Most of Michelle Yeoh’s roles in movies like “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” involve martial arts.
What is her Name?
Michelle Yeoh was born into a wealthy Malaysian family. She started out as a ballerina before being named Miss Malaysia in 1983. The next year, she starred in movies like Yes, Madam! and Supercop, which helped her become one of Hong Kong’s top female action stars. Yeoh later became famous all over the world for her roles in Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Her roles in Crazy Rich Asians and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once have helped bring more Asian American talent to the forefront of Hollywood films.
Michelle Yeoh Age:
Yeoh Chu-Kheng, Michelle Yeoh’s real name, was born in Ipoh, Malaysia, on August 6, 1962.
Starting Life:
Yeoh’s parents, Yeoh Kian Teik, a lawyer, and Janet Yeoh, a housewife, gave her an active, competitive upbringing. She took ballet and piano lessons and played basketball, swam, and played rugby, and she was the junior squash champion.
Migration:
Yeoh moved to England when she was 15 to continue her ballet training at London’s Royal Academy of Dance. Michelle wish to one day open her own dance studio. Her hopes of becoming a performer were dashed when she hurt her back.
Commercial for a Wristwatch:
Yeoh won the Miss Malaysia contest in 1983 after she went back to her home country. At dinner one night, a friend told Hong Kong businessman Dickson Poon about Yeoh. Poon was looking for last-minute talent for a TV ad, and he needed someone like Yeoh. Yeoh got on a plane to meet Poon, and the next day she made a commercial for a wristwatch with Jackie Chan.
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Does Michelle Yeoh Know how to Fight?
Yeoh made her big-screen debut in The Owl vs. Bumbo as a “damsel in distress.” She was called “Michelle Khan,” but it wasn’t clear what race she was (1984). She was interested in the fight scenes, so she learned a lot about martial arts and then got the lead butt-kicking role in Yes, Madam! (1985). In the Line of Duty (1986), Easy Money (1987), and Magnificent Warriors (1989) were all great physical performances (1987).
Interpol Inspector:
Yeoh came back to acting after a break as an Interpol inspector in Police Story 3: Supercop with Jackie Chan (1992). Then, in 1993, she was in a movie called “The Heroic Trio,” which made her a well-known action star (1994). But her willingness to do dangerous stunts caught up with her when she was making the 1996 movie The Stunt Woman. One jump she didn’t time right broke her back and cracked her ribs.
Star of Movies Around the World:
“Tomorrow Never Ends”
Even though Supercop was re-released in the U.S. in 1996, Yeoh really broke through as an international star with her role in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. It was also the last time she used the stage name Khan. Yeoh was the first Asian woman to play the main role in the long-running Bond series. She broke the typical mould of the Bond girl by giving Pierce Brosnan’s 007 super-agent a strong fighting partner.
“The Movie is called “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000)
Yeoh once again wowed audiences in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Her role as the conflicted warrior Yu Shu Lien showed off her graceful physical skills and her acting skills. Yeoh was nominated for a BAFTA for moving the Oscar-winning film forward, even though she had to learn her lines in a difficult older form of Cantonese and tore a knee ligament a week into filming.
“Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Reign of Assassins,” and “The Lady”
After working with Zhang Ziyi again in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), with whom she had worked in Crouching Tiger, Yeoh went on to play parts in the sci-fi cult favourite Sunshine and the survival epic Far North (2007). With Reign of Assassins (2010), she went back to her fighting roots in Hong Kong. Her role as Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady, in which she didn’t do any fighting, was also well-received (2011).
Examples:
Yeoh was hot as Eleanor Young, the tough matriarch of the Young family, in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), which was a big hit at the box office. It was Hollywood’s first movie with all Asian stars since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. She then played Ying Nan, Shang-mentor, Chi’s in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which came out in 2021 and was the first Marvel movie with an Asian actor in the main role (Simu Liu).
Leading Role in Hollywood:
The Malaysian star’s first leading role in Hollywood was in the genre-bending Everything Everywhere All at Once, which was written just for her (2022). As the troubled laundromat owner Evelyn Wang, Yeoh was praised for showing the real struggles of an older immigrant and for showing different levels of martial arts skill during the more fantastic parts of the story.
Shows on TV:
After 30 years of choreographed battles and big-picture dramas on the big screen, Yeoh became a double agent on Strike Back on Cinemax in 2015. Before joining Star Trek: Discovery in 2017 as Captain/Emperor Philippa Georgiou, a role that was meant to be a spin-off series, she had a recurring role on the Netflix historical drama Marco Polo.
Relationships and Getting Married:
Since 2004, Yeoh has been with Frenchman Jean Todt, who used to work for Ferrari. Now He is the president of the International Automobile Federation. She was married to Dickson Poon for four years, from 1988 to 1992.
Awards:
Yeoh was given the title “Tan Sri” by Malaysia in 2013 and “Commandeur de la Legion d’Honneur” by France in 2017. The actress also won an Excellence in Asian Cinema award at the 2013 Asian Film Awards. In 2020, she was named to both the Time 100 and BBC 100 Women of the Year lists.
Wide Range of Conservation Issues:
Yeoh is passionate about a wide range of conservation issues. She is a WildAid ambassador for endangered animals and a UNDP ambassador for sustainable development. She has also worked with AIDS-related groups and projects to make roads safer.
Home Town:
The actress has homes in Kuala Lumpur, Geneva, and Paris, so she spends time in all three cities. She likes to eat and wear jewelry (one of her rings gets a lot of attention in Crazy Rich Asians), and she likes to watch horror movies.