Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is the talk of the town ahead of the Oscars. The Everything Everywhere All At Once actress has been accumulating trophies following her knockout performance as Evelyn Wang in the film.
The 60-year-oldbecame the first Malaysian to receive an Academy Award nomination in any category with her nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Yeoh sat down with Deadline to discuss movies that inspired her amid all the Oscars hullabaloo.
Speaking of Childhood favourites the actress said:
“The ones that I really remember the most are The Wizard Of Oz and The Sound Of Music. And coming from a background of being in love with ballet and dance those movies resounded with me. It was just so liberating but felt very much like home.”
“As I grew a little older and went to study in England the movie that really stuck to me was one particular movie called ‘The Champ’. I remember having this huge poster on my wall…and they done away John Voyage. I think that was the first movie I remember sobbing my heart out to.”
She also recalls being enthralled by the performances of Meryl Streep in Out of Africa and Sophie’s Choice.
“In Sophie’s Choice I don’t see her acting the role. I see her being the role. In Out of Africa Her silence her stillness was more powerful than more words could say. There was such a luminescent quality about her.”
Yeoh also commented on the rise of streaming platforms:
“I think as creators, storytellers, the medium is not the most important, it’s the opportunity to be able to tell a good story.”
Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng rose to prominence in the 1990s after starring in a sequence of Hong Kong action films. She made comeback in the 2000s with a recurring role on Star Trek: Discovery. The actress won the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award forEverything Everywhere All At Once.