It was an actress' worst nightmare come true. While promoting her new movie at the Venice Film Festival this week, Zhang Ziyi — who starred in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" — wore the same low-cut polka-dot dress that actress Xu Jinglei wore two months ago.

"Zhang Ziyi, who occasionally fumbles her wardrobe, wore the same outfit that Xu Jinglei wore at a press conference earlier," said a story in the Oriental Daily News. "What a big strategic mistake."

Xu wore the dress — identified by the Apple Daily newspaper as an Emporio Armani design — at a press conference in Hong Kong in July to promote the upcoming "Confession of Pain."

"Zhang Ziyi wears Xu Jinglei's old dress," said the headline in Apple Daily's entertainment section Monday.

The newspaper also ran a photo of Zhang chatting with Zhou Xun, a fellow actress from her new movie, "The Banquet," inserting a comiclike dialogue box that jokingly quotes Zhou as saying, "Poor you, wearing someone's old dress."

"The Banquet" was shown at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.

Zhang rose to international fame after appearing in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Her Hollywood credits also include "Rush Hour 2" and "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Meanwhile, Zhang has confirmed that she will appear in an upcoming movie about Hua Mulan, the Chinese folk heroine that inspired the Disney animated film by the same name.

"`Hua Mulan' has basically been confirmed, but it won't be filmed quickly because it involves many factors like the script, and other actors," Zhang was quoted as telling the Chinese news Web site Sina.com. The transcript of the interview was posted Tuesday.

Zhang also said she will start filming an English-language movie at the end of the year. She did not give details.