Michelle Yeoh, born on August 6, 1962, in Ipoh, Malaysia, is an actress who has challenged stereotypes and contributed significantly to Asian representation in Hollywood. She grew up with her parents Janet Yeoh and Yeoh Kian-teik, who had been loving and supportive towards Michelle since she was young. Michelle grew up speaking English to her family as her father was a Senator of Malaysia while her mother was a housewife. In her teenage years, she studied at Main Convent Ipoh as a secondary school student. With natural talent and passion for ballet, Michelle was a dancer and moved to the United Kingdom at 15 to train as a professional dancer at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. Unfortunately, she suffered a spinal injury that cut her ballet career short.
Upon completing her studies at the Manchester Metropolitan University in 1983, Michelle originally planned to open a ballet school, except her mother helped her apply to the Miss Malaysia pageant. Securing victory in the competition was a pivotal moment in Michelle's life, as this marked the beginning of her career in the public eye. As she slowly rose to fame, she landed a TV commercial with Jackie Chan. Since she wasn’t fluent in Cantonese, she was unaware that her costar, “Sing Lung”, was Jackie Chan himself. This collaboration not only captured the attention of Hong Kong but also set the stage for Michelle Yeoh's illustrious career in the entertainment industry.
Michelle Yeoh learned Cantonese and became a film star in Hong Kong through filming several martial arts films. She was known for performing her own stunts in action-packed movies, showing the world that women could be intelligent and powerful long before Hollywood considered creating strong and independent female characters. During her time in Hong Kong, she married Dickson Poon in 1987, a co-founder of a local film production company, and retired for a few years in hopes to raise a family. However, the couple separated shortly after their fifth anniversary. Michelle later disclosed that it was too difficult to take care of a family and excel in her career simultaneously, and she was unable to bear children while her ex-husband wanted heirs to pass on his business. This marked the end of Michelle’s early retirement from the entertainment industry, and she continued to star in both Asian films and Hollywood projects.
As Michelle Yeoh returned to the silver screen, she played an intelligent spy in 1997 in Tomorrow Never Dies. Through this film, she was able to capture global stardom from her acting and stunt skills, and continued to rise in fame from Hidden Dragon in 2000. During the next two decades, Michelle played important roles in numerous successful movies and series. Not only was she part of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but she also reached another level of stardom when she played the conservative matriarch in Crazy Rich Asians. Combining her success in the series Star Trek and Marvel’s Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it was no surprise that Michelle Yeoh was cast as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All At Once, in which martial arts was also incorporated into the movie.
Everything Everywhere All At Once was a movie meant for Michelle Yeoh. Even the writers of the movie wrote Evelyn Wang with Michelle in mind, and the premise of the story was right up her alley. With years of experience in martial arts and having dabbled in some sci-fi or superhero movies, Michelle truly let her plethora of talents shine in this movie; her character was an Asian laundromat owner, who learnt to express her love to her daughter through the multiverse. The movie touched many hearts, showing how mothers carry the weight of the world for their children and families. In truth, if it weren’t for Michelle’s mother signing her up for pageant contests, Michelle might not have discovered this path, where she was the leading role in a movie at 60 and won Best Actress at the Oscars in 2023.
On top of her artistic talent, Michelle Yeoh’s compassion for people is shown in her contributions outside of entertainment. Michelle is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, where she promotes sustainable development. Her most notable volunteering work is consistently helping relief efforts in Nepal and other countries after experiencing the Nepal earthquake with her partner, Jean Todt, who is the CEO of Scuderia Ferrari. She also wisely utilised her voice to stress the importance of representation and women’s rights by actively attending interviews and giving speeches in relevant public events.
After all the success that the Oscar-winning movie has brought to her life, Michelle finally tied the knot with her fiancé, Jean Todt, on July 27, 2023. The couple has been engaged for 19 years and had a private wedding in Geneva. Michelle currently lives with her husband in Geneva, and spends her free time with Todt’s family and her side of the family in Malaysia too.
While most people know that Michelle Yeoh has recently won the Oscars and emphasised representation in the media, most forget that she has been bridging the East and West long before society has brought up conversations about representation. In fact, she has been breaking stereotypes through martial arts films long before superhero movies became a prominent genre featuring strong women. Michelle Yeoh’s talent and achievements are known to all, but her selflessness and ambitiousness are what made her continue to succeed and improve in life. During her speech at the Oscars, she addressed the audience, "Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up." Her success is proof that Asian women also belong on the biggest stages, that our stories are complex and just as deserving to be told in movies, even if you are an immigrant and a laundromat owner.
Why Did I Choose to Research Michelle Yeoh?
Growing up in Hong Kong, I've seen Michelle in legendary movies long before she became one of the most well known actors in the world. I want people to know that she has been an amazing and hardworking person since the start of her career. Seeing her making history with "Everything Everywhere All At Once" at 60 years old really inspired me to be ambitious and work harder to prove to myself that I’m capable of doing what I want.
Works Cited
IMDB. (2023). Everything Everywhere All At Once. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6710474/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_everything
Lee, J. (2023, January). 「女人永遠不要相信妳的巔峰狀態已過！」奧斯卡影后楊紫瓊從美貌習慣看出她對自我的高要求。https://www.vogue.com.tw/beauty/article/楊紫瓊美貌習慣
Tikkanen, A. (2024, July 22). Michelle Yeoh | Biography, Movies, & Facts. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Yeoh
UNDP. (2024). Goodwill Ambassadors and Advocates: Michelle Yeoh. https://www.undp.org/goodwill-ambassadors/michelle-yeoh
Utichi, J. (2023, March 1). ‘Everything’ Is Set For Michelle Yeoh, SAG’s Newly-Crowned Best Actress Winner, But “We Mustn’t Take Our Foot Off The Pedal.” https://deadline.com/2023/03/michelle-yeoh-interview-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-1235272898/
This article was published on 9/6/24