Michelle Yeoh: I’d rather not work than endorse stereotypes
Michelle Yeoh did not want to play a caricature when she took on the role of a dragon lady in the Hollywood romcom Crazy Rich Asians based on Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel of the same name.
“That was the first thing (director) Jon (M. Chu) and I spoke about when we Skyped to talk about being involved in this movie,” the 56-year-old Malaysian actress said at our interview at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.
“I asked him, ‘Are you making a Hangover or are you making something more?’ After I’d read the book, I thought it was an amazing opportunity to show the rest of the world the heritage, the traditions of what it is to be in a Chinese family in Asia and also what it means to be an American-born Chinese.