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Michelle Yeoh

Acting

Born August 6, 1962 · Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Also known as Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng · Michelle Khan · Ziqiong Yang

Biography

Yeoh Choo Kheng PSM SPMP (Chinese: 楊紫瓊; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (/joʊ/), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared in projects encompassing a wide array of genres and received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two British Academy Film Awards. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early films, she rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s after starring in Hong Kong action and martial arts films, where she performed her stunts. These roles included Yes, Madam (1985), Magnificent Warriors (1987), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), The Heroic Trio, Tai Chi Master (both 1993), and Wing Chun (1994). After moving to the United States, Yeoh gained international recognition for starring in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in Ang Lee's wuxia martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); the latter gained her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her Hollywood career progressed with roles in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Sunshine (2007), and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). She continued to appear in Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, starring in True Legend (2010), Reign of Assassins (2010), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016), and Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018). In 2011, she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi in the British biographical film The Lady. Yeoh played supporting roles in the romantic comedies Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Last Christmas (2019), as well as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and the television series Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2020). Her voice acting work has included Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Minions: The Rise of Gru, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (both 2022), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), and The Tiger's Apprentice (2024). For her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Asian to win the category, and the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award. She has since featured in the mystery film A Haunting in Venice (2023) and the musical fantasy film Wicked (2024). The film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes ranked her the greatest action heroine of all time in 2008. In 1997, she was chosen by People as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World", and in 2009, the same magazine listed her as one of the "35 All-Time Screen Beauties". In 2022, Time named her one of the world's 100 most influential people on its annual listicle and its Icon of the Year. In 2024, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michelle Yeoh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame · 2026
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom · 2024
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2023
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences · 2023
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy · 2023
Show all 15 awards →
  • Asia's Most Influential Malaysia · 2022
  • Saturn Awards · 2022
  • Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role · 2022
  • Time 100 · 2022
  • Asia's Most Influential Malaysia · 2021
  • BBC 100 Women · 2020
  • Commander of the Legion of Honour · 2017
  • Officer of the Legion of Honour · 2012
  • Knight of the Legion of Honour · 2007
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2023 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Among the Great Apes with Michelle Yeoh

2009as Self / Narrator

The Hidden Kingdoms of China

2020as Narrator (voice)

Wicked: One Wonderful Night

2025as Self

Ark: The Animated Series

2024as Mei-Yin Li (voice)

Everything Everywhere All at Once

2022as Evelyn Wang

The Brothers Sun

2024as Eileen 'Mama' Sun

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

2017as Aleta Ogord

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005as Mameha

Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked

2024as Self

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

2021as Ying Nan

Fearless

2006as Miss Yang

Marco Polo

2014as Lotus

Strike Back

2010as Mei Foster

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

2000as Yu Shu Lien

The Tiger's Apprentice

2024as Loo (voice)

Minions: The Rise of Gru

2022as Master Chow (voice)

Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes

2015as Lotus

The Stunt Woman

1996as Ah Kam

Tai Chi Master

1993as Snow

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

2023as Airazor (voice)

Last Christmas

2019as Santa

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

Yes, Madam!

1985as Senior Inspector Ng

Marvel Studios Assembled

as Self

Crazy Rich Asians

2018as Eleanor Young

Kung Fu Panda 2

2011as The Soothsayer (voice)

The School for Good and Evil

2022as Professor Anemone

Star Trek: Discovery

2017as Emperor Philippa Georgiou

Sunshine

2007as Corazon

Wicked

2024as Madame Morrible

Boss Level

2020as Dai Feng

Reign of Assassins

2010as Zeng Jing

Wing Chun

1994as Yim Wing Chun

Police Story 3: Supercop

1992as Captain Jessica Yang

Royal Warriors

1986as Michelle Yip

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

2019as Self (archive footage)

The Lady

2011as Aung San Suu Kyi

The Heroic Trio

1993as Ching, The Invisible Woman

Wicked: For Good

2025as Madame Morrible

A Haunting in Venice

2023as Joyce Reynolds

American Born Chinese

2023as Guanyin Pusa

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

2022as Yuki (voice)

True Legend

2010as Dr. Yu

The Children of Huang Shi

2008as Mrs. Wang

Magnificent Warriors

1987as Ming

The Witcher: Blood Origin

2022as Scían

Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy

2018as Tso Ngan Kwan

The Soong Sisters

1997as Soong Ai Ling / Madam Kung

Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars

1985as Judo Instructor

The Kelly Clarkson Show

2019as Self