Michelle Yeoh thinks her mom would have been a 'great movie star'

2 March 2023

Michelle Yeoh thinks her 83-year-old mother would have "made a great movie star".

Michelle Yeoh's mom would have made a great movie star

The 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' actress' mom Janet has always been obsessed with movies and was certain her daughter should seek out a career on screen, and Michelle admitted that even now her parent can still be very theatrical.

She said in an interview with Deadline: “My mom loved the whole aspect of performing.

“Even now, when we throw her a birthday party, it’s like a concert. She’s doing costume changes, getting on stage and serenading everyone. She would have made a great movie star.”

The 60-year-old actress admitted her mom still treats her like a child but knows that's how Janet "shows love".

After her mother saw 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' - which has earned Michelle a string of awards and nominations for her portrayal of Evelyn Wang - her feedback to her daughter was: “Why do you have to look so old?”

Michelle laughed: “She still treats me like I’m six.

"[If she was here now she'd ask] 'Did you comb your hair? Why don’t you put on some make-up, and wear a nicer dress?'

“If we were back home right now, she would have laid some clothes out for me. “It’s how she shows love.”

The 'Crazy Rich Asians' star also praised mothers as "the real superheroes" of the world.

She said: “Moms are the real superheroes. They carry the weight of the world on their shoulders every day. So many women do that. They march on steadfastly, but nobody ever gives them the superhero cape.”

After her family emigrated to the United Kingdom when Yeoh was 15, she resolved to apply for the Royal Academy of Dance in London. When she made the cut, it seemed as though her obsession could lead to a career.

Michelle also revealed one of the wisest pieces of advice she ever received came from her father Yeoh Kian-teik, who passed away in 2014.

She said: “At Chinese New Year, you wish each other bountiful, mega things. That’s the tradition. ‘All your dreams will come true,’ and all that.

"And, one year, he said to me, ‘I wish you enough.’ At the time I didn’t understand that. ‘What do you mean, enough?’

"But when I thought about it, he was saying that regardless of how you think you aren’t living up to expectations, you’re always enough. In any universe.”