Michelle Yeoh
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Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, and received various accolades, including an
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and a
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, in addition to nominations for two
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. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early films, she rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s after starring in Hong Kong action and
martial arts films Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...
where she performed her own stunts. These roles included '' Yes, Madam'' (1985), '' Magnificent Warriors'' (1987), '' Police Story 3: Super Cop'' (1992), '' The Heroic Trio'', '' Tai Chi Master'' (both 1993), and ''
Wing Chun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...
'' (1994). After moving to the United States, Yeoh gained international recognition for starring in the
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film ''
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'' (1997) and in
Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...
's
wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...
martial arts film '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000); the latter gained her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her Hollywood career progressed with roles in '' Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), '' Sunshine'' (2007), and '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008). She continued to appear in Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, starring in '' True Legend'', '' Reign of Assassins'' (both 2010), '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny'' (2016), and '' Master Z: Ip Man Legacy'' (2018). In 2011, she portrayed
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
in the British biographical film '' The Lady''. Yeoh played supporting roles in the romantic comedies '' Crazy Rich Asians'' (2018) and '' Last Christmas'' (2019), as well as in the
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film ''
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'' (2021) and the television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'' (2017–2020). Her voice acting work has included '' Kung Fu Panda 2'' (2011), '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'', '' Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank'' (both 2022), '' Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'' (2023) and '' The Tiger's Apprentice'' (2024). For her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in '' Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022), she won the
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
, becoming the first Asian to win the category, and the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award. She has since featured in the mystery film '' A Haunting in Venice'' (2023) and the musical fantasy film '' Wicked'' (2024). The film review aggregation website
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ranked her the greatest action heroine of all time in 2008. In 1997, she was chosen by ''
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'' as one of the " 50 Most Beautiful People in the World", and in 2009 the same magazine listed her as one of the "35 All-Time Screen Beauties". In 2022, ''
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'' named her one of the world's 100 most influential people on its annual listicle and its Icon of the Year. In 2024, she received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
.


Early life and education

Yeoh was born on 6 August 1962 in
Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...
,
Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, to Janet Yeoh and Yeoh Kian-teik. Her father was elected as a Senator of Malaysia from 1959 to 1969 as a member of Perak's
Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (Abbreviation, abbrev: MCA; Malay language, Malay: ''Persatuan Cina Malaysia''), formerly known as the Malayan Chinese Association, is an ethnic List of political parties in Malaysia, political party in Malaysi ...
, the Chairman of the Perak
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, and the founder of "Sri Maju" in 1975, a major intercity coach service in Malaysia and Singapore. Of
Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...
and
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
ancestry, she grew up speaking English to her father, and could understand some
Malaysian Cantonese Malaysian Cantonese ( zh, t=馬來西亞廣東話, j= ) is a local variety of Cantonese spoken in Malaysia. It is the ''lingua franca'' among Chinese throughout much of the central portion of Peninsular Malaysia, being spoken in the capital K ...
from her maternal grandmother who lived with them. She learned to speak Cantonese and Mandarin fluently in the 1980s and 1990s after starting her career in Hong Kong. Despite that, she never learned to read or write Chinese characters, which she has said was her greatest regret. Yeoh was keen on dance from an early age, beginning ballet at age four. She went to the girls school Main Convent Ipoh. At age 15, she moved with her parents to England. There, she was enrolled in The Hammond School, Chester, where she started to train as a ballet dancer. However, a spinal injury prevented her from becoming a professional ballet dancer, and she shifted her attention to choreography and other arts. She received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from Crewe + Alsager College of Higher Education in 1983.


Career


Early career and first retirement (1983–1991)

In 1983, twenty-year-old Yeoh won the Miss Malaysia World contest. She was Malaysia's representative at the Miss World 1983 pageant in London, where she placed eighteenth. Later that year, she traveled to Australia where she won the 1984 Miss Moomba International pageant.
Her first acting work was in a television commercial for Guy Laroche watches with
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...
. This caught the attention of a fledgling Hong Kong film production company, D&B Films. Although she had a passive understanding of the Ipoh Cantonese spoken in her hometown, she could not speak it. During a phone call in Cantonese, she was offered to co-star in a television commercial with a Sing Long, and only realized that was Jackie Chan's Cantonese name when she arrived in the studio. She learned to speak Cantonese as she began her career in Hong Kong. Yeoh began her acting career in action and martial arts films, in which she performed her own stunts. Yeoh's first lead role came in her third film, ''Yes, Madam'' (1985). Yeoh initially used the pseudonym Michelle Khan, a stage name selected by D&B Films for its potential appeal to international and Western audiences. In 1987, Yeoh married her first husband Dickson Poon, a co-founder of D&B Films, and decided to retire from acting.


