The Oscar-winning Malaysian actress, currently starring in Wicked: For Good, talks to us about ambition, passion and explains why reflection can wait. She admits: "It's liberating to play a character who says, 'This is my desire, my ambition, my will. I don't care if you don't understand.'"

Photographers Domen &amp; Van De Velde Stylist Luca Falcion

It's easy to be mesmerised by Michelle Yeoh 's physical commitment- from the way her body arches elegantly during fight scenes as the warrior master Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to her impressive "hot dog" finger manipulation as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once . If an actor's body is their instrument, it has long been clear that Yeoh is a virtuoso.
But the next time you watch one of her films, pay close attention to the silent moments. The Malaysian actress is even more impressive when she recounts an entire life- one of generational trauma, repressed desires and barely concealed contempt- without moving a muscle. "Your eyes can say more than your mouth ever could," she says. "Stillness is far more powerful."
When L'OFFICIEL called her at the end of October, the 63-year-old actress was in Dublin, finishing up her last days on the set of The Surgeon, an action-thriller directed by Roshan Sethi and produced by the team behind the John Wick franchise. Yeoh plays the lead character, a retired surgeon who is kidnapped and forced to operate on a mysterious patient. Is this her "Wick moment," where she can unleash maximum mayhem? "No," she says, laughing. "It's not that kind of crazy, over-the-top action. It's a different kind of thriller."

Although she has portrayed a secret agent, a spaceship captain, and the matriarch of a crime family during her 40 years on screen, Yeoh has never been a surgeon. "I love playing characters I've never done before," she says. "That's what fascinated me about this particular script. That- and the idea that, when your own life is on the line, how do you use your profession to save yourself?"
After five weeks on set, operating on prosthetics alongside a teaching surgeon, Yeoh begins to think about what's next- first, reuniting with her husband and family, then diving into the whirlwind of the release of Wicked: For Good, the sequel to the $700 million 2024 blockbuster, which hits theatres worldwide on November 21. In this new instalment, we see even more of Yeoh as the witch Madame Morrible, the snake in the metaphorical poppy field. While the first <a href="https://www.lofficiel.com/voyage/la-magie-de-wicked-renait-sejourner-dans-le-refuge-enchante-elphaba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wicked</a> spent a lot of time setting up and building its world, the second plunges us straight into the action: the immediate consequences of Elphaba's rejection of the Wizard and Morrible's plan to restore order to Oz through the repression and subjugation of animals. We learn that Morrible has gone from dean of Shiz University to director of communications and propaganda for the entire Oz region.
"Turn the initials MM around and you get WW; that's the Wicked Witch," Yeoh explains. "It's a very interesting role that I've never played before. She thinks she's doing everything for the good of Oz, for her people. But she's manipulative. She manipulates the Wizard and Glinda. It's liberating to play a character who says: This is my desire, my ambition, my wish. I don't care if you don't understand: do as I say or you'll be the scapegoat!"

Paired with the eternally bubbly Glinda ( <a href="https://www.lofficiel.com/joaillerie/swarovski-revele-sa-premiere-collaboration-creative-avec-ariana-grande" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ariana Grande</a> ), Morrible becomes both a threat and a muse&mdash;together, they create some of the film's funniest moments. "In one scene, I scared [Grande] so badly that her contact lens popped out," she says. Excuse me? "[Director] Jon [Mr. Chu] came up to me and said, 'Really scare her. Really, really scared her.' I thought, 'Is she ready for this?' And when she finally sat down at the end of the scene, she had a big tear rolling down the side of her eye and she was just saying, 'Sorry, sorry, it's my contact lens.'"
These challenges from directors, Yeoh says, are what make her love her job. "It gives a certain life to what you do, [being in] a place where I can try something new." The actress's love of a challenge is what initially drew her to the role of Morrible. "I said, 'Jon, I don't sing.' And he said, 'You like challenges, don't you?' And I said, 'Fine, I'm not going to argue about that.'"
"She claims not to sing," Chu told L'OFFICIEL, "but she's such a committed actress that she was willing to give it a try. And that's the kind of person she is. She's not afraid to fail - she'll just fight, fight, fight until she succeeds."

I&#39;m at the age where people think, &quot;Oh, maybe you should think about it.&quot; But I tell myself, &quot;No. Absolutely not. I have such a great life.&quot;

Plunging into the unknown was the rule in Yeoh's early days. In Hong Kong action films, she says, there were no long rehearsals: you learned the choreography quickly, already in costume, before the camera even started rolling. So now, when faced with an unexpected situation, she says, "I pretend I'm back in Hong Kong. I've been given the steps and now I'm just going to follow them."
Yeoh began modelling and acting in the early 1980s after a promising teenage ballerina career was cut short by a spinal injury. After winning the Miss Malaysia pageant in 1983, she began landing small roles in films and commercials. (Look up the 1984 Guy LaRoche watch commercial featuring Yeoh and Jackie Chan, her future co-star in Police Story 3: Supercop, for 30 seconds of perfect 1980s vibes.)
Her undeniable talent quickly propelled her onto the casting list and she landed her first leading role in her early twenties: the Hong Kong action blockbuster Yes, Madam! in 1985. She continued to make a name for herself in the martial arts genre over the next decade, thanks to her ability to perform her own stunts, despite the lack of formal martial arts training.
In 1997, she achieved her major Hollywood breakthrough with the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Her character, Chinese secret agent Wai Lin, was not simply a "Bond girl": she was 007's equal, not a romantic accessory for Pierce Brosnan. A few years later, Ang Lee cast her as the lead in the highly acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a film that propelled world cinema into the mainstream and made Yeoh an international star.
But it wasn't until Everything Everywhere in 2022 that she achieved universal recognition as a generational talent. As Evelyn, a struggling laundromat owner tasked with saving the multiverse, Yeoh demonstrated her ability to carry a blockbuster and her incredible range. ("Evelyn was an ordinary heroine," she says. "These heroes are so invisible. She deserved to have a voice and to be seen, heard, and understood.")
The <a href="https://www.lofficiel.com/beaute/comment-reproduire-le-look-beaute-de-michelle-yeoh-aux-oscars-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oscar</a> she won for this role was historic- she became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress in the Academy's 95-year history. "For all the little boys and girls who look like me and are watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility," she said. "It's proof that dreams can come true. And ladies, don't let anyone tell you that you're out of style. Never give up." Her acceptance speech was so powerful that Time published a full transcript the following morning.

Yeoh was receiving a standing ovation that night- adding emotional weight to her win- from her longtime partner Jean Todt and her co-star-turned-friend Jamie Lee Curtis. If you watched the ceremony, you might remember that when the envelope was opened, she was seen holding hands tightly with Curtis, with Todt sandwiched between them. ( "Sometimes in life you meet someone and you just know it's right," she says now. "And with Jamie, it was exactly that from day one. She's one of the most generous and open people I've ever met." ) Curtis's joy at her win spoke volumes about the depth of the connections the actress makes wherever she goes.
"I've been lucky enough to have these incredible people in my life," she says. "Jon Chu is one of them. He's almost like my other son." ( "She's like family to me," agrees Chu, who directed Yeoh in both Wicked films as well as Crazy Rich Asians in 2018. "She's always sending fruit and gifts to my family. She couldn't be a better guardian.")
Jean Todt, an executive, is also one of those extraordinary people. It was love at first sight; the couple got engaged less than two months after meeting in 2004, and finally married 19 years later. A true romantic, Todt has been counting every day since they met. In October, they celebrated 7,777 days. Yeoh laughs and says her husband could probably count their relationship down to the minute if asked.
The current UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, Todt, also had a meteoric career, starting as a rally co-driver, then becoming CEO of Ferrari and president of the FIA (F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Internationale de l'Automobile). Yeoh explains that their individual ambitions contributed to their success, both within and outside their relationship. "When I'm focused, I'm totally absorbed in my work," she says. "And Jean understands that. In the end, he knows that I love what I do."
She relies on her loved ones, she says, to receive both the thorns and the roses. A precious part of what one gains from closest relationships is the unvarnished truth. "You need people who will tell you the truth," she says. "If it's just an acquaintance, they'll always remain polite."

Yeoh isn't afraid of total honesty, last year, she made headlines by speaking publicly about her experience with infertility. "I'm very frank," she admits. "And I said it very openly because it's a fact: I wanted to have a family. And telling that story was just me, opening up to a reality, what it's like and how I dealt with it and continue to deal with it. I mean, even now, I see babies and I wish I had had one. And then you think, it's okay. But there's still that 'I wish' feeling."
As her life evolves, she says her goal is to live life to the fullest. With a busy schedule like hers, she says, "it's about making sure you're fit enough to do everything. Because the days are long and the constant pressure is enormous." Her self-care routine? Stretching, eye masks, face rollers, exercise (now in the form of long hikes, instead of her old runs on asphalt), enjoying food and wine, meditation ( "I learned that from Jet Li" ) and, of course, Labubus.
A quick glance at Yeoh's Instagram is enough to see the little monsters, scattered throughout her feed between photos with loved ones and project updates. A friend gave her one last Christmas, and- just like the instant connection she described with Curtis and Todt- the doll struck her. "I thought, 'Oh my God, it looks like me!' I have a picture of myself smiling like a Labubu. I became a little obsessed."
What does this obsession look like? "When I like something, I want to make sure I have the family," she says. "I think it's very important to have family and keep it together." How many Labubus are in her current family? "Obviously not enough!" she says, laughing. (Luckily, she has a connection- she's friends with designer Kasing Lung and was featured in a recent campaign for his monster collaboration with Parisian leather goods house Moynat.)

Yeoh has had a relationship with the fashion world since her early days as a model. Her boldness, curiosity, and innate chic are a powerful combination for designers. From oversized suits to three-dimensional dresses and iconic cat-eye sunglasses, Yeoh's style is a key element of her personal narrative. "We have clothes we wear for comfort- but when we're talking about haute couture, it's art," she says. "I have great admiration for designers. Dior, Chanel, LV- all these artists who come together to add more colour and dimension to our lives."
More is what Yeoh is looking for. More life, more challenges, more honesty, more experiences. "Michelle is searching for the truth, no matter what she does," says Chu. "She's tireless."
So much so that the idea of looking back is really not her style. "I'm at the age where you think, 'Oh, maybe you should reflect,'" she says. "But I think, 'No. Absolutely not. I have such a great life. It's about moving forward.'"

Hair Stylist Isaac Yu Makeup Artist Soo Park Enoch Choi Design Set Marielle Co Manicure Producer Alexey Galetskiy Production Team Justin Barahona and Dani Beecroft Photo and Video Contributor Laura Berrou Assistant Stylist Tanner Blak

Michelle Yeoh: On Ambition and the Art of Truth

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