The G.O.A.T. Michelle Yeoh has had a significant 2023 thanks to numerous honours she received for the most recent performance in her outstanding career. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know that she recently became the first Asian woman to ever win Best Actress at the Academy Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards; and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes.
Despite turning 61 this year, Michelle Yeoh is a stunning and elegant beauty – but she is more widely celebrated for her incredible acting skills. The Ipoh-born actress has constantly depicted powerful female characters in the more than 50 movies she’s appeared in throughout the years. Even more impressive is the fact that she made a seamless shift from cinematic martial arts blockbusters to character-driven films.
She made a strong case for this in her most recent performance in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. If you haven’t seen this amazing film, drop everything and watch it NOW. Then watch Michelle Yeoh’s other notable hits as an homage to her remarkable career – you’ll have a blast! So here are her movies you can binge watch for days!
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The movie explores the idea of parallel universes and follows Michelle as a suffering Asian-American woman named Evelyn, who must negotiate various versions of herself in order to save the multiverse from oblivion. With its investigation of several universes and attention to a strong female lead, Everything Everywhere All At Once presents a novel perspective on the science-fiction subgenre. Fans of the genre and anyone searching for an engaging and thought-provoking movie experience will love the film’s original plot and gorgeous cinematography.
This movie had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim for its original plot and Michelle Yeoh’s compelling performance. Also, it broke the record for the most nominations for a single film by receiving seven of the eleven Academy Award nominations. The most captivating thing in this movie is how Michelle Yeoh embraces the lead role. It’s a simple storyline with lots of twists and turns but nonetheless, she manages to bring it all together.
Crazy Rich Asians
If you want an Asian mother who makes you get so mad, Michelle will give you that.
Michelle Yeoh plays the supporting role of Elanor Young, a member of an affluent Singaporean family who opposes her son’s relationship, in this book-to-film adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel. Her persona is portrayed as an Asian woman with a no-nonsense outlook and one who tries anything and everything to keep Rachel Chu away from her son. Michelle’s portrayal was praised for its complexity and nuance. Trust us when we say this: Michelle’s performance gives all the Asian red flags you’re probably very familiar with.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is a must-see for Marvel fans. In this Marvel superhero flick, Michelle Yeoh plays Ying Nan, a magical warrior who aids Shang-Chi, the film’s protagonist, in his quest to stop the leader of the Ten Rings organisation. Her quirky persona demonstrates her ability to give depth and complexity to her characters, and she has a fascinating presence on screen. Also, this movie represents another turning point in Hollywood’s image of Asians. It is the ideal choice for you if you want to reenter the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Chiyo Sakamoto, aged 9, is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house at the start of the novel. She suffers from harsh circumstances, but when she meets Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), her life is changed. This movie not only gives you a peek into the life of geishas and the struggle they go through, but highlights how much the actors themselves have to go through to make this movie a success.
In an interview, it was revealed that both Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi had only 6 weeks to learn what geishas spend a lifetime perfecting. Just for the movie, there was a series of rehearsal spaces-cum-classrooms near the California set in which Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi trained to become geishas. Can you believe it? 7 rooms of torture! From learning how to pour tea, to walking and bowing – the process they went through to perfect the role was unbelievable. The outcome? Divine!
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
This movie goes back to ancient China, where a violent and tyrannical warlord named Qin Shi Huang created an empire out of the kingdoms of ancient China, becoming known as The Dragon Emperor. Years later, he starts to worry that his accomplishments may be lost when he passes away. When he learns that Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh), a sorcerer, is rumoured to know the key to immortality, he orders one of his henchman to bring her to the palace.
A forbidden love forms, leading the emperor to execute the henchman and stabbing Zi Yuan. After revealing that she had predicted these events, Zi Yuan immolates and imprisons the Emperor, transforming his army into the Terracotta Army, and the sorceress leaves. She re-enters the scene when Li, Zi Yuan’s daughter, brings the injured group to her safe place.
Yeoh gets to demonstrate both her acting and martial arts prowess in this film, with a side story centred on her close friendship with Lin and her bond with Lin’s father in the opening flashback scene. Even though there is only a slight echo of what Yeoh does as a character in Everything Everywhere All at Once or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it’s still more depth than she receives in many of her action flicks.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In this film, Michelle Yeoh’s prowess in making martial arts movies is clearly on exhibit. Michelle Yeoh stars as Yu Shu Lien, a warrior searching for a stolen sword. Her performance received widespread recognition for its grace and elegance.
In addition to winning four Academy Awards, this martial arts film gained recognition on a global scale. The movie’s success helped to introduce Chinese cinema to a global audience and opened the door for other martial arts films to become well-known on a global scale. It is renowned for its amazing visuals, breathtaking action scenes, and magnificent cinematography.
