"If I didn't know that they were English, it would've felt like I was back at home making [Tomorrow Never Dies] in Hong Kong, because things moved fast."

Hi Michelle. I'm a huge fan. You've been Michelle Khan to me for all these years--

You getting used to Michelle Yeoh now?

I'm working on it.

C'mon! It's not that difficult!

I know. It's just it's a mental adjustment, you know?

Adjust!

I swear to you, I'll spell it correctly.

Good man. [Laughs.]

Have you been a fan of the Bond films before working on this one?

Well, the thing is, I don't know anyone who hasn't seen the Bond films, or is not interested in going to see the Bond films, because you're in for a ride for two hours. It's like a fabulous thing to do, it's a great date to go on, going to a Bond film. So I have always been a big fan of the Bond films. When I was younger, my brother and I used to fight over who was going to be Bond, and I always won.

My sense for years has been that the Bond films are particularly influential on the Hong Kong action films. That you see little reflections and resonances from the Bond films.

I think the action sequences, the stunts and all that, that is very inspiring. You know, whenever you see a Bond film, you look out for the stunts, because you know they're going to be mind-blowing. Every time they come out with one, it will be something you've not seen before. And you know Hong Kong films, they love action. And when they see that, they're like, "How do we copy that? How do we make that look even better?"

This is your first time working in a major American studio project?

My very first film away from home, yes.

Can you compare this type of production with the Hong Kong way of doing things?

First of all, the feeling of being part of a tradition, a heritage like that [of the U.S. studio system], is quite awesome. And then you know that this is gonna be my biggest-budget film ever that I've done. So you know that you're in for incredible sets. But still, when you walk onto the set, you go, "My God! This set, we could be filming two Hong Kong films with that!" Which is good, because you're not jaded. You're learning and you're seeing new things, and it's fantastic. But the intensity of filmmaking . . . you know, after working in the Hong Kong film [industry], they get [shots] quick and fast and then they're out. But for the Bond film, it was like, "Things happen so quickly!" If I didn't know that they were English, it [would've] felt like I was back at home making this film in Hong Kong, because things moved fast. And I think everybody wanted to be there, and everybody had the same goal of wanting to make a great movie. So at the end of the day, it didn't become like a$100 million production, or a $15 million production. Everybody had that same passion. It was fantastic! I got over the fact that there wasn't another single Asian face apart from me on the set, but fortunately, I spoke the language, and there were no barriers.

So who do you prefer as a leading man: Jackie Chan or Pierce Brosnan?

Pierce Brosnan. Hands down.

Wow! That's pretty emphatic. Why do you say that?

Why do I say that? Umm . . . Because I know Jackie's views of what women should do. I mean, you look at all these other films, apart from Supercop, and his women are always the victims. They're always the sort of decorative purposes in his films and run around going, "Oh Jackie oh Jackie oh Jackie." Right? Pierce is a really truly wonderful human being. It's good to see him not just as an actor but as a family man who values being a father, a good partner. And I really like to see that in a man, because that shows a man of confidence, that shows a man of responsibility. So it's definitely Pierce in that way.

I'm very pleased that you answered that so directly.

I'm very forthright. I don't know whether that is a good thing! [Laughs.]

Why did you decide to stop calling yourself Michelle Khan when you signed on to do this film?

Michelle Yeoh is my real name. It's my own true surname. Michelle Khan is a name that D and D Films used for me when they sold a film in Europe and in American video markets. In Hong Kong, we never used that name. In Asia, we never used Khan. And also, because your Chinese name gets used most of the time, if I was in the English papers, they always used Yeoh. So that impact never affected me until Supercop was coming out [in the U.S.] and [Miramax] was saying, "You know, they know you here as Michelle Khan. It's not a bad idea, because you already have a following here, to stick with that name." And then you initially think, "Oh well. It doesn't really matter. I can work with that," and all. Then, when I went home, it was an uproar. It was like, "She got married when she went to the States!" [Laughs.] I was like, "What? Who? Huh?"

When I was doing the promo, it was difficult for me as well, because it was the first time people were calling me Michelle Khan. It took me a while to get used to it, and even then, when they said Michelle Khan it was like, "Oh! Ha! That's me!"

Well, I'm glad we got to the bottom of that one. I'll start calling you Michelle Yeoh. I'm going to work on that, I promise you.

Thank you.