Malaysian acting legend Michelle Yeoh has played many different characters, from a fearless inspector and a female wuxia warrior to an intimidating matriarch and an inspiring captain of a spaceship
Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh has made Oscar history with her best actress win at the 2023 Academy Awards, becoming the first Asian woman to win in that category. Along with her Icon of the Year 2022 title by Time magazine, the 60-year-old has also been receiving rave reviews for her recent projects, in particular Everything Everywhere All at Once, an indie science fiction-action-comedy-drama in which she plays Evelyn Wang, a dissatisfied and overwhelmed laundromat owner who is swept up in an insane adventure to save the multiverse.
While absurdist (and some say utterly hard to follow), the mind-bending film received widespread critical acclaim for its imagination, visual effects, humour, direction, and editing, grossing US$103 million (about RM454 million) worldwide and sweeping up 16 awards to date. Yeoh's performance cemented her position as a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
Read more: Everything You Need to Know About Michelle Yeoh’s New Movie
Yeoh is known for being a beacon of Asian representation, welcoming and inspiring a new generation of fans. In our universe, the Ipoh-born star has been a household name spanning decades, with an impressive portfolio boasting a smorgasbord of acting roles.
Here, we pick 13 of her most iconic roles.
Yes, Madam! (1985)
In Yes, Madam!, Yeoh stars as senior police inspector Ng who teams up with inspector Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock) from Scotland Yard to investigate the murder of an agent from the Commercial Crime Bureau of London. Described as the first film of the 'girls with guns' sub-genre, the film was one of Yeoh's early works which earned her a nomination for Best New Performer at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.