Biography

A Tiger Tames The World

Courtesy Entertainment Tonight

Her name is Lin . . . Wai Lin. For most of us fans of martial arts movies, Michelle Yeoh was already a familiar face, but to the rest of the world, her first big hit was the 18th James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, opposite Pierce Brosnan. Not since the days of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger has a female Bond sidekick actually had some kick of her own, and audiences responded. They loved the fact that for once, Bond's counterpart could take care of herself and didn't leave us wondering just how on earth she became a spy in the first place. The role generated so much positive publicity, there was even talk of a Bond spin off based on the Wai Lin character but nothing has yet materialized and I doubt that it will but stranger things have happened in Hollywood.

And Into This World

1962: Year of the Tiger

The average Asian eats more than 300 pounds of rice compared to just 6 in the west and many rice-consuming countries do not produce enough for domestic needs.
Diet-Rite Cola is introduced by Royal Crown Cola as the first sugar-free soft drink to be sold across the United States to the general public.
Tab-opening aluminum cans are developed for soft drinks and beer.
The world's population sits at approximately 3.1 billion.
And into this world, August 6, 1962, is born Yeoh Choo Kheng in Ipoh, Malaysia.

That same year, 1998, she also appeared in the Hong Kong action-romance Moonlight Express as a favor to a friend. She took no pay for this role and performs no stunts but her brief, 10 minute appearance is memorable, one of her best dramatic roles.

Courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment

Based on the popularity of the Bond hit, she was approached by many film makers in Hollywood, each looking to capitalize on this latest sensation from Asia. She turned them all down and instead entered into discussions with established director Ang Lee of the Oscar winning film Sense and Sensibility. His project: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The production didn't begin filming until 1999 but already she knew she wanted to be a part of it and as a result, she accompanied Lee on his tour of China, scouting locations for the movie. The script itself, based on a series of Chinese novels akin to the US westerns, was written entirely in Mandarin which proved to be as much of a challenge to Yeoh as the stunts. She traveled to Beijing and studied the language and in the end, once again proved her remarkable talent. Even though she does not speak the language, based only on her studies and preparation as part of pre-production, Yeoh delivers arguably the best performance of her career, one that even generated deserved buzz about a possible Oscar nomination (unfortunately, the Academy decided differently).

Oscar Night in her stunning, 30 lb Barney Cheng gown.

Still, the film was a smash hit around the world thanks to it's beautiful cinematography (for which it won an Oscar), it's moving score (another Oscar) and it's careful direction under the helm of Lee (Oscar for Best Foreign Film). Was it deserving of more? I would say yes but, alas, I am not a member of the Motion Picture Academy.

And yes, Lee has acquired the rights to a prequel which would re-team Yeoh with costar Chow Yun Fat. Naturally details are sketchy at this time however you can certainly count on there being a much greater interest in this second film based on the performance of the first. Even Lee has expressed concern in interviews that his follow up to the original will likely have a much larger budget and MUCH higher expectations. Can he duplicate that magic again? With such a strong cast, I have no doubts.

In the spring of 2000, Miss Yeoh started her own production company, Mythical Films. It's first production is an action-thriller titled The Touch (scheduled to begin filming in 2001) in which she will play a trapeze artist.

For the latest news I've been able to dig up off the wire reports, visit The Latest News.

**This biography will continue to grow as new material becomes available**

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