Special Agent Ricochet careened from building to building till he finally was able to bounce into Michelle Yeoh's life. And he conducted an interview while he was there. Ricochet, being a loyal reader has decided to let us in on his amazingly cool discussion with the absolute goddess of coolness... Michelle Yeoh... Here is a cool interview!!!
(Ricochet)-SO where are you going next?
(Michelle Yeoh)-Oslo, and the Helsinki and then Prague, Budapest Brussels, London, LA, and then back to London, Paris, Hamburg, la, NY, Singapore, Malaysia and then we stop for Christmas. Actually the publicity-tour is probably harder than making the movie, but so far its been fun, its been easy to talk about the film, because we really had a great time making the movie.
We had a fabulous time, we had fun... it was hard work. We did some amazing stunts, we made some really great friends, from the cast, the crew, the producers, the director, it was like a family outing, you know. I remember sometimes when you have days off I would sort of say to my ? Maybe we should go back to the set and find out what everybody else is doing. It was so much fun it was like that.
(R)-Was it different if you compare making movies in Asia.
(MY)-The biggest difference for me this time, was obviously the whole crew was all European, you know Caucasian and previously it always be predominantly Asian, Chinese people.
I don’t read Chinese, so for the first time in my life I could read the script by myself and I didn’t need an interpreter telling me my lines. So it was such a big relief to be able to see what everybody else was saying, you know what everybody else’s lines were as well. So that was the nicest part. Then when you get on the set obviously, you know the bond movie, the sets are just astounding. One of the sets probably could finance a whole movie in Asia and then after that the effects, the special effects team, the bluescreens, the things that you work with normally that is not quite affordable over there. You suddenly have it all at your feet, which is a tremendous way to work, but what I found that was exactly the same was the same intensity. The same need to make a good movie. the same passion, you know and the same urgency and the speed how everybody worked, because at that time we always thought that Hong Kong people worked the fastest. They’re so efficient. I you want something... it’s also because they don’t have so much time for pre-production. They don’t have so much time for post-production and they often work without a proper script as well, so normally you get on the set and the director will say: “I want this room? changed around” and within half an hour or two everything will be transformed, so they work so quickly in that way, but when I was in England I found that they were just as efficient, you know. There were sometimes changes that needed to be made and it would be done! So that... that passion which keeps me going in making movies and all that, was like just universal. Whether I was in Hong Kong or whether I was in London, so that was good.
(R)-Were you allowed to as much Stunt work as you’re used to do in Hong Kong?
(MY)-Laughs.... We managed to work around that in the end. I think at the beginning it takes.... you know, because it takes time to get to know your Stunt coordinator, your director and all that and also they had to see for themselves what I could do. They have seen my movies, like Roger has seen all my previous movies prior to working with me. So had Vic Armstrong and Dickie B?, but they needed to see me actually doing it physically then they would be convinced, yes. It’s not just on the movies that she can jump off the car? We needed her to do that, so by the end of the movie... uhm, well yeah... half way through, I was doing most of my own things, yes.
(R)-Was there any competition between you and Pierce?
(MY)-OH, none! Pierce would just: “Yeah, fine. Let her do it?”... laugh.... but the good thing was... There’s a big difference in the style of fighting, as well. Pierce has his own way of... He doesn’t do like the form I’m fighting, because I use my legs... a lot ! And that is good, because the producers, they recognize the fact that I could bring in another dimension to the action sequences in that way, so they brought in a team of Hong Kong stunt people. Because, you know, we are well versed in that form of fighting and we have a particular scene that was just set up for me to do. In fact it was straight after that scene, that everybody just said: “OK, looks like she can... she does... what she can say she does!” and it was much easier to do. It’s very important that your costar, like Pierce, is someone who is very confident of who he is and very confident of his character and not worried, not sitting back there thinking: “Oh, my God, if she does this incredible fight sequence, it’s going to take away from me!” He is such a person where he knows, that whatever I do is just for ... to complement the movie and whatever he does is going to be enough for him to hold himself on his own. And so there was no competition in that way and we were working as a team, so... he did a lot of his stuff... too.
(R)-You did get hurt a couple of years ago?
(MY)-YES, quite badly hurt. At that time the doctors were convinced I had broken my back, because I was doing this... I did this movie called the story of a stunt woman, and of course I was playing the stunt woman, and... because... in Hong Kong we end up doing a lot of the stunts for real. Because of... we don’t have like the CGI. We don’t have so much the Bluescreen, so you know when... I remember promoting one of my movies in America and during the Q&A someone would say... In “SuperCop” where I do this jump from the bike onto the train, this guy said: “Wow, the bluescreen in Hong Kong is actually quite amazing!” and I looked at my director and went: “Which part was the bluescreen? Where was that? How come I didn’t know about it?” They were convinced that, you know... it can’t... it’s not possible. Why would you DO something like that? It’s good that it’s not necessary nowadays to do that, because in that particular scene, when I had one of my stunt boys doing it, he crashed off the boxes at the other end and ended up in the hospital with a broken leg.