Return as an action star (1992–2001)

After five years of marriage, Yeoh divorced Poon and returned to acting with '' Police Story 3: Super Cop'' (1992). She appeared in '' The Heroic Trio'' (1993), and the Yuen Woo-ping films '' Tai Chi Master'' and ''
Wing Chun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...
'' in 1993 and 1994, respectively. She changed her stage name back to Michelle Yeoh when she started her Hollywood career with ''
Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...
'' in 1997. Interview. In the 1997
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film, she played Wai Lin opposite star
Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...
. Brosnan was impressed, describing her as a "wonderful actress" who was "serious and committed about her work." He referred to her as a "female James Bond" in reference to her combat abilities. Yeoh wanted to perform her own stunts but was prevented because director
Roger Spottiswoode John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and Television program, television. Early life He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spotti ...
considered it too dangerous. Nevertheless, she performed all of her own fighting scenes. In 1997, Yeoh played
Soong Ai-ling Soong Ai-ling (; July 15, 1889 – October 20, 1973), legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong, Christian name Nancy, was a Chinese businesswoman, the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung (Kung Hsiang-Hsi), who was the richest man ...
in the award-winning '' The Soong Sisters''. Yeoh was approached by director
Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...
to star as Yu Shu Lien in her first Mandarin-language martial arts film '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000). She did not speak
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
until the 2000s, and she had to learn the Mandarin lines for ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' phonetically. The film was an international success, and earned Yeoh a BAFTA 2000 nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.


Career fluctuations (2002–2016)

In 2002, Yeoh produced her first English film, '' The Touch'', through her own production company Mythical Films. In 2004, Yeoh met Jean Todt, a French motor racing executive, in Shanghai during a publicity event for Ferrari. They became engaged later that same year. In 2005, Yeoh starred as Mameha in the film adaptation of '' Memoirs of a Geisha'', and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with '' Sunshine''. In 2008, Yeoh starred in the fantasy action film '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' with Brendan Fraser and
Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...
. In 2011, she portrayed
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
in
Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French filmmaker. He directed and produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Associated with the '' Cinéma du look'' film movement, he h ...
's '' The Lady''. Yeoh was blacklisted by the Burmese government allegedly because of her participation in ''The Lady''; she was refused entry to
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
on 22 June 2011 and was deported on the same day. In October 2011, Yeoh was chosen by Guerlain to be its skincare ambassador. Yeoh's role was to help strengthen the French cosmetics company's relationship with Asia. Yeoh did not branch out into television until 2015, with her first role playing Mei Foster, wife to the British Ambassador to Thailand, who is secretly a North Korean spy named Li-Na, on the fifth season of the Cinemax/Sky series '' Strike Back''.


Supporting roles (2017–2020)

In 2016, Yeoh was cast as
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Captain Philippa Georgiou of the starship USS ''Shenzhou'' in the series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and recurs as Georgiou's "
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" doppelganger later in the series. Yeoh went on to play the role for three seasons, garnering critical acclaim and becoming a fan favourite. Following the success of ''Star Trek: Discovery'', a spinoff series with Yeoh in the leading role, was commissioned in 2019. The series, which would centre on Yeoh's character, Emperor Georgiou working as a member of Section 31, a secret galactic spy organization, was still "in development" as of January 2023, but in April, Paramount+ announced it had ordered a '' Star Trek: Section 31'' feature film starring Yeoh, rather than a series. 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. Carlos Aguilar of ''
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'' described her performance as "convincingly subdued". In 2019, she played Christmas themed-store owner "Santa" in '' Last Christmas'', opposite Henry Golding and Emilia Clarke. The film was a box office success, grossing over $121 million worldwide. Yeoh played Ying Nan in
Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...
' ''
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is List of Marvel ...
'' (2021), directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. It was announced at The Game Awards 2020 that Yeoh would star in ''Ark: The Animated Series'', a series based on the video game '' Ark: Survival Evolved'' by Studio Wildcard, in which she plays the role of Meiyin Li, a 3rd-century Chinese rebel leader, known as the Beast Queen.


