Imagining a better world – Zhou Xun at a recent exhibit.

Actress Zhou Xun recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where she talked about her thoughts on film and goals for charity.

“Even though the stories are set in different periods of time, the same characters reappear. Different periods have different limitations, and the characters can or cannot do different things. But basically they are all human beings,” said Zhou Xun on playing roles set in different time periods. “So the spy in ‘The Message’ could still be found today. Maybe today she would have a computer, maybe she would be doing corporate espionage, to steal a different message, but she would still be the same essential spy.”

The actress, who’s heavily involved in a number of environmental and other public projects,  also talked about her vision of a new  project to bring together retirement homes and orphanages. Read the complete interview here.