So it is not safe to do things like that and now, thank God, the movies are going into such an area where it is much safer to do things and for me it’s much better, because after that... you know [sigh]... I’ve been so lucky in all the action movies that I’ve done. You get to a point where you think you’re invincible. Because you know I’ve jumped off rolling cars... I’ve come out it. I’ve had a few knocks and bruises. Yes, I’ve dislocated my shoulder, I’ve ruptured an artery, I’ve fractured a rib and all that, but you still come out of it running around and you begin to think... you get yourself into that illusion. You think: “Hey I can get out of this. It’s not going to be a problem” But that fall it was only about 18 feet, but because... You see when you’re doing an action thing you must be so focused, whether it’s... you think it’s an easy stunt or it’s a difficult stunt. It IS a stunt and you have to concentrate on that.
You find that a lot of us get hurt during the easiest stuff, because you... I’ve jumped off like 40 feet and really concentrated on doing that, because you know that is a high jump, but then when you look at it: “Oh, it only 18 feet” and you think: “That’s an easy jump!” So, I was concentrating on the acting, the emotions that were supposed to be going through my face at that time. I landed on my head and folded over - backwards - and I remember hearing my back just go: “BRRKK”, like two planks of wood. Like this [SLAP] and when I was sent to the hospital the doctors obviously heard how I had fallen and all that. They had me in a cast and they were convinced they had to go straight into surgery, because my... something must have had been broken. And I was very, very lucky.
Probably due to the years of training as a dancer, because I was fit. I was very flexible, that I escaped with just, like, a fractured rib and... of course all my muscles and ligaments were just completely.... [FACE]... in shock!.... laughs... It was bad, you know, I was walking around for the next two months, like with a neck brace and a back brace. It was like “RoboCop”.
(R)-Were you never scared?
(MY)-Ehh... I had nightmares even though I was sitting up... even if though... if I’m talking to you like this, I would suddenly go [JERK] because the impact of the fall it resounds through your entire body and that pain stays with you for a long time, but I hadn’t finished that sequence by the time I had that accident, so... The good thing was I had to go back there and face it.
It’s like, you know, when you fall of a horse, you have to get back on to do it. And this is something that I’ve always done. It’s like in “Supercop”, remember when I rolled of the car and I missed and I landed on the pavement. It’s like you have to get up on it and do it, while it’s still fresh in your mind. What were the things you did wrong? and how not to do it again? So, it’s... this is what you have to train yourself to do. To overcome your fears.
(R)-How did you land this bond role? Usually a Bond girl is just a small cameo type of role...
(MY)-I BEGGED !!... [Laughs]....
(R)-...this is quite a large part for you?
(MY)-Yeah, I think this probably one of the... probably rare times, where Bond has an equal. Let alone a man, but a female equal. In possibly all the old Bond movies, it’s taken a while to evolve to this where the Bond woman in the movie is what.... this character is now a woman of the 90’s. No longer just the Bond girl cliché of tall, blonde, bimbo, big tits, you know, sexy and all that, but a woman of today who is strong, independent, smart, intelligent, physically and mentally on an equal to Bond, so... when the directors and the producers got together for this movie, they knew this was what... this was the direction that they wanted go. Also, they didn’t want just her to be a strong woman, but the baddie. They wanted her to be on the right side, you know... WITH Bond and the motto was: “Two is better than one!” so he needs... sometimes in life you need a sidekick and this was what happened... and I had to meet the casting director Michael Wilson and then I met Barbara Broccoli and Roger Spottiswoode and finally in... ehh... December, just before Christmas, Pierce and I did a screen-test together so that we could... we had to see whether on film we would look good together. So finally in January, I landed the role. It was nerve-wracking!
(R)-Was there tough competition? Was there a lot of girls?
(MY)-You know the good thing is like... I never bothered to find out who was the competitors, because it’s like: “What is the point?” I can only do my best to convince you that I am right for the role and show you all the things that I can do. And what I can offer to make the role better and you know, what they were aiming for... It’s like... I’m not gonna sit there and think: “well, she is better in that way, so perhaps I should look different in this...” I can only be myself and do my best and... The good thing that Roger turned round to me and he said, you know, because I was like: “Oh, God. This is like facing exams and waiting for results” It’s the one worst experience in your life, you know. It’s like going back to school and thinking: “Oh God. Did I pass or fail? Are my parents gonna kill me if I fail?”, you know... [laughs]... and he said to me: “Look. It’s good that we went out and we had our search throughout the world and you are the best one! So you have to take pride and confidence in that. Of all the girls you are the one!” - So that’s a good thing to believe in and continuing to work and thinking: “Yes!”
(R)-You had your comeback with “Supercop”...
(MY)-Yes, that’s right !
(R)-...and you told Stanley Tong, that you didn’t want to be just another one of Jackie Chan’s girls...
(MY)-Oh, absolutely! Yes.
