Michelle Yeo Chu-Ken (known as Michelle Yeo and Yang Ziqiun) is a Malaysian actress, producer, screenwriter and singer of Chinese descent. According to the publishing house "People", in 1997 Michelle entered the list of fifty most beautiful people on the planet. The audience is an actress known for her roles in the films: “Tomorrow She Will Never Die”, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Mechanic: Resurrection”.
Michelle began her creative biography in the 80s of the last century with work in advertising. Today, Michelle is the highest paid Chinese-speaking actress in the world, and Asia's most famous actress. Yeo was a member of the jury of the Cannes and Berlin film festivals several times.
Michelle was repeatedly nominated for prestigious film awards: Saturn, MTV, BAFTA, Golden Horse, and the Hong Kong Film Academy Award. The actress also won the media award at the Asian American International Film Festival and the ShoWest congress award.
The actress received the honorary Malaysian title Dato from Sultan Perak in 2001.
Former French President Jacques Chirac awarded the actress the Legion of Honor for fostering friendship between France and Malaysia in 2007. And in 2012, she received the Order of the Legion of Honor from Nicolas Sarkozy.
Michelle is the only actress whom the famous Jackie Chan allowed himself to put his own tricks on the set.
early years
The girl was born in Malaysia in the summer of 1962. Her father was a lawyer by training and practiced law, and her mother houseworked.
In early childhood, Michelle was very fond of dancing, so her parents sent her to study at a ballet school. When she was fifteen years old, the family moved to London. There, the girl continued to professionally engage in dancing, first at a specialized school, and then at the Royal Academy.
Yeo dreamed of how she would perform on the big stage. But, having received a serious spinal injury, she was forced to abandon further studies at the academy. Doctors could not fully restore Michelle's health. Then she decided to try herself in the role of a choreographer.
Creative way
At the age of twenty-one, Michelle became a participant in a beauty pageant and received the title "Miss Malaysia." In 1983, she represented the country in the Miss World contest. It was there that the girl was noticed by representatives of an advertising company and was invited to shoot.
Michelle starred in a watch advertisement along with the famous actor Jackie Chan, who was very impressed with the talents of the actress, and later on worked more than once with her on the set.
The debut in the movie took place with Yeo in the early 80's. She played a small role in the movie Flynn and Bambo. The actress got the first main role in the project “Yes, Madame!”, Where she first for the first time independently demonstrated difficult tricks on the set, abandoning understudies and stuntmen.
It is interesting to note that the actress never practiced oriental martial arts, which she so beautifully demonstrated in the frame. She was helped by professional sports and choreographic training and classes with instructors.
In the career of the actress, there was a short break when she got married and decided to completely devote herself to the family. But after the divorce, Michelle returned to the cinema and again took up her acting career.
In 1997, Michelle was invited to the role of Colonel Wei Ling in the next film about the adventures of James Bond: "Tomorrow will never die." Here she played with Pierce Brosnan. The actress again worked on the set without understudies, independently performing all the difficult tricks, for which she was nominated for the MTV film award in the category "Best Battle".
Real fame in world cinema came to Yeo after the release of the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which received four Academy Award. The actress herself was nominated for the Saturn and BAFTA awards.
In the future career of the actress, many beautiful roles in famous films: "Adventurers", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Hell", "Babylon of our era", "Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor", "Lady", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Fate ", " Morgan ", " Mechanic: Resurrection ", " Guardians of the Galaxy 2 ", " Star Trek: Discovery ", " Master Z: Yip Man's Legacy ".
In the coming years, several new projects will be released, where Michelle will play leading roles. In particular, she was invited to shoot the second and subsequent parts of the cult picture "Avatar".
