CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: Michelle Yeoh, Part 1

The martial arts actress discusses her new Fant-Asia film and her chances of appearing in MATRIX 2.

By Craig Reid     December 21, 2000

In a male dominated society, where women are considered to be submissive, meal-preparing, child bearing, sexual objects, Hong Kong action film ironically depicts female characters as fearless, overbearing, eccentric charactersforces to be reckoned with. And what better woman to play the brooding swordswoman Yu Shu Lien in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON than arguably the gutsiest actress-stuntwoman in the Hong Kong film industry, Michelle Yeoh? In CROUCHING TIGER, Yeoh portrays her alter-ego with just enough vulnerability so that she doesn't threaten the very fabric of the chauvinistic Chinese society, yet she still oozes enough atypical qualities so that she is viewed as any man's equal.

Directed by Ang Lee, CROUCHING TIGER is based on a novel written by the Beijing born Wang Du Lu. Set in the 19th century, it's a lyrical tale of defiance, duplicity, righteousness and destiny as told through the interwoven lives of two women who suffer the torment of undeclared love. The beautiful warrior Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) and legendary swordsman Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) have forged a partnership of loyalty to the pursuit of justice over personal fulfillment. After the tragic death of her fiancé, Yu's devotion to Li's honor prevents her from sharing her secret passion for him. Li believes that whoever owns the exquisite Green Destiny, a sword filled with ancient powers, will never find peace in one's life, so he entrusts the sword to Yu and asks her to deliver it as a gift to the highly respected Sir Te in Beijing. When the sword is stolen it sets off a four-way sequence of events between Yu, Li, the rambunctiously youthful aristocrat Jen (Zhang Zi Yi) and her wily, mysterious governess (Cheng Pei Pei).

I recently spoke with Michelle Yeoh, who in the first part of this interview not only talks about CROUCHING TIGER but shares with us a few things about the recent reports linking her to MATRIX 2.

FANDOM: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN 'CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON?'

YEOH: Ang Lee. I think I was the first person that he approached actor-wise to do the film. We actually met up in '98. I was on a publicity tour for my Bond movie (TOMORROW NEVER DIES), and he was just starting up RIDE WITH THE DEVIL. So he came to me saying that he wanted to do a SENSE AND SENSIBILITY with martial arts and that I would be perfect to be in that movie. So I was sold on the story right away. But you know, I knew about Ang and have always admired his workparticularly how he handles his actresses and how he is very sensitive to his feminine castand I thought I really wanted to do more than just action. And particularly with this genre of film, I believe that he would find the balance, that it wouldn't just be action for action sake and that it would be drama-driven. And I was right, thank god.

YOU'VE JUST DONE THIS BOND FILM, A BIG-BUDGET HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER. AND NOW YOU HAVE GONE BACK TO YOUR ROOTS, A CHINESE KUNG-FU FILMIN COMPARISON, A LOWER-BUDGETED FILM. DID YOU EVER THINK, 'HEY WAIT A MINUTE, I'VE DONE A BIG FILM AND NOW...

Ah. I definitely see where this question is going. I tell you, that has never been a concern of mine. I love what I do, and it's not so much [that] when you do a big-budgeted film all the perks are much better, and then when you are doing a much smaller movie, all these things disappear very quickly. The most important thing here is that you must want to be in that particular film, and you must have a belief in the director and the story that he is telling and that he has a vision with his dream. And to me, that it is more importantto be working with people who are passionate rather than just being in a big-budgeted film. I will never leave my roots or say something like, 'Well you know, I'm doing Hollywood films and that's it. I'm saying say bye-bye to Chinese movies.' What's very dear to me is that I want to make movies with Chinese talent and Chinese themes, and to either have joint East-West productions working together or an all-Asian production, and do things we can be proud of.

I JUST FINISHED A FILM IN HONG KONG, AND AS IS TYPICAL OVER THERE, IT'S 18HOUR DAYS, NO TOILETS, NOODLES WITH FISH BALLS, CHICKEN FEET OR PIG EARS. YOU FILMED IN A DESERT, WAS THERE A REVERSE SHOCK THING GOING ON?

No. I started off in Hong Kong doing films in that way, long hours, no bathrooms, etc. So I'm sort of used to doing that. Just because you may work on a Hollywood movie, your personality stays the same, and even though it is tough out there, our producers are very protective toward their artists and obviously we try to provide the best conditions as possible. But sometimes, in very obscure places like in the middle of the desert [laughs], you just can't find a toilet. I'm sorry, but sh*t happens. [laughs] But seriously, once you are involved in a movie and you can see that everybody is working under the same conditions, then you know it's the team collaboration and the spirit of the work, and if this is how it is, and it has to be how the movie is made, you don't complain, you just go and do it.

