In 2000, Zhang landed a high-profile part as the headstrong Jen Yu in Ang Lee's film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The movie because enormously successful domestically as well as internationally, and earned Zhang the Best Supporting Actress Award for both the Independent Spirit and Toronto Film Critics festivals.
Her first appearance in an American movie was in 2001's Rush Hour 2, starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Because she didn't speak English at the time, Zheng had to receive translations from Chan. The actress eventually taught herself English by listening to songs by rapper Eminem. "Later, I understood how rude [the lyrics] were," she later laughed.
Offers for other American films began to pour in for Zhang, and she appeared in 2004's House of Flying Daggers, and 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha, also starring Crouching Tiger co-star Michelle Yeoh. In 2009, she starred in a remake of Horsemen with Dennis Quaid.