Michelle Yeoh Says ‘Wicked’ Is “Reflective of Our Society,” “I Kicked Myself to Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” and Calls for More Chances for Women

Michelle Yeoh discussed Everything Everywhere All at Once, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, James Bond, Crazy Rich Asians, and, of course, Wicked, as well as Jon Chu, Jackie Chan and Ang Lee at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. And she addressed how she has battled against stereotypes of Asian women, and fought for better female representation and more diversity, while urging Hollywood gatekeepers to do more to ensure more opportunities for women and diversity.

“I kicked myself to shattering the glass ceiling, right?” she said at the end of a wide-ranging discussion. “We are beginning to see changes,” such as more diversity, more women, including behind the camera, and bolder stories being told.

Asked about her message to Hollywood gatekeepers with greenlighting power, she didn’t hesitate: “As storytellers, as filmmakers, especially as women, what we’re saying is ‘just give us equal opportunities. Let us prove ourselves.’ If we can’t have a seat at the table because we are not capable, then that’s one thing. But we’re not even given a seat, we’re not even given the opportunity to try.” She concluded: “Open the gates and let us in!”

The first Asian woman to win the Oscar for best actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once pulled back the curtain on key aspects of her career, Hollywood and life during an “In Conversation With” session where she was greeted with a big round of applause and cheers.

“What the hell is going on!?” she said in describing her reaction to reading the Everything Everywhere script, which led her to want to meet the filmmaking duo the Daniels. They originally wrote it for Chan, she shared, noting that male stars often still make projects easier to get financed and greenlit.

Lauding her working relationship with director Chu, she said he “can throw the phone book at me, and I’ll read” (a script) as she was asked about box office sensation Wicked. Yeoh recalled telling him that she doesn’t usually sing and never met Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande before but signed on when they sent her a video telling her “It’s imperative that you join us.”

The resulting film “is a truly immersive cinematic experience,” she offered. Describing the co-protagonists of the movie as yin and yang who fit together perfectly, she called the movie “a journey of self-discovery.” Its message: “You need to defy gravity and love who you are,” and maybe others will then love you, too.

Yeoh sees the modern world, including the importance people assign to power and fame, reflected in the film. “There’s so much in that story that…started, not today, but 20 years ago,” she offered. “And I think every day we see more and more of it being reflective of our society and what we face. We are afraid to show our true self.” She added about the film’s characters: “I see them reflected in so many of some leaders in the world” who also have dreams and ambition, but “they are completely blinded” by hopes of being the most powerful and what that could lead to.

“I come from a very multiracial society” in Malaysia, the star shared early in Thursday’s session, adding that she was raised on “world cinema,” similar to youth in Saudi Arabia. After starting as a dancer, back problems led her to give up her dream of becoming a ballerina to focus on choreography. “And then I discovered stage fright,” Yeoh explained. “I would be petrified and wouldn’t be able to sleep. So I thought maybe acting wasn’t my forte.”

But doing a commercial in Hong Kong, she met Chan and was offered a film contract. “Why not?!” she recalled her reaction. “It was baptism by fire,” she then shared about that golden age of martial arts and action movies in Hong Kong. As she enjoyed sports and dancing, the films played to her strengths. Mentioning that back in those days, there would be only five minutes of rehearsals for fight scenes, she said Hong Kong was a great way to prepare her for the future.

But not all was to her liking. “The guys were very protective of damsels,” she recalled, leading her to want to prove to them that “girls can step up to the plate and deserve to be next to them.” The comment drew much applause.

“I don’t think of it with nostalgia,” she said about that period. But she shared that she will in a few weeks go to Hong Kong, which she described as “my second home,” and “do a movie on that side of the world.” She and friends are working to open up opportunities for new voices and talents, she explained.

Being cast in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies opened the door to the international stage for her. But before Crouching Tiger, she said no to various roles, including because they featured roles she described as “stereotypical” Asian female characters. “Being able to say ‘no’ is so powerful,” Yeoh shared in that context.

She called Crouching Tiger director Lee “the master” and “a poet” who is “so deliberate and nuanced” and has such passion for filmmaking. When he told her he wanted to make Sense and Sensibility with martial arts, she only asked “when.” Her spoken Mandarin required her to use a tutor though, she quipped, saying: “I was hopeless.”

So how is Lee as a director and person? “Ang is a very serious person,” Yeoh shared. “He doesn’t joke.” When he showed her a wall full of weapons and said she would use them all for a scene in Crouching Tiger, for example, she chuckled before realizing he was serious.

“Ang works with the process of being very immersive with your character,” she added. For example, to prepare a castmember for playing a character who knows calligraphy, he will ask the actor to learn or train in that skill, the actress explained.

She also recalled getting injured so badly on set once that she had to sit on a wheelbarrow for final king fu scenes for a movie. But when she got injured on Crouching Tiger, Lee gave her time to get better and said he’d wait for her recovery. She also shared that Lee put all his savings into the film, which left him so exhausted that he needed a wheelchair at the end.

How about the reaction to the Oscar-winning film? “Maybe America wasn’t ready for it,” Yeoh offered, noting that it was suggested to Lee he make the film in English, which he declined to do. “You lose the integrity. You have to tell it in the original form,” the actress explained. “Try to see it for what it is” and open your mind to learning about a different culture.

Asked about Crazy Rich Asians, Yeoh said with a chuckle that “it ticked all the wrong boxes” at the time, from the fact it was a romantic comedy to the all-Asian cast. “Why do you just spoon-feed your audience?” she asked, and urged creators to be bold and challenge expectations, which she has always found important in her own work. And she said that Netflix made the movie possible. The film also “gave me an opportunity to play a mother who is very recognizable,” she said, adding she felt playing a scary mother was “kind of cool.”

The actress is among the big stars appearing during the fourth edition of RSIFF. Others include Viola Davis, Emily Blunt, Olivia Wilde, Andrew Garfield, Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and jury president Spike Lee.

Yeoh’s Wicked co-star Erivo earlier in the festival day also discussed the film’s success and decried the cyberbullying of co-star Ariana Grande.