Award success (2021–present)

In 2022, Yeoh starred in the science fiction surreal comedy film '' Everything Everywhere All at Once'' from filmmaking duo Daniels, released in March 2022 to widespread critical acclaim. In the film, she played struggling laundromat owner Evelyn Quan Wang, a role that was widely praised by critics, with David Ehrlich of '' IndieWire'' claiming it the "greatest performance that Michelle Yeoh has ever given". It was for this role that Yeoh earned her first
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
win (becoming the first Malaysian actor to win Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes), her first Independent Spirit nomination and win, her first
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
nomination and win, her second
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nomination, and her first Critics' Choice Awards nomination. Additionally, she became the first Asian woman to win any individual lead film category in the Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. She also 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 The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
. Yeoh appeared in the
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series '' American Born Chinese'', based on the book of the same name by Gene Luen Yang. She starred as a psychic medium alongside
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...
in '' A Haunting in Venice'', released in 2023. In the same year, Yeoh became an International Olympic Committee member, and delivered a speech at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
's 2023 class day. In January 2024 , she led the eight-part action comedy series '' The Brothers Sun'' for
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, which received generally positive reviews. She has since starred as Madame Morrible in the Wicked (film franchise), two-part film adaptation of the musical ''Wicked (musical), Wicked'' directed by Jon M. Chu, with Wicked (2024 film), the first film released in November 2024, and Wicked: For Good, the second film slated for November 2025. In May 2024, Yeoh was cast in a lead role as a replicant alongside Hunter Schafer in the Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon science-fiction television series ''Blade Runner 2099''. She will also star as human scientist Dr. Karina Mogue in ''Avatar 4'', set to release on December 21, 2029.


Activism

Michelle Yeoh devotes a large part of her time to charitable and social endeavors, including disaster relief, HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, animal conservation, gender equality and road safety. She has been an ambassador and leading campaigner for FIA's Make Roads Safe campaign to be recognized as a global public health and development priority since 2008. Among many activities on behalf of the campaign, she promoted safer road design at the events around the world, spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, Asia Development Bank, World Bank, walked to promote traffic safety at the Formula One race, and launched the Call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety at an event in Vietnam organized by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation. She also filmed a documentary on global road safety, ''Turning Point (2009 American film), Turning Point'', a version of which was shown on BBC World News. Michelle Yeoh has donated her time as a WildAid ambassador for endangered animals and is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the Sustainable Development Goals initiative since 2016. Yeoh is a patron of the Save China's Tigers project committed to protecting the endangered South China tiger. She also joined UNDP's first-ever animal ambassadors, two panda cubs, to kick off the Pandas for the Global Goals campaign. In order to raise awareness about wildlife conservation and climate change, she collaborated with National Geographic Society, National Geographic to produce the documentary ''Among the Great Apes with Michelle Yeoh'', while emphasizing the importance of responsible consumerism, sustainable fashion, and ethical business practices. In 2013, she changed to the role of executive producer for the project ''Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey''. The film recorded a journey of 700 people, led by the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, to the perilous Himalayas, Himalayan mountain range. They traveled 450 miles, planted 50.000 trees, and educated the villagers on environmental responsibility. Yeoh's activism extends to health and well-being issues, ranging from patrons to ambassadors, through organizations including AIDS Concern, Hong Kong Cancer Fund, amfAR, Live To Love, and Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris Brain Institute. She also joined UNAIDS's commissioner team, and serves on the board of directors of the Suu Foundation, a non-political charity established to support the health, education, human rights, and development of the people of
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. As one of the survivors of April 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, after evacuation, she returned to the disaster-hit country to help rehabilitate affected people and donate 100.000 euros for victims. Throughout her career, Yeoh has always portrayed strong roles and been defiant in working against stereotypes. After ''
Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...
'', she did not work for almost two years due to the stereotypical roles offered to her in America. She told ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'': "At that point (1990s), people in the industry couldn't really tell the difference between whether I was Chinese, Japanese, Korean or if I even spoke English. They would talk very loudly and very slowly". She has long spoken out about racism in Hollywood, typically in her awards acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. The day after her Oscar win, she published an opinion essay in ''The New York Times'' calling for true gender equality.


Personal life

Yeoh was married to Hong Kong entrepreneur Dickson Poon, known for his ownership of businesses such as Harvey Nichols and Charles Jourdan, from 1988 to 1992. From 1998 to 2000, Yeoh dated and was eventually engaged to Alan Heldman, an American cardiologist. In 2004, she started dating Jean Todt, then the general manager and CEO of Scuderia Ferrari and later the president of the FIA. On 26 July 2004, the couple got engaged. As of 2019, she lives in Geneva, Switzerland, with Todt. In an Instagram post, former Scuderia Ferrari driver Felipe Massa said that Yeoh and Todt were married on 27 July 2023 in Geneva. Yeoh does not have any children, and has cited her inability to have children as the reason for ending her first marriage. Yeoh is Buddhist and an activist. Yeoh expressed her support for Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and the political coalition Barisan Nasional ahead of the 2013 Malaysian general election. In 2022, she told ''Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair'' that Shakespeare and Stephen King were her favorite authors and that Tarzan was her favorite fictional hero.


