Marvel, you spoil us.
Well, spoken too soon.
Bonus links: The YouTube channel Accented Cinema also did a great deep dive on the subject of Hollywood actors speaking Mandarin. It’s worth checking out!
My friends and I joked that the Chinese in 10 rings was bad because the mom straight up tells her son "I love you/I'm m proud of you" which never happens. 😂
Simu Liu's parents both speak Mandarin, as did most of the community he lived in in Toronto!