Yeo, Michel

Career start

Michelle Yeoh was born on August 6, 1962 in Ipoh , Perak , Malaysia , in an ethnic Chinese family (father is a lawyer, mother is a housewife). As a child she was very athletic and passionately fond of dancing. At the age of four she began to practice ballet . At the age of 15, accompanied by her parents, she arrives in London , where she is enrolled in a special boarding school. Later, Yeo entered the London Royal Academy of Dance, where he began to practice ballet. However, a spinal cord injury put an end to her dream of becoming a prima ballerina, which is why she had to switch her interest from classical ballet to dance and other arts. After graduating from the Academy, Yeo received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialization in choreography and drama.

In 1983, Michelle Yeo became the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant , which made her appear in a television commercial with Jackie Chan , which attracted the attention of a start-up film production company called D & B Films. She also represented Malaysia at the Miss World 1983 beauty contest in London.

Her Hong Kong career began with several commercials for Charles Jordan (along with action movie characters Jackie Chan and Chow Yunfat ) before being offered a contract to shoot for Owl and Bambo (1984). The D & B group, led by future husband Yeoh Dickson Poon, was promoting the Charles Jourdan trademark in Hong Kong. In 1988, after her wedding with Poon, the actress left the profession. However, after three years, the couple divorced and in 1992, Yeo returned to the shooting. Her first film after her return was Police Story 3 (1992), which was partly filmed in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia .

Path to glory

Yeo began her film career, starring in action films and Oriental martial arts films such as The Heroic Trio (1993) and Yuan Heping 's films The Master of Tai Chi and Vinchun (1994). Interestingly, Yeo never specifically practiced martial arts. Performing various stunts in films (many of which were developed by herself), she relies on her dance training and instructors on the set.

Like many other Hong Kong stars, Yeo tried to break through to Hollywood . She played the main role - the role of Wei Lin - in the James Bond film “ Tomorrow Will Never Die Never ” (1997) ^{[1] [2]} , and also the role in the famous Ang Lee film “ Prowling Tiger, Hidden Dragon ” (2000). After that, she was offered the role of Seraphim in the second and third parts of the " Matrix ", but she refused because of inconsistencies in the schedule. Subsequently, the writers of The Matrix replaced the image of Seraphim with a male character, and Collin Chow took on this role.

In 2002, she staged her first film in English - “ Touch ” by the efforts of her own film company, Mythical Films.

In 2005, Yeo played the role of the graceful geisha Mamekh in the film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha and continued to work in the English-language film Peklo (2007).

In 2008, she played the sorceress Zi Yuan in the film “ The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ”.

In 1988-1992. Michelle Yeo was married to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman Dixon Poon. ^[3] Despite the fact that the couple divorced, she is on good terms with her ex-husband and his second wife, being the godmother of their daughter.

She is now meeting with FIA President Jean Todt . However, rumors about their upcoming marriage, spread in the Asian press, Yeo denied.

• 1993 - Released the solo disc Love Like a Comet (Love Quite Like a Comet) for her film Butterfly and Sword (1993).
• 1997 - included in the list of "50 most beautiful people in the world" according to People magazine.
• 1999 - Member of the jury of the Berlin Film Festival.
• 2002 - Member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival.
• The surname Yeo is pronounced “Yo” (“yo”).
• Is the only actress, which Jackie Chan allowed to put their own stunts.
• Considered to be one of the highest paid Chinese speaking actresses in the world.
• The most popular and highly paid actress in Asia.
• He speaks 3 languages: English , Malay and Cantonese . However, she does not speak Mandarin , so she uses pinyin (phonetic transcription system) to pronounce Mandarin words. While working on the film “The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, she used this system to memorize her role in Putonghua, also using the help of the crew members speaking this language.
• The fee for the film "Tomorrow will never die" - $ 2,500,000.

• 1998 - Asian Media Award at the Asian American International Film Festival.
• 2001 - ShoWest (USA) congress prize in the category “Best International Star of the Year”.
• 2001 - April 19: Yeo received the title of Dato (the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) from Azlan Shah, Sultan Perak - the province where she was born - in recognition of the glory she brought to the state. ^{[4]. The} award was awarded in connection with the celebration of the 73rd anniversary of the Sultan. Dato - the honorable Malaysian title, something like an English knight’s rank, is second only to the titles of Dato-Seri, Tan Sree and Tan.
• 2002 - November 25, Michelle Yeo received the honorary title “For the Outstanding Contribution of the World’s Youth” in the field of cultural achievements from the International Youth Chamber (Junior Chamber International).
• 2007 - On April 23, President Jacques Chirac made her the Order of the Legion of Honor for strengthening ties and mutual friendship between France and Malaysia. The order was presented to her at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on October 3, 2007. ^[five]
• 2012 - March 14, President Nicolas Sarkozy presented her the Officer Order of the Legion of Honor. ^[6]

• Michelle Yeoh Web Theater - complete website on Michelle Yeoh
• Michelle Yeo (Eng.) On the Internet Movie Database
• Michelle Yeo Memoirs of a Geisha Interview (Youtube）
• Supercop as Woman Warrior (Salon magazine).
• Interview with Michelle Yeoh on the Tavis Smiley show
• Sunday Times feature