The star of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is dressed casually in a brown, knitted twin-set and flared denim jeans and chunky sneakers. Her long, bleached hair is swept back, revealing a make-up free face framed by a pair of brown-rimmed glasses. This is Yeoh in her new guise as a film producer and in her new digs, a simple contemporary office just a hop and a skip away from the teeming masses in Harbour City.

We step into her inner sanctum. In one corner there is a mini-trampoline on which Yeoh has been known to bounce during production meetings. The inside of the place looks like a glass boat hull. The window ''curtains'' are formed by triangular white sails with the letter ''M'' scrawled across in blue. It all goes with the business card she hands out these days, bearing the emblem of a sail and the words: Michelle Yeoh, CEO, Mythical Films.

''It was a coincidence,'' she says of the office decor and the company logo. ''They were done by different designers. David Lau did the interior design and had incorporated the sails to make it feel like a boat. And then the designers for the business card came up with several designs for us to choose from, among which was a sail. The connection was obvious. And it fits me because I love the sea. I used to go fishing a lot with my dad when I was young. When you sail out to sea, it seems like the opportunities are endless, doesn't it?''

Her own ''possibilities'' appear end-less, too, after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's success which is competing for 10 Academy Awards tomorrow night (Hong Kong, Monday, 9.30am) at the Los Angeles Shrine and Auditorium. Yeoh, who is being dressed by good friend Barney Cheng, will be presenting the award for best special effects with Crouching Tiger co-star Chow Yun-fat. ''I think that's one of the few categories we did not have a nomination in,'' Yeoh says with a laugh.

The 38-year-old didn't get a nomination in the best actress category, although critics have agreed that her performance as the repressed swordswoman Yu Shu Lien is her best ever. Is she disappointed? ''No,'' she says unequivocally. ''I'll tell you that I was surprised when I got a nomination for the Bafta [British Academy

of Film and Television Awards). Of course, it would be great to get individual nominations but when you look at the nomination list, it would not have been possible without the contribution of the actors as well as the crew. To me, we're all winners already, just getting from where we were coming from to convincing [the academy] members to put their pen to paper to include the film in the main category.''

The accolades have been well-earned, says the former Malaysian beauty queen who has been nominated for a best actress award at next month's Hong Kong Film Awards. ''We all worked bloody hard on the movie,'' she exclaims, traces of her British education coming to the fore. ''I'm not going to be shy and say, 'Oh, it's not my doing'. I am involved; I was there. I had an operation on my knee [she tore a ligament] and did all that, so yes, I am going to take this all in and shamelessly enjoy it.

''Now that Crouching Tiger is a success, of course I am going to do well. I deserve to do well, Chow deserves to do well and Ang Lee deserves to do well. We should enjoy all the acclaim and whatever else comes from it.''

By this time, Thomas Chung Choi-sze, managing director of the neighbouring Media Films, wanders in to say a brief hello. ''It was disappointing she didn't get an Oscar nomination,'' comes his dissatisfied growl. ''That's the difference between the culture and the politics of the different places. The Bafta nomination list is deeper and more meaningful.''

Chung's Media Asia is a shareholder in Mythical Films. Both have been working closely to get Mythical Films' first project The Touch off the ground. There has been speculation that there is more to their relationship than pure business, although both have denied it. ''We're good partners,'' says Yeoh, after Chung leaves for a meeting. ''I don't think you can go into partnership with a company or someone without having confidence that the other person shares your vision, especially when it comes to this industry. If I didn't believe in his style of vision, we would not have started Mythical Films. I think everything else is just distracting and personal and has nothing to do with what we're trying to achieve in this industry.''

Her deal with Media Asia was struck before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became such a phenomenon in the West. The success of the movie has, of course, added value to Yeoh's name since the film has done more for her international reputation as an actress than even being a Bond babe in Tomorrow Never Dies. ''From now I think people will refer to me as an actress, and not just an action actress,'' Yeoh says.

There has been renewed fervour to Hollywood's pounding on her doors. She has turned down several roles already, among which were the sequels to The Matrix. Some expectations had been unrealistic. One project she had been talking about for some time had suddenly called up ''post-Crouching Tiger and pre-Crouching Tiger publicity'' and asked her to pack up and fly to Hollywood the next day. She said no.

There has been surprise that she has not cashed in as quickly on her success in Tomorrow Never Dies and made several more Hollywood movies as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat and Jet Li Lienjie have done.

''There was nothing exciting, nothing that made me think, 'Wow, this is the next project I want to be in'. It is difficult to find interesting projects for women; it's going to be a long educational process for America,'' she explains, while practising leg lifts from the sofa.

''First of all, the scripts are all written for men and because it is you, they change it to a woman. You cannot have a male character and then change him into a female without tweaking. Even the repartee with fellow co-stars would be different. Hollywood also has this preconception of what they think Asian women should be like, and they always have to feel that they have to explain why they have a Chinese face in the movie, such as he's a cop in Chinatown or something. Why should I give up what I have now to start all over again?'' The Matrix had been tempting, especially when they kept upping their offer every time she hesitated. ''That is the point where you turn around and ask yourself what is most important to you,'' she explains. ''The Matrix is a very successful film franchise and I am a great fan of the Wachowski brothers, but I've go to do things with my own heart. If I were to be in The Matrix, I would be a very small part of it. The Touch, on the other hand, has been developing from my heart; it stemmed from Michelle Yeoh and Mythical Films and I think I would be doing myself an injustice if I just ran off to be an actress in another film. I think you need to set priorities and maintain balance.

''It's taken me a while to get to this stage and for me to find the right team and the right people to work with. Once you have that in place you can't just abandon them and go to Hollywood to make a quick buck. That's not going to generate any confidence in the people working with you.''

The Touch, budgeted at HK$95 million, is a contemporary action adventure revolving around a travelling circus family. Yeoh, who will be leading the cast as well, has been working on the project since early last year.

The English language script by Running Out Of Time and Black Mask II writers Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud is now in its fifth draft. Crouching Tiger cinematographer Peter Pau Tak-hei has been signed to direct the movie, which will be filmed on location in China. ''We weren't going to start until we liked the script and all the different elements came together. It is an expensive production and especially my first project as a producer. I really want it to work,'' she says.

Producing had long been in the back of Yeoh's mind, and a subject she had broached with her de facto Hollywood manager, Terence Chang Kar-chun. ''I was even going to offer to be his assistant producer or work in his office to learn the ropes,'' Yeoh says with a laugh.

''A lot of people are riding on the coat-tails of Crouching Tiger but the question is: 'How do we protect this?' There will be those who will try to make a quick buck in the short term. The responsibility is definitely on our shoulders. ''Now that people know I have turned down The Matrix for instance, people are going to see what I am going to do next.''

She isn't turning her back on Hollywood, she says, since she sees the boundaries between what's Hollywood and what's Hong Kong blurring more each day. ''This side [of the world] or that side - it's not about sides anymore. With The Touch, we will be doing things that will appeal internationally. We're going to have European and American financing and it's going to be in English,'' she says.