Michelle Yeoh: Crushing barriers of age, gender and diversity

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is, for lack of a better phrase, “Everything everywhere at once.”

The 60-year-old Asian actress is making headlines for her portrayal of Evelyn Wang in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s hit film (known as “the Daniels”), for which she became the first Asian winner of a SAG Award and the second winner Asia for a Golden Globe for best actress. Her snub at the BAFTAs in February drew widespread ire, with many fans saying she was “robbed” of the award.

Now, she is the first Asian actress to receive an Oscar nomination for best actress. The ceremony will be on the 12th of March.

Her winning streak has also made her a role model for people of color, Asians, and women, especially those of “a certain age”.

In “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, Yeoh plays a harried immigrant wife and mother who faces an Inland Revenue Service (IRS) audit of the family laundry.

Things change when she discovers that there are multiple versions of the universe – and of herself – and they all face a threat that only her current avatar can stop. Thus, she finds herself navigating parallel realities and acquiring skills enhanced by different versions of herself.

In addition to showcasing Yeoh’s credentials gleaned from nearly 40 years of acting, the film’s success reflects his own tenacity in an industry that often writes stereotypical tropes for non-white actors.

From ballerina to beauty queen

Michelle Yeoh never set out to become an actress. Born and raised in Malaysia, she wanted to be a ballerina and was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, until a back injury put an end to her ambitions.

Then, in 1983, her mother, Janet, entered her in the Miss Malaysia/World pageant without her prior knowledge. Consequently, she ended up winning the contest. This soon led to appearances in Hong Kong commercials. The first was for Guy Laroche watches, featuring none other than the famous martial arts actor, Jackie Chan.

Film offers followed, and she rose to fame in the 1980s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action and martial arts films, where she performed her own stunts, such as “Yes Ma’am!” (1985), “Police Story 3: Supercop” (1992) and “Holy Weapon” (1993).

In an era before promoting “diversity and representation”, she originally worked under the stage name Michelle Khan – rather than her maiden name, Yeoh. This pseudonym was chosen by film production company D&B Films based on the belief that “Khan” would resonate better with international and Western audiences. She later reverted to using her own name.

Between Hong Kong and Hollywood

She briefly retired from acting in 1987 after marrying Hong Kong businessman Dickson Poon, who incidentally co-founded D&B Films, but resumed her career after they split in 1992.

She got her break in Hollywood in 1997 when she was cast opposite Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in “Tomorrow Never Dies” as the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly ranked her as the seventh best Bond girl, calling her an “experienced Chinese agent”, one of the few “female[e]n by heart to match wits with 007” and “the first one you can take seriously.”

However, despite breaking the mold of a typical Bond girl, Yeoh did not work for two years as Hollywood continued to offer her roles as “fragile Asian women”.

In a 2018 interview with GQ, she recalled, “When I came to make movies here, I very specifically remember someone saying, ‘If we cast an African-American lead, there’s no way we can cast him, because we can’t have two minorities. .'”

Geisha, Nobel laureate, metaverse surfer: she can portray them all

In an interview with TIME that named her their “2022 Icon of the Year”, she elaborated that Asian actors have long been given formulaic or inconsequential roles, and rarely top billing. “It shouldn’t be about my race, but it’s been a battle,” she said. “At least let me try.”

Then came Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000, where his martial arts background came to the fore.

She also played the majestic Mameha in “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005) and was a look-alike of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in “The Lady” (2011).

More recent successes include “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018) and roles in “Marvel”, “Star Trek”, “Transformers” and “The Witcher”.

But top billing eluded her until her role as Evelyn in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

In an interview with CNN on February 6, Yeoh revealed that the role was actually intended for Jackie Chan and that she was supposed to play his wife. But after Chan declined the offer, the two Daniels’ roles reversed history, making Yeoh the main character.

“It was so overwhelming at that point to get a script that said, ‘This is a very ordinary woman, an Asian immigrant, who is dealing with all the issues that we can all relate to,'” she said.

Iconic acceptance speeches

Meanwhile, Yeoh has also gained a reputation for witty and racy acceptance speeches that often refer to the barriers she’s breaking down.

When she won the Golden Globe in January, she recalled how impressed people in Hollywood were with her command of English. “Someone said to me ‘Do you speak English?’ I mean, forget they didn’t know Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Asia, India. And then I said, ‘Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours,'” she wryly recalled to laughs.

Upon accepting her SAG award in February, she said, “This isn’t just for me, this is for all the girls who look like me.”

She is widely tipped to win the Oscar and, in the lead-up to the event, she has discussed in interviews her nomination and how Asians now approach her with hopes that she will win.

“I think that’s beyond me. It represents so many who expected to be seen that way, to sit down at the table and say, ‘I’m worthy too, I need to be seen too.’

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier