LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Michelle Yeoh, one of the most celebrated action stars in recent times, has always been vocal about women’s empowerment in showbiz. Since the start of her career, the 60-year-old Oscar-winning actor has been defying gender stereotypes with her dynamic stunt-heavy roles. Currently, Yeoh is gearing up for the release of 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts', in which she will be heard presenting the voice of the fan-favorite Airazor.
The ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ star started her career in dance and beauty pageants in the 1980s when she won the Miss Malaysia World contest. However, due to a severe injury, she was forced to steer her career toward acting, where she immediately jumped into action and martial arts roles despite a lack of proper training. Yeoh has flaunted her fighting skills in dozens of iconic martial arts movies including ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘The Stunt Woman’, ‘Supercop’, and ‘Yes, Madam’. She is most known to American viewers for her roles in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, and the most recent ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.
'You’re a fine one to ask me to stop'
After a slew of her blockbusters, Yeoh was paired with Jackie Chan, who was rising to success at that time. The duo first met in the mid-1980s during a television commercial shoot. Later, they went on to work together in the 1992 film ‘Police Story 3: Super Cop’, in which she played the second lead. During the filming of the action flick, the two action stars encountered a string of incidents, including one where Chan saved Yeoh’s life while performing a dangerous stunt. Reflecting on their time together, Yeoh once revealed how she changed Chan’s misogynistic view that women belong to the kitchen.
The 'Shang Chi' star told the Guardian that during the filming of ‘Supercop’, Chan, who has admitted to not always treating women with respect, asked her not to perform the crazy stunts for their movie. “I told him, ‘You’re a fine one to ask me to stop! You’re always doing them.' He said, ‘That’s because when you do one, I have to go one better.’ The pressure was on him, poor dude,” she said. Later in the conversation, Michelle Yeoh was asked, “Is it true he thinks women belong in the kitchen rather than in action movies?” She agreed and said, “He used to. Until I kicked his b*tt.”
'A male chauvinistic pig'
Yeoh and Chan have always shared a competitive relationship, never missing an opportunity to compliment or make fun of each other. The ‘Crazy Rich Asians' star once even called Chan a “chauvinistic pig” on national TV. “No, actually he’s a male chauvinistic pig. Jackie and I are very good friends. I say this to him, you know, to his face … He always believes that women should stay at home and cook and don’t do anything and be the victim … ‘Except for Michelle now,’ he said because I would kick his butt,” she said during an appearance on ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ in 1997.