Filmography


Accolades

In 1999, she was a member of the jury at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. On 19 April 2001, Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (Malay styles and titles, DPMP), which carries the title Dato', by Sultan Azlan Shah, the Sultan of Perak, her home state, in recognition of the fame she brought to the state. On 25 November 2002, Yeoh was honored as The Outstanding Young People of the World (TOYP) (Cultural Achievement) by JCI (Junior Chamber International). On 23 April 2007, French President Jacques Chirac conferred upon Yeoh the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour (). The decoration was presented to her in a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 3 October 2007. She 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 Élysée Palace, on that day, and promoted to Commander (), the highest honour available to non-French citizens, by François Hollande at the official residence of the French ambassador in Kuala Lumpur on 27 March 2017. On 22 May 2012, Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak (Malay styles and titles, SPMP) which carries the title Dato' Seri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's birthday. Yeoh received the Excellence in Asian Cinema award during the 7th Asian Film Awards in March 2013 in Hong Kong. On 1 June 2013, Yeoh was awarded the Panglima Setia Mahkota (Malay styles and titles, PSM) which carries the title Tan Sri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdul Halim of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah. On 30 November 2013, Yeoh presided as the Chief Guest at the International Film Festival of India. On 12 February 2016, Yeoh was made an of the by the French ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first Malaysian citizen to receive that honour. Yeoh was included in the BBC's ''100 Women (BBC), 100 Women'' list of 2020. She was placed on ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's Time 100, list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. On 13 August 2022, Yeoh received an Honorary degree, honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, doctorate of fine arts degree from the American Film Institute for her contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image. She became the first Asian artist to receive the honour. On 9 December 2022, Yeoh received the Kirk Douglas Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. On 9 January 2024, Yeoh was awarded the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum for her role as a cultural leader and for her contributions to society as an exceptional artist. On 3 May 2024, the White House announced Yeoh would receive the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
, the nation's highest civilian honour. Yeoh was cited for continuing "to shatter stereotypes and enrich American culture."


Honours


Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2013) * : ** Knight Commander of the Order of the Perak State Crown (DPMP) – Dato' (2001) ** Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Perak State Crown (SPMP) – Dato' Seri (2012)


Foreign honours

* : ** Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (2007) ** Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (2012) ** Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, National Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2016) ** Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (2017) * : **
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
(2024)


See also

* List of Academy Award winners and nominees of Asian descent


Explanatory notes


References


Further reading

* Kho Tong Guan: "Yeoh Chu Kheng, Michelle". In: Leo Sury, ''Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary''. Chinese Heritage Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012, , pp. 1347–1350 * Ken E. Hall: "Michelle Yeoh". In: Garry Bettinson: ''Directory of World Cinema: CHINA 2''. Intellect Books, 2015 , pp. 71–73 * Lisa Funnell: ''Warrior Women: Gender, Race, and the Transnational Chinese Action Star''. Suny Press, 2014, , pp. 31–57 (chapter "Transnational Chinese Mothers: The Heroic Identities of Michelle Yeoh and Pei Pei Cheng") * Rikke Schubart: ''Super Bitches and Action Babes: The Female Hero in Popular Cinema, 1970–2006''. McFarland, 2012 , pp. 123–143 (chapter "Beautiful Vase Made of Iron and Steel Michelle Yeoh")


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeoh, Michelle 1962 births Living people 20th-century Malaysian actresses Malaysian people of Chinese descent 21st-century Malaysian actresses Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University, Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Beauty pageant contestants from Ipoh Best Actress Academy Award winners Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Commanders of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Malaysian beauty pageant winners Malaysian Buddhists Malaysian emigrants to Hong Kong Malaysian environmentalists Malaysian expatriates in Hong Kong Malaysian expatriates in the United Kingdom Malaysian film actresses Malaysian International Olympic Committee members Malaysian people of Hokkien descent Malaysian television actresses Malaysian voice actresses Malaysian people of Cantonese descent Malaysian women environmentalists Miss World 1983 delegates Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners People with acquired permanent residency of Hong Kong Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients