What did Michelle Yeoh learn from Jamie Lee Curtis?

Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis starred alongside one another in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and have since become close friends. Yeoh opened up about the kind of inspiration Curtis has been to her.

The two women were acquainted for many years but grew closer on the set of the film.

“We fell in love on first email,” Yeoh told People.

“She was like, ‘Let’s ditch the directors of the movie, the Daniels, and run away!’ I was like, ‘A woman after my own heart.’”

She continued, “When you meet someone and have that connection, it’s not the length of time you’ve known them. A friendship became a very precious relationship.”

Yeoh went on to express her gratitude toward Curtis. “She’s rooting for me. Jamie Lee is one of the most generous in spirit that I have ever met. She’s always giving.”

“She’s always sending me something and texting ‘Did you get it bae?’ She’s always sharing. And yet at the same time, she’s friggin’ Hollywood royalty — but she is nurturing,” Yeoh explained.

A great inspiration

Yeoh considers Curtis to be a great inspiration in her life among many other women. “We met when we shot ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’”, she said.

“The first movie I did after I came to America was ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ with Pierce Brosnan,” Yeoh said. “James Bond at that point had only been known as macho, and the girls were just the ones with cutesy names.”

In the film, Yeoh played Wai Lin, a Chinese spy, and martial artist who was the movie’s “Bond girl”. She stood out from the other “Bond girls” by subverting expectations and saving James Bond from peril.

“Barbara knew that the Bond legacy needed to evolve with the world and what was demanded from their audience as well,” Yeoh added.

“I’ve always been surrounded by women who are very independent, very strong, very smart, and also were very wise, because sometimes I really do take offense when someone says, ‘Oh yeah, she’s tough. She’s a real b****’. And I’m like, ‘No. A woman who is tough doesn’t have to be that.’ You can be a b**** for fun, but not like that,” Yeoh explains.

“And women who are in positions of power are not neurotic,” Yeoh continued. “They deserve to be there because they worked hard at it, and sometimes we have to work even harder to get to that position.”

Yeoh’s mother and grandmother

Among all the women Yeoh is grateful to, she especially acknowledges her grandmother and mother.

“My mom was very young when she had us,” Yeoh said, referencing her brother.

“She was 22 when she was pregnant with me, so I think she’s more the child sometimes. It was my grandmother who nurtured us,” she said.

The actress continued, “You learn as a child to take in what kindness is, what gentleness is, what caring and warmth are. That’s very important.”

“One of the reasons I am here today is because of my mom – she is the diva, the one who loves movies,” Yeoh continued. “I grew up watching movies from India, Europe, America and China.

Yeoh explains, “I’ve always seen representations of myself on the big screen. Actually, my mother would’ve made one of the greatest movie stars if she’d had the chance. She laid it on me, which is a good thing.”