Gong and Zhang's professional and personal relationship received much media attention in the Chinese-speaking world, as they continued to collaborate on a string of critically acclaimed movies, including the Oscar-nominated features Ju Dou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991).

Gong also starred in the Chen Kaige-directed Oscar-nominated Farewell My Concubine (1993), for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

In English-language films, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), directed by Rob Marshall.

Other notable appearances include Flirting Scholar (1993), To Live (1994), Chinese Box (1997), The Emperor and the Assassin (1998), Breaking the Silence (2000), Zhou Yu's Train (2003), Eros (2004), Miami Vice (2006), Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) and Saturday Fiction (2019).

Her parents discouraged her from pursuing it further, but Gong persisted by working part-time while taking acting lessons from director Yin Dawei in Jinan.

In 1989, Gong starred in Zhang Yimou’s second counterterrorism film, Codename Cougar, for which she won the Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Supporting Actress, ushering in a new stage of exploring acting skills and style.

"[12] Over the several years following her 1987 acting debut in Red Sorghum, Gong received international acclaim for her roles in several more Zhang Yimou films.

[10] In 1992, Gong starred in the rural drama The Story of Qiu Ju, which won the Golden Lion award at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.

She also worked with renowned director Stephen Chow in comedy films God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai (1991) and Flirting Scholar (1993).

[24] Regarding the sexual content in Ju Dou, Chinese censorship deemed the film "a bad influence on the physical and spiritual health of young people.

"[13] In 1994, Gong played Jia Zhen, the wife of Xu Fugui, in the drama To Live, which won the Grand Prix at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1997, Gong worked with Jeremy Irons on the romantic drama Chinese Box, which won the Best Original Music award at the Venice Film Festival.

[28] In many of her early movies, Gong represents a tragic victim and an abused soul (physically or emotionally), trying to release herself from an impossible maze of corruption, violence and suppression.

In Raise the Red Lantern and Shanghai Triad, an additional tragic element is added to her being as she unintentionally becomes the executioner of new innocent victims, making her realize that she has assisted the dark cynical system.

[29] In 2000, Gong won her second international Best Actress trophy for her performance as a struggling single mother in Breaking the Silence (2000) directed by Sun Zhou at the Montreal World Film Festival.

[34] In the early 2000s, Gong also starred in two films directed by Wong Kar-wai, 2046 and Eros (both in 2004),[35] which were seen as "an important opportunity to get rid of the influence of Zhang Yimou".

[38] Time Magazine's Richard Corliss to describe her as "gloriously channeling Bette Davis"[39] Gong also won the National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Hatsumomo.

[40] In 2006, Gong worked again with Yimou for historical epic Curse of the Golden Flower, for which She won the best Actress at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards.

[45] In 2010, Gong starred in the World War II-era thriller Shanghai as a spy who is disguised as the wife of a triad boss (played by Chow Yun-fat).

She turned to documentaries and photographs about World War II, besides taking dancing classes three times a week, to ensure an accurate portrayal of the character.

[52] In 2019, Gong was cast in Lou Ye's period drama Saturday Fiction, where she plays an actress who is working undercover gathering intelligence for the Allies.

[55] Saturday Fiction was a box office failure due to the delayed release, but the artistic value of the film and Gong's performance gained rave reviews.

Vanity Fair's chief critic, Richard Lawson, wrote in his review: "It is a pleasure as ever to watch Gong do her thing, slinking and thrashing around in a fabulous black witch’s cloak.

"[58] The Hollywood Reporter commented: the Chinese superstar marks her return to the spotlight with a pair of high-profile films: Lou Ye's period drama and Disney's live-action 'Mulan' remake.

[59]In 2020, Gong was cast in Peter Chan's biographical film Leap, where she plays the hard-driving, real-life head coach of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team Lang Ping.

The Hong Kong Film Critics Society described her performance as having an "astonishing aura" and wrote that "She fights with conviction in the face of a conservative educational establishment, former teammates and a new generation of young athletes.

In 1995, soon after shooting Shanghai Triad, their 7th collaboration during their relationship, Zhang announced their break-up amidst rumors of Gong's affair with Ooi Hoe Seong, then managing director of British American Tobacco in China.