Michelle Yeoh
Biography
Born as Yang Zi Qiong in the mining town of Ipoh, in West Malaysia, in the lunar year of the Tiger, Michelle is the daughter of Janet Yeoh and Yeoh Kian Teik, a lawyer and politician. She is of Han Chinese (Hokkien) descent, and spoke English and Malay before Chinese. A ballet dancer since age 4, she moved to London, England to study at the Royal Academy as a teenager. After a brief dance career, she won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title in her native country and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1980s. Her first on camera work was a 1984 commercial with martial arts star Jackie Chan. In 1985, she began making action movies with D&B Films of Hong Kong. She was first billed as Michelle Khan, then later, Michelle Yeoh. Never a trained martial artist, she relied on her dance discipline and her on-set trainers to prepare for her martial arts action scenes.
She uses many dance moves in her films. She still does most of her own stunts and has been injured many times. Ironically, she still cannot read Chinese and she has to have Chinese script read to her. In 1988, she married wealthy D&B Films executive Dickson Poon and retired from acting. Even though they divorced in 1992, she is close to Poon's second wife and a godmother to Poon's daughter. When she returned to acting, she became very popular to Chinese audiences and she became known to western audiences through her co-starring roles in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' directed by Ang Lee. She turned down a role in a sequel to The Matrix (1999).
She has her own production company, Mythical Films and has trained with the Shen Yang Acrobatic team for her role in The Touch (2002), an English language film she is both starring in and producing. She hopes to use her company to discover and nurture new film-making talent. She also wants to act in roles that combine both action and deeper spiritual themes.
Family
Trivia
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
One of the only female stars whom Jackie Chan lets do her own stunts.
A former Miss Malaysia, she got her start in acting in a commercial with Jackie Chan.
Miss Malaysia [1983]
Fought her way to the top in the male-dominated genre of Hong Kong action films, where she has been known for years as the "queen of martial arts".
Has a Bachelor's Degree in Dance from the Royal Academy of Dance (London, England).
One of the highest paid Chinese-language actresses in the world.
Highest paid actress in Asia.
Released a single CD in 1993, "Love Quite Like a Comet", from her movie Butterfly and Sword (1993).
Surname, "Yeoh" is pronounced "yo".
She is currently engaged to Jean Todt, who became the President of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in 2009. [2008]
She speaks 3 languages, English, Malay and Cantonese. However, she can't read Chinese and relies on pinyin (a system of phonetic notation) to pronounce words. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), she uses pinyin to recite her lines (with help from Mandarin speaking crew members) in Mandarin as she doesn't speak the language.
Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.
In 2001, she was given the title of "dato'" by the Sultan of Perak, her native state. "Dato'" is an honorary Malaysian title somewhat like an English knighthood, and it lies below the ranks of "Dato' Seri," "Tan Sri" and "Tun."
Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1999.
Was a very close friend to Anita Mui since early 1990s. She also hosted a memorial event for Mui in 2007.
In October 2007, was named a Chevalier of the French Legion d'Honneur, for her contributions to international culture.
Only the second Asian actress to play the major James Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). The first one was Mie Hama in You Only Live Twice (1967), thirty years earlier.
Personal Quotes
The reason why I decided to wait two years after the Bond movie, and to work with Ang Lee in a martial arts movie, is because I really believe that this genre deserves more respect and dignity than it's ever been given. Before, people saw it as a fairy tale; they felt they could take it easy. But it shouldn't be about that. It's so steeped in our culture, it should have more depth to it. It's never easy to find that balance, when it's such a magical type of film, to make you accept our soaring to the skies . . . it was a risk, but when we did this movie, it was for a Western audience.
Learning how to walk in a kimono was an art form in itself - if you didn't learn to do it properly it was like dragging a dead cat across the floor! We had to walk with a piece of paper between your knees and a tea tray balanced on your head.
In Asia, we constantly play Koreans, Malay, Chinese. We do not question that, as you do not question an Englishman playing an American or a German.
I prefer to be kicked four or five times well, you know, hard, than twenty or twenty five times not so good...
[on playing Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady (2011)] If there is one thing I learned from this experience it's you need to believe in people, and their ability to grow and to change. You can never give up hope.
My career in the movie business began in Hong Kong, my heart has always been tied to Asia, and it is immensely gratifying to see international recognition for Asian cinema as a whole.
If you read a lot of Chinese literature, there has always been very strong women figures - warriors, swordswomen - who defended honor and loyalty with the men. So, it's not new to our culture - it's always been very much a part of it. It's good that now the Western audience would have a different image of the Chinese women.
