Michelle Yeoh talks ‘American Born Chinese,’ life after Oscar win: ‘I’m having too much fun’
Patrick Ryan
May 25, 2023
NEW YORK – Michelle Yeoh has a new man in her life.
Weighing 8 ½ pounds and standing just 13 ½ inches tall, Oscar was first spotted with Yeoh on the Academy Awards stage in March, where she picked up the best actress statue for her dazzling turn in best picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Since then, she and her gold-plated paramour have traversed the globe, stopping in her native Malaysia last month to celebrate her historic victory.
“Right now, Mr. O is still traveling with me,” says Yeoh, 60, sitting in a Midtown hotel room hours before the premiere of her new Disney+ series “American Born Chinese” (now streaming). “I have to share him with people who’ve helped me to be where I am today. So when I go back home next time, I will let Mr. O hang out with my mom.”
‘American Born Chinese’ role was ‘daunting’ for acting legend Michelle Yeoh
Adapted from Gene Leun Yang’s 2006 graphic novel, “Chinese” shakes up the traditional coming-of-age story with elements of mythology and wuxia (a genre of martial-arts fantasy fiction). The eight-episode series follows an ordinary teenager named Jin (Ben Wang), who’s enlisted by Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu) – son of the Monkey King (Daniel Wu) – to help save the Heavenly Realm from an uprising by the fearsome Bull Demon (Leonard Wu). Yeoh plays Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, who doles out wisdom to Wei-Chin.
“Michelle Yeoh might be the closest you can get to a goddess here on Earth,” Yang says. “She is the nicest person. Everybody’s favorite auntie – that’s how she feels.”
“Chinese” bears many similarities to “Everything Everywhere:” It’s set across multiple worlds and timelines and features core themes of love, family and self-worth. Yeoh even shares brief scenes with her “Everything” co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, who play supporting characters. But taking on the role of Guanyin also held deeper meaning for the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” star, who is Buddhist.
“To us, the goddess of mercy is very revered. We pray to her for our well-being, and that she will look after the family,” Yeoh says. “To be asked to play her was a little daunting because you don’t want to get her wrong. You’d have millions of people come after you!”