Michelle Yeoh speaks at Harvard Law School

Michelle Yeoh sweeping the 2023 awards season … what, like it’s hard?

Transcript

00:00As a young woman trying to break into film in Hong Kong,

00:03I was confronted with limitations at every turn.

00:06Initially cast in stereotypical roles, the demure, docile,

00:11damsel in distress, I soon realized

00:14that what I wanted to play were the action roles, the heroes.

00:20Of course, these were then reserved exclusively for men.

00:24But I could see that their fight sequences were highly

00:28choreographed, and I knew in my bones

00:30that my dance training would allow me to excel at them

00:34if only I were given the chance.

00:37So I went to my producer and said, I did say please.

00:41I want an action role.

00:43I was prepared to do everything the men were doing,

00:46the choreography, the stunts, taking the blows,

00:49the wire work, all of it.

00:51What?

00:52Like it's hard?