Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh recently gave an interview to a fashion magazine, sharing the journey of her acting career. From being a beauty pageant winner in Malaysia to becoming a martial arts superstar, she has accumulated decades of solid performances and roles, relying on 'focus and hard work'. She candidly admitted that when she first started her career in Hollywood, she was already a leading actress in Hong Kong cinema and felt somewhat proud. However, upon arriving in the US, she realized she had to queue for auditions for roles with 'two lines of dialogue', which made her completely let go of her martial arts star status from Hong Kong.
Michelle Yeoh enjoys the sense of achievement brought by high-intensity and high-pressure work, but there were times when she was so discouraged that she thought of giving up. While filming 'The Stunt Woman', she broke her back and shoulder neck, nearly becoming paralyzed due to the severity of the injury. This incident led her to reconsider her life's direction, pondering whether such grueling work was still suitable for her. However, when renowned director Quentin Tarantino personally visited her in Hong Kong and praised her performance in 'Yes Madam', especially highlighting an 'incredible scene of sliding backwards into a glass tube', this meeting reignited Yeoh's fighting spirit.
Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was undoubtedly a turning point in Michelle Yeoh's acting career. She said, 'People often ask Ang Lee, is Michelle Yeoh an action star? He always replies, no, she is an actress, a very good actress.' Whenever she picks up a script, Yeoh always envisions the role in her mind, a lesson she learned from working with Ang Lee. 'Ang Lee is like a great mentor, and his wife was the first to teach me to speak Chinese. I will never forget that period of time.'
News Source: United Daily News