Michelle Yeoh Says the Glass Ceiling of Asian Representation Has Been “Ninja-Kicked” to Hell

Everything Everywhere All at Once has shattered the glass ceiling when it comes to Asian representation. At least that’s what Michelle Yeoh is hoping. Fresh off her win at the Golden Globes for Best Actress, Michelle took the stage at the Television Critics Association’s 2023 winter tour during a panel for the upcoming American Born Chinese.

“I think we’ve broken that glass ceiling,” Yeoh said when asked about when she noticed that things were changing in Hollywood when it came to Asian representation. “We’ve ninja-kicked it to hell.”

Though Yeoh has been an icon in Asia for decades, when she first tried to break into Hollywood, she was shocked by the difference. “Everybody came because this is the dream. Until you get here and you go like ‘What the heck?'” Yeoh said. “I come from Asia, and I see us all the time on screen. And then when you come here it’s like, ‘OK I don’t see many more faces that look like me.’ There were not many roles that represented who we really were. People didn’t really know Japan, Korea, Chinese, and they always act so surprised, like ‘You speak English?'”

“[The lack of representation] got me sort of motivated to say we have to help each other learn there so we can work out there. There has to be better representation, true representation. And you can see that times have changed because you see everyone talking about diversity. But you can’t just tick a box,” Yeoh said.

She noted that the landscape has gotten better over the years. Prior to Crazy Rich Asians, Joy Luck Club was the last movie to have an all-Asian cast —a movie that premiered 26 years before Jon Chu blockbuster. She also praised 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for adding representation to the world of Marvel superheroes.

“But the only way we can keep this going is by getting the right storytellers, having the studio executives understand, and keep putting it forward, which will create more jobs, which will create more opportunities,” Yeoh said. “I think that’s what we’re asking for. Give us equal opportunities to prove that we’re capable of doing all these things. So I was very blessed with Evelyn Wong.”

Yeoh is following her award-winning role in Everything Everywhere All at Once with American Born Chinese, a new series coming to Disney+ in summer of 2023. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, the series follows Jin Wang (Ben Wang) a high schooler who is struggling with his home life. When he meets a Chinese foreign exchange student, his everyday struggles are elevated as he becomes involved in a battle between the Gods of Chinese mythology. Yeoh stars as Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy.