Michelle Yeoh Breaks Hollywood’s Glass Ceiling… “I Was Shocked to Be Seen as a Minor Player at First” [30th BIFF]

*This content was translated by AI.

Actress Michelle Yeoh reflected on the limitations and prejudices faced by Asian actors when she first entered Hollywood, retracing her journey of continuously expanding the range of her roles to break stereotypes.

A press conference for Michelle Yeoh, recipient of the “Asian Film Person of the Year” award at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), was held on the 7th at Cinema Hall in Haeundae-gu, Busan.

Yeoh stated, “It has been 15 years, and it is truly wonderful to be back in Busan. I am grateful for your warm welcome.” She added, “Receiving the Asian Film Person of the Year award is deeply meaningful, and I am thankful.”

She continued, “Just like the Busan International Film Festival, I have also walked a long path. Starting from Asia, I aimed to move onto the global stage and share culture through film.” She said, “In one way or another, I believe I have achieved that goal to some extent.”

She also recalled the limitations she experienced when entering Hollywood. After securing international recognition with “007: The World Is Not Enough” (1997), Yeoh rose to become a bona fide global star by overcoming the limitation of being a non-English-language work with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000), capturing both worldwide box office success and critical acclaim.

She revealed, “The most shocking thing when I first went to Hollywood was the fact that I was considered a minor player. Although there are many Asians around the world, roles offered to Asian actors were few, and even those were trapped in stereotypes.”

She added, “When I appeared in the ‘007’ film, I thought a door had opened because an Asian actor appeared in a globally famous spy movie, but there was still the limitation of it being a typical role that an Asian actor would be expected to play.”

Yeoh stated, “After ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ I heard stories about breaking the glass ceiling, but I felt that if I continued to only take stereotypical roles, I would ultimately be consumed only by that image.” She revealed, “From then on, I have strived to broaden the scope of my roles and made great efforts to show that Asian women can exist in diverse forms.”

In particular, Yeoh set a new milestone in world film history by becoming the first Asian actress to win Best Actress at the 95th Academy Awards for her 2023 film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Regarding the achievements of Asian actors, Yeoh said, “Actress Yoon Yeo-jeong showed the stature of Asian actors by becoming the first Asian to win Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards in 2021.” She added, “It was a great fortune for me to be able to compete for an Oscar as well.”

She continued, “At the time, it felt like a dream. I believe such achievements can inspire many people by showing them that ‘I can do it too.’” She revealed, “I also gained the strength to keep moving forward.”

Yeoh will meet audiences at this film festival with her movie “My Grandma Is a Rubik’s Cube Master.” She said, “I have done many Hollywood works over the years, and I had hoped to return well to Asian cinema.”

She added regarding the message conveyed by the work, “I wanted to show that even older people have resilience and can continue to take on new challenges.” She concluded, “Ultimately, I think the biggest question is, ‘My life is my own, so what can I do?’ I hope that message is well conveyed to the audience.”

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*This content was translated by AI.