Michelle Yeoh picks the best movie of her career: “I needed to learn to transfer the energy”
Anyone who thinks iconic action stars can’t win Academy Awards for their acting efforts doesn’t need to look any further than Michelle Yeoh for evidence to the contrary, and she even won her Oscar by leaning into her reputation as a legend of martial arts cinema.
Her tour-de-force turn as Evelyn Wang in ‘Best Picture’ winner Everything Everywhere All at Once showcased the essence of Yeoh’s long-lasting stardom, allowing her to deliver a dramatic performance laced with pathos and tinged with regret while also giving her the leeway to kick voluminous amounts of ass along the way.
The crowning achievement of her career came almost 40 years after her film debut in 1984’s action comedy The Owl vs Bombo, but it wasn’t long before she was bumped up to headliner. In fact, it was only Yeoh’s third-ever screen credit where she played a leading role, instantly underlining her credentials as one of the genre’s brightest new stars in Cory Yuen’s Yes, Madam.
Teaming up with fellow action star Cynthia Rothrock as a pair of detectives unravelling the mystery behind a murder, the film’s critical and commercial success opened the doors to a slew of offers coming her way. Yeoh seized the opportunity with both hands, and as a result, she quickly emerged as one of Hong Kong’s leading lights in the martial arts arena.
To that end, when quizzed by The Hollywood Reporter to name her favourite roles from her own back catalogue, the first title to roll off the tip of Yeoh’s tongue was Yes, Madam, specifically because it was her first action movie. Not that she entered the acting business with designs on becoming an action hero, though, but she proved herself to be a very quick learner in that regard.
“I just needed to learn to transfer the energy, because a lot of times in dance it’s very inward and contained,” she said of taking the skills she’d acquired practising ballet and putting them to good use decimating small armies of interchangeable goons single-handedly. “Action is more about how you deliver that energy, pushing it forward.”
Audiences were equally surprised by her prowess after Yeoh revealed that when Yes, Madam premiered in front of an audience, they weren’t expecting a female lead to have such dazzling martial arts proficiency. “They expected that I would just pull a gun and say, ‘Stop or I’ll shoot!'” leaving the crowd equal parts taken aback and amazed when she proceeded to do a backflip and boot a henchman square in the chest.
After everything she’s gone on to accomplish in the decades since the first major leading role of Yeoh’s career remains the one she holds closest to her heart, which is fair enough when it set the stage for everything that was to come.