Saturday, December 13, 1997



Michelle Yeoh interview conducted by Agent Ricochet

A Geek Interview with MICHELLE YEOH from TOMORROW NEVER DIES

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 clich‚ 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.

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.......

(document source from http://home4.inet.tele.dk/runner/movie/m18.htm)