TIFF Flashback: Michelle Yeoh Took a Dramatic Turn With ‘The Lady’

When Michelle Yeoh visited TIFF 15 years ago for the world premiere of The Lady, some members of the press were still referring to her as “Bond Girl Michelle Yeoh” because of her turn in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies — even though by 2011, she had also appeared in 2000’s groundbreaking international hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So with The Lady, Yeoh was determined to show off her dramatic credentials, playing the real-life Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese activist, politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Asking “How many iconic female Asian figures do we know in our time?” Yeoh eagerly took on the role, recruited Luc Besson to direct and spent hours learning Burmese for the film, which featured dialogue in both English and Burmese. “It was one of the crucial things I had to do,” Yeoh told THR. “I promised my teacher who is a lecturer in Burmese … it would not sound like a foreigner learning to speak Burmese, and if the Burmese heard what I said, they would understand me.”

The Lady received a mixed reception. THR critic David Rooney wrote that while Besson aimed for “a stately inspirational epic,” the result was “a well-intentioned but pedestrian retelling of a stirring true story.” 

Returning this year to Toronto, Yeoh — who’s now referred to as “Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh,” following her best actress win for Everything Everywhere All at Once — has nothing left to prove. Nevertheless, her versatility will be on display. In Roshan Sethi’s thriller The Surgeon, she’ll appear as a doctor forced by a criminal gang to return to the operating room. She’ll also be seen in Bai Xue’s comedy It’s My Time as a spirited nursing home resident who enters the world of Rubik’s Cube competitions.