Age: 59
Birthday: 6th August
Michelle Yeoh is a Malaysian actress who rose to fame in 1990s Hong Kong action films and is best known internationally for her roles in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Ang Lee's Academy Award-winning martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
Born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, to a Malaysian Chinese family, Yeoh won the 1983 Miss Malaysia pageant at the age of 20. She later achieved fame in the early 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films in which she performed her own stunts. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her work in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Yeoh has appeared in many English, Mandarin and Cantonese language films. Her other works include Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016), and The Lady (2011), in which she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2018, she starred in the American romantic comedy-drama film, Crazy Rich Asians, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of its ensemble. She has also co-starred in the 2019 film Last Christmas. Yeoh was cast as original character Ying Nan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). She received universal critical acclaim for her leading role in the 2022 science fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once.
On television, Yeoh is known for her role in the Star Trek franchise as Philippa Georgiou in the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery from 2017 to 2020. An untitled spin-off series was announced in 2019.
BAFTA AWARD NOMINATIONS: 1
2001 - Best Leading Actress - CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
How do you rate Michelle Yeoh's films?
WATCH MICHELLE YEOH THIS WEEK
ON TV:
FILM: Crazy Rich Asians (2018) (Age 12)
Saturday 21st May, BBC1, 11:05pm
Yeoh stars in this romantic comedy starring Constance Wu and Henry Golding. New Yorker Rachel Chu travels to Singapore with her partner, Nick, for a friend's wedding, and discovers that Nick's family is hugely wealthy. They also expect him to remain in Singapore to inherit their hotel business - a plan that, as Nick's imperious mother Eleanor makes quite clear, does not involve Rachel.
ON NETFLIX..
FILM: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
Yeoh is outstanding in this romantic action adventure. One of our favourite films! She returned for the sequel, 16 years later...
Daniel (Age 11) - ★★★1/2
"This film was decent. The storyline was gripping and it had a great ending but at some points I found it a bit confusing and hard to follow. Some of the fight scenes were amazing, especially the ones with the sword but I didn't like the flying bits."
Read more HERE
FILM: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Yeoh is the voice of Soothsayer in this kun fu inspired animated family comedy.
ON AMAZON PRIME...
FILM: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Yeoh was even a Bond Girl in the '90s!
ON DISNEY+
Yeoh appears in 2 different roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though really Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is more of a cameo).
Erin (Age 12) - ★★★★ 1/2
'Shang-Chi has many twists and turns and it’s a very laughable movie but my favourite part was when there was life threatening creatures flying after them. I would recommend it.'
Read more HERE
What's your favourite Michelle Yeoh performance?
Make sure you are booked in for this week's DRAMA CLASSES
Mix Up Theatre provide drama classes Online for anyone aged 12-18 (can be based anywhere!)
and in-person drama classes for ages 3-18 throughout Scotland.
