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Michelle Yeoh never dreamed of becoming an actress.
Michelle Yeoh did not set out to be an actress
The 60-year-old star made history earlier this year by becoming the first Asian to win the Best Actress Oscar for her role in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ but admitted that she had actually aspired to own a dance studio when she was younger.
Michelle told ET Canada: “I never dreamt of being on the silver screen. My world was always around dance, and I wanted to have my own school. I wanted to always be dancing with music and all that.”
The actress explained that being in the movie industry was simply an “opportunity that came by”.
Yeoh recalled: “And then I thought, well, you know, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And thankfully I loved it. And here I am today.”
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The star revealed that the “best thing” about her awards success is that she is no longer only getting scripts for “Asian-looking” characters.
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival recently, Michelle said: “The best thing that has happened is I receive a script that doesn’t describe the character as a Chinese or Asian-looking person.
“We are actors. We are supposed to act. We are supposed to step into roles that are given to us and do our job as best we can. That, for me, is the biggest step forward.”
Michelle reflected on her first time at Cannes over 20 years ago with ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and said she felt it was “quite obvious” Hollywood wasn’t ready to celebrate Asian actors at the time.
She said: “There were so many great Asian, Chinese movies that came out at that time.
“But if you look at all the films that get nominated here in Cannes and get awards, very rarely, especially at the Oscars…they would nominate best director, best film, everything. You wonder how do you get there without the actors? So, it seems a little odd.
“When ‘Crouching Tiger’ came out, people were saying, ‘No one in America will watch this film because they don’t know how to read subtitles.’ But guess what? Americans do know how to read.”
