Michelle Yeoh Garners Praise at AFI Fest for 'The Lady'

Michelle Yeoh Garners Praise at AFI Fest for 'The Lady' By Scott Feinberg November 8, 2011 Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Michelle Yeoh Whenever you request people in the ongoing 25th annual AFI Fest to title their highlights from the festival, probably the most common reactions is Luc Besson's "The Woman,Inch which tested because an AFI Focal point Gala selection on Friday, almost two several weeks after its world premiere in rough-cut form in the Toronto Worldwide Film Festival (where I first viewed it and also the Cohen Media Group guaranteed its U.S. distribution privileges).The main reason to determine "The WomanInch -- a moving biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader who resided under house arrest for 15 from the 21 years before her release this year, and who had been granted the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize (in absentia) "on her non-violent struggle for democracy and human privileges" -- is Michelle Yeoh, the 49-year-old Malaysian actress who provides the best performance of her career as Suu Kyi and today comes with an outdoors shot of snagging a best actress Oscar jerk on her efforts.As Yeoh and that i talked about throughout a comprehensive interview in Los Angeles on Friday, it's somewhat ironic that they was cast as Suu Kyi, because the leader is notoriously peaceful, whereas the actress has, for many of her 27-year career, focused on action.Yeoh was a proficient dancer and athlete before a back injuries along with a meddlesome mother brought her to test modeling. She was joined in to the Miss Malaysia contest, won, and therefore caught the eye from the great Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who asked her to look with him inside a commercial. Soon after that, she was cast in her own first movie like a typical "damsel in distress," however when her co-workers discovered her physical prowess she was handed a opportunity to perform couple of stunts of her very own. It rapidly grew to become obvious that they was just as gifted as her male alternatives -- in many cases even much more -- and she or he was, before lengthy, probably the most popular and greatest-compensated female star of Hong Kong cinema. (In the past few years, Rotten Tomato plants named her the very best action heroine of all-some time and Quentin Tarantino begged her to have an audience.)Given Yeoh's striking beauty and talent, it had been basically inevitable that Hollywood would eventually come calling. It had been not inevitable, though, it happens in the manner it did, in the mid-the nineteen nineties: by having an offer to experience a Bond girl opposite Pierce Brosnan's 007 in Roger Spottiswoode's "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997). Yeoh, who's notoriously selective if this involves selecting parts, required on that one only after she was assured that it might be a brand new type of Bond girl -- someone who isn't just eye-chocolate, but who are able to psychologically and physically go foot-to-foot using the secret agent. This Bond film, like several of individuals within the franchise, would be a tremendous commercial success, but unlike most of the others it had been particularly celebrated by women, who cheered Yeoh's portrayal.The actress might have remained within the U.S. to take advantage of her newly found worldwide fame -- and, indeed, she received plenty of impressive offers, for example starring roles in "The Matrix" sequels. But she chosen to consider a while off -- 3 years, to be precise -- to wait for a right part. She chose sensibly, because the film by which she eventually came back, Ang Lee's Chinese action-thriller "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), would be a triumphant success, becoming the greatest-grossing language film in American background and generating 10 Oscar nominations, including one for the best picture.Since that time, Yeoh has divided her time between Asian cinema along with a choose couple of American films. She looks half her age but still seems to stay in tip-top condition, but, recently, has started to stear clear in the action genre in support of character-focused dramas, for example Take advantage of Marshall's "Memoirs of the Geisha" (2005) and today "The Woman.Inch The latter film offered her an opportunity to not just play but meet her "hero," Suu Kyi, and her performance boosts the bar with an already impressive career even greater.According to her history, though, I wouldn't place it past her to operate, jump, and kick her way regarding this within the a long time. The Hollywood Reporter Michelle Yeoh Garners Praise at AFI Fest for 'The Lady' By Scott Feinberg November 8, 2011 Michelle Yeoh PHOTO CREDIT Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Whenever you request people in the ongoing 25th annual AFI Fest to title their highlights from the festival, probably the most common reactions is Luc Besson's "The Woman,Inch which tested because an AFI Focal point Gala selection on Friday, almost two several weeks after its world premiere in rough-cut form in the Toronto Worldwide Film Festival (where I first viewed it and also the Cohen Media Group guaranteed its U.S. distribution privileges).The main reason to determine "The WomanInch -- a moving biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader who resided under house arrest for 15 from the 21 years before her release this year, and who had been granted the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize (in absentia) "on her non-violent struggle for democracy and human privileges" -- is Michelle Yeoh, the 49-year-old Malaysian actress who provides the best performance of her career as Suu Kyi and today comes with an outdoors shot of snagging a best actress Oscar jerk on her efforts.As Yeoh and that i talked about throughout a comprehensive interview in La on Friday, it's somewhat ironic that they was cast as Suu Kyi, because the leader is notoriously peaceful, whereas the actress has, for many of her 27-year career, focused on action.Yeoh was a proficient dancer and athlete before a back injuries along with a meddlesome mother brought her to test modeling. She was joined in to the Miss Malaysia contest, won, and therefore caught the attention from the great Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who asked her to look with him inside a commercial. Soon after that, she was cast in her own first movie like a typical "damsel in distress," however when her co-workers discovered her physical prowess she was handed an opportunity to perform couple of stunts of her very own. It rapidly grew to become obvious that they was just as gifted as her male alternatives -- oftentimes even much more -- and she or he was, before lengthy, typically the most popular and greatest-compensated female star of Hong Kong cinema. (Recently, Rotten Tomato plants named her the very best action heroine of-some time and Quentin Tarantino begged her to have an audience.)Given Yeoh's striking beauty and talent, it had been basically inevitable that Hollywood would eventually come calling. It had been not inevitable, though, it happens in the manner it did, within the mid-the nineteen nineties: by having an offer to experience a Bond girl opposite Pierce Brosnan's 007 in Roger Spottiswoode's "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997). Yeoh, who's notoriously selective if this involves selecting parts, required on that one only after she was assured that it might be a brand new type of Bond girl -- someone who isn't just eye-chocolate, but who are able to psychologically and physically go foot-to-foot using the secret agent. This Bond film, like several of individuals within the franchise, would be a tremendous commercial success, but unlike most of the others it had been particularly celebrated by women, who cheered Yeoh's portrayal.The actress might have remained within the U.S. to take advantage of her newly found worldwide fame -- and, indeed, she received lots of impressive offers, for example starring roles in "The Matrix" sequels. But she chosen to consider a while off -- 3 years, more specifically -- to wait for a right part. She chose sensibly, since the film by which she eventually came back, Ang Lee's Chinese action-thriller "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), would be a triumphant success, becoming the greatest-grossing language film in American background and generating 10 Oscar nominations, including one for the best picture.Since that time, Yeoh has divided her time between Asian cinema along with a choose couple of American films. She looks half her age but still seems to stay in tip-top condition, but, recently, has started to be put off by the experience genre in support of character-focused dramas, for example Take advantage of Marshall's "Memoirs of the Geisha" (2005) and today "The Woman.Inch The second film offered her an opportunity to not just play but meet her "hero," Suu Kyi, and her performance boosts the bar with an already impressive career even greater.According to her history, though, I wouldn't place it past her to operate, jump, and kick her way regarding this within the a long time. The Hollywood Reporter