I READ THE STORY BUZZING AROUND ON THE INTERNET THAT YOU ARE BEING OFFERED A PART IN MATRIX 2.

Yes, they have been courting me to do that, but I have not said yes, because my priority right now is obviously with my production company Mythical Films.

BUT DON'T YOU THINK THOUGH THAT APPEARING IN WHAT UNDOUBTEDLY WILL BE ANOTHER BIG-BUDGET HOLLYWOOD SPECTACULAR WOULD HELP PROMOTE MYTHICAL FILMS?

I think what we are doing now, like CROUCHING TIGER, is already helping with that. What you have got to do is look into yourself and know what your priorities are and where you are wanting to go with certain things. I think every good movie obviously is going to help, be it a big-budgeted Hollywood production or a European production, or the most important, an Asian, Hong Kong or Chinese production. The most important thing is if you have a good product it will speak for itself. Obviously, any awareness helps. And MATRIX is indeed a large franchise, and will be a very huge movie, and I appreciate the talent of the Wachowski BrothersI think they are very talented. But, if it doesn't fit into the schedule of what we have going here, then it will be very hard.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER YU SHU LIEN AND HOW DID YOU ASSOCIATE WITH HER?

Aaahhh. I really had to put in a lot research and work to get this character going. Because...first of all it is set in the Ching Dynasty, and I've known from the word go that the dramatic side would be the biggest challenge for me here. She is very contained and regal and gracious and very much in a man's world. I mean in that moment of time, it was very rare that a women would be heading a big security firm where she was shouldering a lot of responsibility and being so respected in the world of Jiang Hu. ['Jiang Hu' refers to someone who is traveling around, from the Chinese perspective, in the world. It can also loosely be considered the 'martial art world'.] That's why when she saw the young girl, the young girl says, 'Oh, it's so wonderful that you guys can just ride out and do whatever you want and fight your enemies and blah, blah, blah.' She doesn't stop to think that we have rules that are even more stricter that we have to live by. And we have so many codes of conduct that got us to where we are today. The restraints and constraints. For me, being and knowing that character is very important. So when I walked onto that set and put on that costume, I was a woman of that time. I wasn't this contemporary, modern women who would not understand this kind of love. I mean, you love a man so much but because of the tradition, because of the dead fiancée, you can not express your love and for the rest of your life you are basically being a widow.

I'M SURE YOU'VE KNOWN PEOPLE IN THE PAST THAT HAVE BEEN IN LOVE YET SAID NOTHING, JUST SUFFERED IN SILENCE.

Yes, they don't seize the opportunity. And I think that is the beauty of this character. She does reflect a lot on modern day women and men, and I think that is why a lot of people can feel for Shu Lien.

SO HOW DO YOU RELATE TO HER?

I had great difficulty at first, because I'm a very outspoken person when it comes to things like this; I'm obviously little restrained if it ever comes to this side of things. [laughs] I thought about Shu Lien, 'My god, this has gone on for 10 years, and not a word, not even a bit of communication.' Yet she is so supportive of him. So it was little difficult, you know, when the script was first read to me. My colleagues, who are all girls, would read out mine and Chow [Yun Fat]'s lines. And in fact, their first instincts were, 'Come on, this guy is so hopeless. Why doesn't he say something? How can you do this? You are such a great warrior but when it comes to your personal life...' But instinctively, the girls always blame the guys for that right? By right, it should be you [the male] who makes the first move. And we still live by that code unfortunately.

I'VE HEARD THAT YOU SUFFERED A SERIOUS INJURY DURING THE MAKING OF THE FILM. WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

Well, it actually occurred during the very first action sequence of the film. I tore my ACL. That was a little devastating. I knew when I first got involved in this film that the whole physical side of things would be challenging, but I was prepared for it because I'm training all the time and I've done my fair share of 'wu xia pian' movies [Fant-Asia films that feature highly stylized martial art and swordfight action]. So in actuality, I was really focusing and spending all of my research and preparation time in gearing up for the dramatic side of things. Whereas for the action sidewell, you've worked on action films before, you know that so long as you are accurate and you know the style of what you have to perform on film, then there is basically no rehearsal; you just get in there, and then you are told what you have to do and you do it. What I'm saying here is that, in a sense, you can't really prepare too much in depth for the action in this. I mean, obviously I took up tai-ji [tai-chi] to go with the story that Ang had prepared for this film. It was a terrible accident in that straight after the injury, when I came back to set, then both sides became just a challenging as the other. I mean now with the physical side, I had to get back into shape for the final confrontation as well as still focus on the dramatic aspects of my character.