Michelle Yeohdidn’t make her way to an Academy Award all at once in 2023.
Her global stardom has been many years in the making 40, to be precise.
Admittedly for Yeoh, the waters weren’t calm when she first dipped her toes in Hollywood.
That’s why we’re here," she toldDeadline.
A true blue icon, we say.
Michelle Yeoh had a multicultural upbringing
Michelle Yeoh is a product of many cultures.
Born in Malaysia, she traces her heritage back to China through her parents.
Now that Yeoh is older and can go on dates alone!
romance has taken her across the world.
Especially to Geneva and Paris, two places she calls home, courtesy of her longtime partner Jean Todt.
She dreamt of becoming a ballerina with a dance studio of her own.
During her teens, she set off in pursuit of her ambitions to the United Kingdom.
Yeoh notably attended classes at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dance.
She also studied drama, of which she wasn’t exactly a fan.
Stage fright gripped her and, as she revealed toThe Hollywood Reporter, she bunked classes frequently.
We’d love to know what they made of her Oscar win.
After her stint in London, the younger Yeoh made her way back to her Malaysian homeland.
Not to Yeoh, whose mother expresses love by doing things for her.
“She still treats me like I’m six …
The commercial, dating back to 1984, was Yeoh’s first screen appearance.
Yeoh and Chan came together in 1992 to co-star in “Police Story 3: Supercop.”
Both high-kicking martial artists who achieved international stardom, Yeoh and Chan didn’t lose touch over the years.
In fact, they josh around quite a bit.
And Yeoh replied, “Your loss, my bro!”
Her decision was apparently personal, influenced by her struggle to juggling many roles at once.
But life had other plans.
Yeoh could not conceive children, and the circumstances accounted for Yeoh and Poon parting ways in 1991.
She did find love again in 2004, with French auto racing honcho Jean Todt.
The couple has beenengaged for nearly two decades.
She was left seriously injured.
Her risk-prone profession hasn’t deterred Yeoh from giving it her all.
Physical strain isn’t the only consequence of Yeoh’s work.
It also marked Yeoh’s Hollywood debut.
“They would talk very loudly and very slow,” she recalled.
“Look at this face.
“Yeah the flight over here was about 13 hours long so I learnt,” she quipped.
When directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert approached Yeoh with the story, she sensed they were unnerved.
Yeoh is not sure what about her leads people to believe she is intimidating.
We bet it’s her track record as a badass martial artist who can take anyone down.
I can beat you up, okay?
Yeoh’s colleagues have often gushed about her agreeable nature, including Scheinert ,whom she apparently daunted.
And the world couldn’t be more grateful for it.
The action star’s portfolio is dominated by characters who don’t crack a smile so easily.
Throughout her career, Yeoh has fought long and hard for a place at Hollywood’s homogenous table.
“Everything” was a vehicle toward that goal, and she drove it across the finish line.
“NBC Newspointed out that Asians tally up to just about one percent of all Oscar nominations.
The tide is, hopefully, changing.
It just goes to show we will win the battle and that’s what we’re doing.”
“And without them, none of us will be here tonight.”
Nevertheless, Yeoh’s celebrity doesn’t insulate her from the motherly rebukes every daughter endures.
From racism to sexism, she has kept up her advocacy for roles that neither stereotype nor objectify.
As she grew older, she added another cause to her dossier: ageism.
Of course, she’s right on point.
“And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime.
Never give up.”
As ever, Yeoh tackles it with spunk: “Do not tell me what to do.
I should be in control of what I am capable of, right?”
