Michelle Yeoh: From Kung Fu to Kimono CONVERSATIONS With Ricky Lo 02/19/2006 The Philippine Star I first interviewed Michelle Yeoh a few years ago in Bangkok during the shooting of Tomorrow Never Dies at the rooftop of a tall building from which she and Pierce Brosnan as Agent 007 were supposed to jump while being chased by the enemies and dangle from a rope. Tomorrow was the Bond movie that propelled Michelle to international stardom. I gave Michelle a copy of my Conversation later that same year during the premiere of Tomorrow in Malaysia where she hails from. She smiled when she read the interview, amused by the title: The Lady Who Loves To Kick Butts. Late last year, I interviewed Michelle for the third time in New York during the press junket for Memoirs of a Geisha (a co-production between Columbia Pictures and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment) in which she plays the legendary geisha Mameha, pitted against such formidable Asian actresses as Gong Li (as Hatsumomo) and Ziyi Zhang (as Sayuri). Again, I gave her a copy of our interview in Malaysia. Her face lit up as she went over the Conversation. "I look better now," she said half-jokingly. "Don't I?" Oh, yes, she does! In person, Michelle bubbles with excitement. For a moment, I was worried that she might deliver one of her famous lethal kicks (did you see how magnificent she was in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with Ziyi Zhang as co-star?). She was playing demure this time, perhaps in keeping with her geisha role in Memoirs. For Michelle, it wasn't such a hard leap from kung fu to kimono. Michelle was born in Ipoh, Malaysia, to Kian Teik, a lawyer, and Janet, a former beauty queen. At 16, Michelle studied ballet in London. A back injury cut short her dream to be a dancer, so she ventured into showbiz in 1984 after competing in the Miss World contest as Miss Malaysia (above) the year before. Since she was discovered from a Hong Kong watch commercial with Jackie Chan, Michelle has come a long, long way. She was divorced in 1991 from Hong Kong billionaire Dickson Poon after a three-year marriage. According to People magazine, her new boyfriend is Jean Todt, 59, a French Ferrari executive who gave her a limited edition cell phone emblazoned with the Ferrari symbol. Michelle looked like a woman in love when she faced the international media at a function room of the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Chinese actors are the current rage in Hollywood. Will this benefit other Asian actors hoping to get the same break? "I must say that Asian actors are not yet totally secure in Hollywood. But their status is slowly improving. Geisha is the first Hollywood movie with an all-Asian cast and an incredibly huge budget, with an amazing American director and done in an English language. I hope that this movie will open the door wider for other incredible talents from Asia." You're terrific as Mameha. "Oh God, the role involved much dedication and hard work. In a very short period of time, I and my co-stars (Gong Li, Ziyi Zhang and the other Japanese actresses playing similar roles) have to learn how to be a geisha. Real Geishas spend their whole life practising and perfecting the art. As Mameha, mentor of Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), I introduce the audience to what it takes to be a geisha - how a geisha moves, how she walks, how she talks, how she bows, how to kneel. I had to do it in such a way that Mameha became like a second skin to me." When you read the book, did you imagine yourself playing Mameha or any of the other major characters? "You know how it is when you read a book...You can see if it has all the ingredients that will make an amazing movie. When I read Memoirs of a Geisha the book, I was amazed by the rich culture, the characters that are three-dimensional and so real. It's such a compelling book. Seriously, I was initially attracted to the Sayuri character because of her involvement in the story, starting from when she was a little girl up to the time she became a geisha and retired. But I am realistic. I know that I couldn't play Sayuri." And Mameha? "Well, Mameha is mysterious, self-sacrificing and strong-willed. She's the character who really appealed to me. You know, why was she so mesmerized by Chris (one of the big-time patrons of the geisha)? Even in the book, Mameha is not the most beautiful geisha but she's the most celebrated; she's revered because she's the perfect geisha who lives strictly by the code. She's so respected, even Hatsumomo (Gong Li) is afraid of her. And that's what makes playing Mameha very challenging." What aspect of Mameha do you identify with? "In some ways I look at Mameha as very tragic. She was very hard on herself. Me as a person, I'm more laid-back and easy-going. And I have this extremely great attitude in life where I pick up things and I put down things but I don't hold on to things that become a burden to me. I'm easy to work with. You know, I send someone out to buy a bottle of wine and I sit there with everybody and, you know, drink and have fun." You didn't have any problem nor difficulty with the (English) medium, obviously. "It's so nice because I speak English very well. I wasn't shy about my bad Japanese which I learned when I worked on a film with Yuki Sanada. English is my second language per se. I admire Gong Li and Ziyi for working so hard on their English. You know, when you're on the set and all eyes are on you, it's very hard on yourself as an actress because you want to be perfect. When they tell you, 'Wow, not bad, huh!', you get more challenged. I think it's good, it keeps you on the edge. Because once you think that everything is easy, then you don't feel the challenge anymore." How was it working again with Ziyi Zhang after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? "Oh, this time it's much easier. In Crouching Tiger, we keep on fighting; we had so many fight scenes. It was her second film and she was probably scared and wondering what to do. We were working in a jungle set, dangled on wires most of the time. At that time, I had a knee injury and I was recuperating while shooting, so I wasn't in a good mood. My mind frame was, yes, painful. With Geisha, the situation is different. We had more opportunities to bond. It's nice to see her so confident. We were in a nicer environment. We were in beautiful clothes, we were big-sister and little-sister sharing things. As Mameha teaches Sayuri how to be a geisha, she does it in a fun way, very different from how Hatsumomo trains Pumpkin (Japanese actress Youki Kudoh), which is severe and harsh." You (and Gong Li, Ziyi Zhang and the other women) look very beautiful in kimono which clings to you like second skin. "Yes, beautiful but it was a torture, I tell you! You know what they say about 'beauty is cruelty'? There were so many layers of it, heavy fabric because it was embroidered. And then we had to walk on high sandals! It took such a long time to put on. It's a long process. I hardly breathed when I was wearing it. But the kimono makes the geisha as well. It's a status symbol. The higher a geisha goes up the ladder, the more beautiful her kimono is. Also, kimonos are moving pieces of art. If you look at them, front and back, they are full of art." As a woman, what did you learn from playing a geisha? "You know, there's a geisha in every woman and we should use it to our advantage, to our enjoyment. One thing I have learned is the art of listening. A geisha listens to her man and that makes her man feel important." Last question, what's your residence, Hollywood or Hong Kong? "Oh, I live on a plane right now. Yes, I've been traveling a lot. I practically live out of a case. But I have an extended family in Hong Kong, my own family in Malaysia and I've been stuck here in Hollywood doing Geisha. And then, I fly to London to shoot my new movie, a fantasy flick very much different from Geisha, set 30 years ahead of time involving Chinese and American astronauts. It's about what happens when people, eight of them, are isolated from the earth, and what really is there in outer space." (E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph) Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre