R is our interviewer known as Ricochet and MY is Michelle Yeoh, the super cool Bond girl in TOMORROW NEVER DIES. You'll be blown away by her in this film. Just wait and see!!!
(R)-...Was there a bit of the same thing with Bond here?
(MY)-Well, by the time they approached me with Bond, they had already this character. It was... you know, when Jeff Cleeman? from UA called up my managers in LA and said: “Yes, we are pitching for a woman, strong, woman of the 90’s and that would be perfect for Michelle.
It’s not the normal...” - So, right from the start I knew what this character was about and to be able to land this character was not just a great role for me, but also a great way to show for women to have a very firm stand and say: “This is the woman of the 90’s. Guys, wake up! This is how it is!” - and also for the Asian woman as well who has been for many years trying to get away from the stereotype of the porcelain, you know, Susie Wong... I mean at that time it was fabulous. They were cute? They were great and they worked, but times have changed and we all have, you know, moved on from that into something quite different. I think especially the woman in Asia was like: “Yes, we want the rest of the world to know that here in Asia we have women who are like everybody else!” - and it is very easy for people to have that cliche’ed mind where Asian women stay at home and don’t go out and work, but it is not... it is not so! And to have a role equal to Bond in that way is just the perfect vehicle.
But it’s true that when I did “Supercop” I said... because it was even worse for Jackie he never had any strong female roles in his films. They were always the helpless, really helpless... I mean throughout the movie all you hear is: “Oh, Jackie, Oh, Jackie, Oh Jackie !!”... [laughs]... EEHHHHIIIHHHHHH..... I don’t see me doing that... [Laughs]... The good thing was Jackie was not the director, so he could not go into his normal ways of being the machoman that he is, and Stanley had a lot of pressure from me as well, because it was like my comeback movie. I hadn’t been... I had been away from the Hong Kong, the Asian film-market for about 3, almost 4 years and it’s very important when you come back out, that my audience will not be disappointed and think: “Oh, well. She’s had a holiday for 3-4 years. She’s a WIMP now!”...
...She’s gone soft !
...Yeah, she’s grown really soft. So that was the main intention. But, you know, by now it’s like, the biggest competitor for me, I think for anybody, for someone like Pierce, would probably be ourselves and not with anybody else. It’s like: “How do I make myself... How do I make my role better? How do I make that particular thing look better?” - rather than: “How do I better the other person standing next to me?” - Because at the end of day, we’re working as a team... FOR the good of the movie, rather than... it’s not an individual thing, you know, one person doesn’t make the movie. It’s like all the ingredients have to come together.
(R)-Have you seen Bond movies?
(MY)-ehhh... I don’t remember all of them. I’m sure throughout the years I’ve seen them, because my father’s a fan. My brother’s a fan and we used to have arguments when we were kids, that: “I would be James Bond and not you!” - So I’ve seen... I would... I think I’ve seen all of them, but I don’t remember like, the storylines.
(R)-No favorite Bond?
(MY)-I think like, before the Bond characters... Everyone of them brought in their own special thing to... you know, like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and... I think it’s always very difficult to mach up to the first Bond, because he was the Original and of course, you know, Sean is such a dynamic... ehm... good-looking... whatever, at that time he was such a... Babe! Even now he is such a babe, you know! But at the present moment, I can’t think of anyone who can do a better job than Pierce and I think he is much better in this movie than in GoldenEye as well. You can see the confidence. You can see that he’s oozing charm and in this one there’s also the sensitive side of him, of Bond, which is nice. So that you can see that he is not just this invincible figure running around being shot at the whole time. He is cool, but he has feelings and that is nice.
(R)-Do you have a favorite stunt in this movie?
(MY)-I think probably the... Oh, I’m biased. I would say the Bike Sequence where we fight in the bike shop, because I’m very proud of the fact that we brought in a Hong Kong stunt team to work with... to collaborate with the stunt coordinators in the Bond movie and it was good that the Roger and the producers recognized the fact that, that WAS my asset and it would be a shame not to, you know, enhance on it and we managed to work it in together with the movie as a whole. I mean, that is - for me - very exciting, because there’s one... I’m fighting with 4 guys in this bicycle shop, you know and it’s quite a fun little rollercoaster ride in that way... but the one that really comes to mind would be the WHOLE Bike Sequence. We filmed that from Bangkok, to back to London where we build this whole street in the studio in [??More] It was just like being in Bangkok, but 10- 20 degrees colder [laugh] There it was like in the 80’s and it was so hot and when we got back to London we were all standing there going [rubs her arms] : “I can’t believe this is happening” and were still strapped together... handcuffed together, so that was... It was a memorable ride and there were some incredible stunts, apart from the helicopter chasing us and all these explosions going around. That was... We had fun doing that.
(R)-What’s coming up next? Do you know anything?
(MY)-Well, the thing is. I made this deal with my managers. It’s like... I want to... I had such a good time making this movie and I want to promote the movie. So this is going on until the end of January, so unless it was something very urgent that they needed. Like, I’ve been sent to scripts and they said: “We need a decision right now to say whether you would like to take on the role, that starts filming in January!” - and then I would read the script and say “Yes!” or “No!” - and at the present moment I’ve said: “No!” to them, because I didn’t think it was quite what I wanted to do, but the other scripts that are being changed right now... the writers that are working on it... it’s the task for my managers, so that I can spend all my energy just thinking of this and there’s a lot to do. You know, there’s a lot of traveling and there’s a lot of... trying to remember... like suddenly someone was saying: “What is the most fun moment that you had on the film?” - and you’re thinking: “Oh God, fun moment? fun moment? we had so much fun! Which is the funniest? Is there a funny moment?”
