Glad to have changed image of Asian women, says actress Michelle Yeoh

PANAJI, India: The journey from being just another Malaysian actress to a Bond Girl was not easy for actress Michelle Yeoh, but she is glad to have taken the task of changing the image of Asian women in the west.

“The journey was hard. I was entering an unknown territory. But I felt it was about time somebody took the initiative. Hollywood was very insular. They are the biggest market in the world so they don’t care about the rest of the world,” Yeoh told Press Trust of India (PTI) in an interview.

“When we first went there it was a great learning experience for me. In Asia we are so blessed everybody knows us, over there people were surprised that I could speak English,” she said on the sidelines of the just concluded International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The 50-year-old actress has starred in several Hollywood hits such as “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Crouching Tiger”, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “The Lady”, and attributed her success in Hollywood to her directors and producers who were more than willing to cast an Asian woman in prominent roles.

“I just never liked how Asian women have been depicted in films – as the weaker sex, fragile, always the more subservient one. I felt the need to change those views. But I think I was very fortunate. I met producers and directors and fellow actors who believed in that and who championed it with me,” she said.

“I could not have just gone up and said I wanted to be the next Bond girl. There were millions in the line. But the producers and directors had to be in that frame of mind that Asian girls can stand up and be an equal to James Bond. And I was lucky I was the chosen one,” she said.

Yeoh was guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the 10-day–long event. Her documentary film “Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey” on which she served as an executive producer was also screened at the festival.

The film directed by Wendy J N Lee chronicles an arduous 450-mile journey by Buddhist monks across the Himalayas led by his holiness Gyalwang Drukpa to spread the message of environmentalism.

In 2002, the actress made her production debut with “The Touch” and went on to produce several other films. When asked which role she enjoys the most, Yeoh said being a producer gives her the freedom to choose and not be on the mercy of others.

Yeoh said he is planning two feature films in India but nothing has been finalised yet.

“We are working on two movies which we hope to make in India. It is in development stages. Until we are ready we will not announce anything. I have great hopes of working in India,” she said. – Bernama