There was some extent early on in Michelle Yeoh’s profession, 30 years in the past, that she almost walked away from appearing. It’s exhausting to think about that, given her decades-long profitable profession that has included superior stunts, memorable performances, and a 2023 Oscar win.
However as Yeoh just lately shared, a stunt gone terribly fallacious throughout her time in Hong Kong cinema pushed her to the brink of quitting. It was an surprising encounter with director Quentin Tarantino that satisfied her to remain within the sport.
Earlier than Yeoh made a splash in Hollywood as a Bond lady in Tomorrow By no means Dies or the wuxia warrior in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Yeoh was making a reputation for herself in Hong Kong’s motion scene.
However, whereas capturing the movie The Stunt Girl, certainly one of her personal stunts led to a terrifying accident. As she defined throughout an look on The Graham Norton Present:
“I had a extremely dangerous accident making — I wished to pay homage to the stunt folks, so we made a film referred to as The Stunt Girl, and in capturing that, I used to be pushed over a flyover. And we had performed the huge shot, the place I landed. It was all good.
“Then we wished to do a close-up, and the autumn was perhaps from there [points to column above]. However I didn’t anticipate — the push was so exhausting. And I tumbled over and nose-dived — and we used cardboard containers. …
“And all I keep in mind was my head received jammed into the containers, and my legs got here from behind and I heard this [claps] in my again. I flipped over.”
The aftermath left her hospitalized, carrying a full-body solid, and questioning her profession: “I used to be within the hospital. I had a full solid on, after which, I used to be again dwelling, attempting to get better. And, while you get injured, that’s essentially the most miserable time of your life, since you are helpless.
“You may’t do something. And I believe, at that time, I used to be considering, ‘Perhaps I ought to simply rethink this entire motion factor. Perhaps it’s time to take a step again, perhaps do one thing else. I don’t know.’”
It’s not exhausting to see why Yeoh felt that method. The psychological and bodily toll of such a extreme harm will be crushing. However simply when she was contemplating giving all of it up, Quentin Tarantino got here into the image.
Tarantino, who’s a faithful fan of Hong Kong cinema, was on the town and whereas there he wished to fulfill Yeoh, together with Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
When he visited Yeoh, who was nonetheless recovering. She went on to say: “It was at that time when Quentin got here to city. And you understand Quentin, he’s very decided to do sure issues. And, when he got here to Hong Kong, he mentioned I wish to meet Jackie [Chan], Jet [Li] and Michelle.
“So he met with our guys, and I mentioned, ‘OK.’ So I’m sitting in the lounge with my neckbrace, very regular. And out of the blue, I see this big man come bounding down the steps. ‘Hey, Michelle!’ Then he picks up a pillow, throws it on the bottom, actually simply sits at my toes and begins to speak about my films and what impressed him and going body from body to the primary motion sequence I’d ever performed, going via a pane of glass and all that.
“So, as I spoke with him, I noticed — and I began getting very excited — after which subsequent factor, my folks had been like, ‘Are you able to please cease waving your arms round and simply sit nonetheless?’ After which I noticed it’s true. Whenever you love one thing, you simply can’t hand over on it, so I’ve Quentin to thank for that, as a result of he introduced all of it again to a realization – be sensible, don’t hand over. Simply discover a correct method of doing it.”
Tarantino as soon as referred to as a scene from her 1992 movie Supercop “the best stunts ever filmed in any film ever.” It was his ardour that reminded her why she cherished what she did and impressed her to proceed.
Fortunately, Yeoh didn’t stroll away and stored going! She’s made some unimaginable movies over the course of her profession!