So there’s a lot of things that you say and you think and it’s great, because all these memories come rushing back. Suddenly someone would ask a question about, Oh, the Underwater Sequence, wow... at that time our director had to walk in - fully clothed - into the tank, much to the amazement of the crew. They couldn’t understand why was Roger Spottiswoode, who is normally very serious... he is a completely dedicated director who is very focused on his work and, you know, he’s got his sense of humor, but not that: “HA,HA” - not like me - that kind. And one night when we were filming that, all they could see was me standing next to Roger and Roger walking into the tank completely dressed in his jacket and shoes. And you could hear them say: “What was happening?” - I said to him, if he doesn’t go in, I would push him in, so he: “OK, fine!!!” - So we had like great moments in the film. Which is the best one? It’s so difficult, you know!
(R)-You’re known as an... well, “Action Mama”...
(MY)-...HA, HA, HA, an “Action Mama” !?
(R)-...sort of, are you satisfied with just doing action or do you have secret dreams of being taken seriously as a dramatic actor?
(MY)-In Hong Kong, at the beginning of my carrier, it was very difficult, because every time my name was mentioned, the distributors, the buyers from other countries would say: “If it was an action movie with Michelle Yeoh, we don’t have to see the movie. We’ll buy it!” - so it becomes pressure on the producers to say: “Don’t think of doing anything else. You have to do an action movie, because the market is there for that!” - but it’s good in the sense, that I have managed then, to build up this new genre for myself. My own little niche and it’s obviously that... also... that has helped me to get into a movie like this, you know, because I have a specialty to offer in that way. in my last 2-3 movies it’s been the... ehm... I did “The Sung Sisters” which is the story of the 3 sisters who married the 3 most important men in China at that time, and it’s a completely dramatic role.
Even with “A.K. The Story of a Stuntwoman” it’s more a drama movie, than an action movie, so... ehm... as an actress one want’s to be able to do all forms of the... your carrier, but I would not one who would turn around and say: “I’m too good for action movies. I want to be a serious dramatic actress / actor!” - because I think it would... I would not do that... I worked very, very hard to be where I am. At the present moment the scripts, that are coming in has been a balance of both action, dramaroles and comedies, which is fabulous, so... I think in America it’s well... they are more flexible. You find that people like Sigourney Weaver, Meryl Streep, Winona Ryder or somebody like that. They go from a range and they’re not so “stuck” onto one very stereotype role. So, it would be something great for me to explore.
(R)-Could you imagine yourself in “Alien 5” ?
(MY)-HA, HA, HA... I can always imagine myself in a lot of situations, but then it really depends on what the role would be like. Yes, I could! It could be quite fun! Then I could really kick the “shirt” out those things and not have to worry that they’re gonna faint on me.
(R)-...Faint ?
(MY)-You know when you’re fighting with another person, you hit each other very hard, but you know, there are certain places like faces and necks and things like that, which if you... if the person sort of turns at a wrong angle, you could just knock them out! I hate hitting people around the face, because you can’t just go [soft slap] like this. You really have to go [SLAP !!] and the impact is there, but if you were fighting with a machine or something that is not human, I mean, you could just REALLY go for it [laughs] and get all the aggression out, yes!
(R)-Then you’d get a lot of enemy’s at the special effects department.
(MY)-Oh, no they love me !! You know, we had a lot of fun with the special effects team on this movie.
(R)-...I mean if you keep breaking the Alien dummies.
(MY)-No, well pad it up. I don’t wanna break my little fingers as well.
(R)-You are used to doing full contact fights...
(MY)-...Yes!
(R)-...was that a problem in Hollywood / England, since they’re not used to doing that?
(MY)-The thing was... they have some incredible stunt people there. They have very, very good stuntmen and then sometimes you have to work with people, who are sort of like the special unit. They’re not really stunt people, you know, they have to react to some of the punches and kicks. A lot of times you find that... they’re these big, strapping, muscle- bound men... so they take one look at me and think: “Ha, what can she do!?” - and they walk away!? So, OK, fine. I always tell my stuntboys if I’m gonna kick them in, like the chest... wherever they can be padded, it’s always a good idea, because it takes away that “bite”. You still feel the energy, but it takes that slap, like that very hard knock on the bone... It’s a good idea to just put a pad there and they go: “No, no, no ,no, it’s fine!” - I say: “I will kick you, because of your size!” - also in Hong Kong the reaction is as important as the punch that is thrown.
It’s like: “Yes, we have full contact”, but he has to move the minute I get him, so that [Slap] you have that reaction to it. It’s not like I punch you and then you go: “Hunnghh”. It would not work in that way, so with... at the beginning it’s like a learning process, with these guys. and there was this one poor, particular guy, that I had to kick. It was at least 5, 6 kicks down the corridor, to the arms, to the chest, I turn around, another one... and it’s just nonstop, so he’s just like: “Hnngg, Hnngg, Hnngg!!” - so we rehearsed it and I said: “I’m going to give you a little bit of... punch, so that it’s not the full punch yet. I will save that for when we’re actually filming, but just to show you that, you know, this is where I will be hitting you and you will be safe. I’m not gonna kick you, like below the belt or anything like that.” - I’m quite accurate.
By the... After the first rehearsal he went and padded up... [Laughter]... What was the point? There is no need to be macho, because the audience is not gonna know and it’s your reaction more than anything else, so why take the unnecessary pain?
You know, it’s like with my stuntboys. They are so seasoned. They are so welltrained in that way, I mean, some of them are crazy. They would sit there with an ironbar going: “Dong, Dong, Dong!” on their shins to work out... [Laughs].... Madness !!
(R)-How do you train?
(MY)-Oh God, when I first started I used to train with the stunt boys. I used to train with the stunt coordinators, which was probably why my foundation is where it is today, because it’s very important to... out of respect for each other... to know exactly what you’re doing.......
