Michelle Yeoh Through the Years: From ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ to ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and Beyond

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Michelle Yeoh Through the Years: From ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ to ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and Beyond

From Crazy Rich Asians to an Oscar nomination! Michelle Yeoh started off her acting career in Hong Kong with action and martial arts films and has since become a critically acclaimed actress. The Witcher: Blood Origin star was born in August 1962 in Ipoh, Perak. At a young age, Yeoh took an interest in ballet and later went on to study at the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Dance in London where she took her first acting class. “I found I got completely tongue-tied,” the Malaysia native told Deadline in a March 2023 interview. “It was not a problem when I had to dance; that was my world. But, I was properly terrified of getting up on a stage where I had to speak. To memorize other people’s lines and then repeat them. I never imagined myself ever wanting to be an actress.” Yeoh first started appearing and performing her own stunts in Hong Kong films such as 1985’s Yes, Madam and 1992’s Police Story 3: Supercop. The Golden Globe Award winner made her Hollywood debut in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. After appearing in several films including the award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Memoirs of a Geisha star made her first television appearances in the fifth season of Strike Back in 2015 and 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery. “I really, really am so grateful for this chance to be part of the Star Trek family because there’s so much love and passion that goes into it, the details, everything,” Yeoh told IndieWire in February 2018. [sendtonews type="float" key="dTSFD9MnBY-2828676-14453"] In 2022, Yeoh made headlines for her performance as Evelyn Wang in the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Golden Globe and receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 2023. The Crazy Rich Asians actress is the first Malaysia native to receive an Academy Award nomination in any category. “What I found so beautiful was, it was giving a voice to a very ordinary woman, aging immigrant woman, who’s never really had a voice before,” Yeoh explained to CBS News in January 2023. “You know, it’s hard being, looking like this, because I have a lot of Asians who come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for doing this, because now I see it’s possible for us to be there.’ So, it is very important because what we are giving to all the Asian faces is that we’re not invisible.” Keep scrolling for a look back at Yeoh’s life and career over the years:

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Michelle Yeoh Through the Years: From ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ to ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and Beyond

From Crazy Rich Asians to an Oscar nomination! Michelle Yeoh started off her acting career in Hong Kong with action and martial arts films and has since become a critically acclaimed actress. The Witcher: Blood Origin star was born in August 1962 in Ipoh, Perak. At a young age, Yeoh took an interest in ballet and later went on to study at the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Dance in London where she took her first acting class. “I found I got completely tongue-tied,” the Malaysia native told Deadline in a March 2023 interview. “It was not a problem when I had to dance; that was my world. But, I was properly terrified of getting up on a stage where I had to speak. To memorize other people’s lines and then repeat them. I never imagined myself ever wanting to be an actress.” Yeoh first started appearing and performing her own stunts in Hong Kong films such as 1985’s Yes, Madam and 1992’s Police Story 3: Supercop. The Golden Globe Award winner made her Hollywood debut in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. After appearing in several films including the award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Memoirs of a Geisha star made her first television appearances in the fifth season of Strike Back in 2015 and 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery. “I really, really am so grateful for this chance to be part of the Star Trek family because there’s so much love and passion that goes into it, the details, everything,” Yeoh told IndieWire in February 2018. [sendtonews type="float" key="dTSFD9MnBY-2828676-14453"] In 2022, Yeoh made headlines for her performance as Evelyn Wang in the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Golden Globe and receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 2023. The Crazy Rich Asians actress is the first Malaysia native to receive an Academy Award nomination in any category. “What I found so beautiful was, it was giving a voice to a very ordinary woman, aging immigrant woman, who’s never really had a voice before,” Yeoh explained to CBS News in January 2023. “You know, it’s hard being, looking like this, because I have a lot of Asians who come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for doing this, because now I see it’s possible for us to be there.’ So, it is very important because what we are giving to all the Asian faces is that we’re not invisible.” Keep scrolling for a look back at Yeoh’s life and career over the years:

Credit: Dimension Films/Kobal/Shutterstock

1962

Yeoh was born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. At the age of 15, she moved with her parents to the United Kingdom where she spent her formative years. From an early age, the Last Christmas actress loved ballet and she later went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. She received her BA degree in creative arts with a minor in drama in 1982.

Credit: Golden Harvest/Kobal/Shutterstock

1985

After discovering her passion for acting in college, Yeoh started her career in action movies such as 1985’s Yes, Madam in Hong Kong where she performed her own stunts.

Credit: Shutterstock

1988

The Avatar: The Way of Water star took a break from acting when she married Dickson Poon in 1988. The two split in 1992.

Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

1997

Yeoh reignited her acting career in Hollywood with the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies where she performed all her own stunts. “Bond was ready for change. Bond had to evolve because the fan base was also evolving,” she told The Independent in May 2022. “Women were choosing the movies to go and watch, and we don’t always want to watch ones where we’re being sexualized.”

Credit: Columbia/Sony/Kobal/Shutterstock

2000 to 2002

The award-winning actress starred in 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Almost two years later, Yeoh produced her first English film, The Torch, through her own production company Mythical Films.

Credit: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

2005 to 2011

Yeoh appeared in several successful films during this time including 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha, 2007’s Sunshine, 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and 2011’s The Lady.

Credit: Januario Helder/ABACA/Shutterstock

2008

The American Born Chinese star confirmed her engagement to the president of FIA, Jean Todt in July 2008. The couple currently reside in Geneva, Switzerland together.

Credit: MediaPunch/Shutterstock

2015 to 2016

Following years of film roles, Yeoh made her television debut on the fifth season of Strike Back and Star Trek: Discovery, which aired from 2017 to 2021.

Credit: Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock

2018

The patron of the Save China’s Tigers project starred in the film Crazy Rich Asians which turned out to be a box office success.

“It was meant to be a cameo role,” she told Deadline. “Every time she appeared she made a difference. That relationship with the mother and son – there was only one scene of them together, but it spoke volumes. If that hadn’t come across, the whole thing would have fallen flat on its face.”

Credit: Shutterstock

2021

After receiving so many positive reviews for her supporting role in Crazy Rich Asians, Yeoh appeared in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Credit: A24/Moviestore/Shutterstock

2022

The actress starred in the science fiction surreal comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once which earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Credit: Courtesy of Felipe Massa/Instagram

2023

Nearly four months after Yeoh won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Oscars, she tied the knot with Todt.

“We met in Shanghai on 4th June 2004. On 26th July 2004, J.T. proposed to marry M. Y. and she said YES! Today after 6,992 days on 27th July 2023 in Geneva surrounded by loving family and friends, we are so happy to celebrate this special moment together," their wedding program read, according to Formula One driver Felipe Massa’s Instagram.