Yang Kuei-mei (born 1959) is one of the most acclaimed and iconic actresses in Taiwanese cinema, a central figure of her country's "Second New Wave." Her career is inextricably linked to two of Taiwan's greatest directors. She gained international fame through Ang Lee, who directed her in the roles of the sophisticated real estate agent in The Wedding Banquet (1993) and the eldest, repressed Christian daughter, Jin-Rong, in the masterpiece Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). However, it was with director Tsai Ming-liang that she formed her deepest artistic partnership, becoming one of his primary muses. For her portrayal of the alienated real estate agent in Tsai's Vive L'Amour (1994), she won the Golden Horse Award (Taiwan's Oscar) for Best Actress. Her ability to convey profound loneliness and unexpressed desire, often through long silences, made her an essential face in films like The River (1997) and The Hole (1998).