BEIJING • Actress Zhang Ziyi taunts actor Liu Ye, "Do you understand acting?"

In anger, he slaps a mobile phone on a table, then takes off his shoe and chucks it at her, too.

The two Chinese film stars' heated argument about an aspiring actress' performance on a talent show was the talk of Weibo over the weekend, said NetEase website, though it turned out to be an act.

Zhang and Liu were judging a segment on the show The Birth Of An Actor, where contestants Zheng Shuang and Ren Jialun ab-libbed through a performance as characters from Zhang's 1999 film, The Road Home.

Zhang turned on Liu after he approved of Zheng's performance, even though the contestant giggled during the scene.

Liu then accused Zhang of being too harsh on Zheng and bickering with him.

After Liu tossed his shoe down on the table, Zhang picked it up and threw it away.

As the contestants stood in stunned silence, Zhang demanded that Liu "give me a hug". Meeting with applause, Liu then explained that they had just given a top-level performance of a quarrel.