Michelle Yeoh's career progressed with roles in Memoirs of a Geisha, Sunshine, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Reign of Assassins, Kung Fu Panda 2, and The Lady, in which she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi.
53 Facts About Michelle Yeoh
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Michelle Yeoh played supporting roles in the romantic comedies Crazy Rich Asians and Last Christmas, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
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Michelle Yeoh starred in the television series Star Trek: Discovery and The Witcher: Blood Origin.
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Michelle Yeoh's father was elected as a Senator of Malaysia from 1959 to 1969, the Chairman of the Perak Bar Association, and the founder of "Sri Maju" in 1975, a major intercity coach service in Malaysia and Singapore.
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Michelle Yeoh learned to speak Cantonese fluently in the 1980s and some Mandarin in the 2000s.
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Michelle Yeoh was keen on dance from an early age, beginning ballet at age four.
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Michelle Yeoh studied at Main Convent Ipoh, an all-girls secondary school, as a primary student.
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Michelle Yeoh later studied at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, majoring in ballet.
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Michelle Yeoh received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative arts with a minor in drama in 1982.
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In 1983, twenty-year-old Michelle Yeoh won the Miss Malaysia World contest.
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Michelle Yeoh was Malaysia's representative at Miss World 1983 pageant in London, where she placed eighteenth.
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Michelle Yeoh's first acting work was in a television commercial for Guy Laroche watches with Jackie Chan.
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Michelle Yeoh learned to speak Cantonese as she began her career in Hong Kong.
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Michelle Yeoh began her film career acting in action and martial arts films, in which she performed most of her own stunts.
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Michelle Yeoh was credited as Michelle Khan in these earlier films.
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Michelle Yeoh returned to acting with Police Story 3: Super Cop after having divorced Poon.
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Michelle Yeoh appeared in The Heroic Trio, and the Yuen Woo-ping films Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun in 1993 and 1994, respectively.
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Michelle Yeoh changed her stage name back to Michelle Yeoh when she started her Hollywood career with Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997.
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Michelle Yeoh referred to her as a "female James Bond" in reference to her combat abilities.
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Michelle Yeoh wanted to perform her own stunts but was prevented because director Roger Spottiswoode considered it too dangerous.
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Michelle Yeoh was approached by director Ang Lee to star as Yu Shu Lien in her first Mandarin-language martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
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Michelle Yeoh did not speak Mandarin until the 2000s, and she had to learn the Mandarin lines for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon phonetically.
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In 2002, Michelle Yeoh produced her first English film, The Touch, through her own production company Mythical Films.
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In 2005, Michelle Yeoh starred as Mameha in the film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha, and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with Sunshine.
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In 2008, Michelle Yeoh starred in the fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.
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Michelle Yeoh was blacklisted by the Burmese government allegedly because of her participation in The Lady; she was refused entry to Myanmar on 22 June 2011 and was deported on the same day.
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In October 2011, Michelle Yeoh was chosen by Guerlain to be its skincare ambassador.
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Michelle Yeoh's role was to help strengthen the French cosmetics company's relationship with Asia.
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In 2016, Michelle Yeoh was cast as Starfleet Captain Philippa Georgiou of the starship USS Shenzhou in the series Star Trek: Discovery, and recurs as Georgiou's "mirror" doppelganger later in the show.
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Michelle Yeoh went on to play the role for three seasons, garnering critical acclaim and becoming a fan favorite.
31.
In 2018, Yeoh played family matriarch Eleanor Young in Jon M Chu's Crazy Rich Asians, a film adaptation of Kevin Kwan's book of the same name, opposite Constance Wu and Henry Golding.
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Michelle Yeoh played Ying Nan in Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.
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In 2022, Michelle Yeoh starred in the science fiction surreal comedy film Everything Everywhere All at Once from filmmaking duo Daniels, released in March to critical acclaim.
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Michelle Yeoh became the first Malaysian to be nominated for and win an Academy Award, and the first Asian and second "woman of color" to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
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Michelle Yeoh is set to appear in the upcoming Disney+ series American Born Chinese, based on the book of the same name by Gene Luen Yang.
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Michelle Yeoh is set to star in A Haunting in Venice directed by Kenneth Branagh and as Madame Morrible in the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked directed by Jon M Chu.
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Michelle Yeoh was married to Hong Kong entrepreneur Dickson Poon, owner of businesses such as Harvey Nichols and Charles Jourdan, from 1988 to 1992.
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In 1998, Michelle Yeoh was engaged to Alan Heldman, an American cardiologist.
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Michelle Yeoh is a patron of the Save China's Tigers project committed to protecting the endangered South China tiger.
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Michelle Yeoh's activism extends to health and well-being issues, ranging from AIDS to road safety, through organizations including Live to Love and American Foundation for AIDS Research.
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Michelle Yeoh expressed her support for Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and the coalition Barisan Nasional ahead of the 2013 Malaysian general election.
42.
On 25 November 2002, Michelle Yeoh was honored as The Outstanding Young People of the World by JCI.
43.
Michelle Yeoh was promoted to Officer of the same French Order by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 14 March 2012 at a ceremony held at the president's residence, the Elysee Palace on that day, and promoted to Commander, the highest honour available to non-French citizens, by Francois Hollande at the official residence of the French Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.
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On 22 May 2012, Michelle Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak which carries the title Dato' Seri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's birthday.
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Michelle Yeoh received the Excellence in Asian Cinema award during the 7th Asian Film Awards in March 2013 in Hong Kong.
46.
On 1 June 2013, Michelle Yeoh was awarded the Panglima Setia Mahkota which carries the title Tan Sri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah.
47.
On 30 November 2013, Michelle Yeoh presided as the Chief Guest at the International Film Festival of India.
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On 12 February 2016, Michelle Yeoh was made an of the by the French ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first Malaysian citizen to receive that honour.
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Michelle Yeoh was included in the BBC's 100 Women list of 2020.
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Michelle Yeoh was placed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
51.
On 13 August 2022, Michelle Yeoh received an honorary doctorate of fine arts degree from the American Film Institute for her contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image.
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Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian artist to receive the honor.
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On 9 December 2022, Michelle Yeoh received the Kirk Douglas Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.