Michelle Yeoh refused to talk about US politics at a Berlin Film Festival press conference, saying: “It’s best not to talk about things you don’t know.”
When asked by a reporter if, as an international actress, she had any comments on the current situation in the United States, presumably referring to President Trump’s ongoing ICE raids, although she did not specify anything, she said, “I don’t think I’m in a position to actually talk about the political situation in the United States, and I can’t pretend to understand what’s going on. So it’s best not to talk about things you don’t know.” Ms Yeoh, who is Malaysian and lives mainly in Switzerland, added: “We want to focus on what is important to us – cinema.”
“We hear, ‘Oh, movies aren’t going to survive because there’s so much else going on and attention spans are getting shorter.’ But I don’t really believe that,” she said. “Because we believe that when you go to the movie theater, it’s time for you. You know, turn off your phone and choose to watch what you want to see. And it’s a time where you can open up and let your mind go and have some time to yourself. Movies are a place where we all come together to laugh and cry and celebrate. But it’s always important to keep that tradition alive, and we hope that’s what we’re doing here.”
Elsewhere at the conference, Yeoh said he wanted to work with more European directors and was “dead” to make a film with Mexican writer Guillermo del Toro. “I think I’m hoping that I can find a balance and that European directors will take notice of me and say, ‘Maybe we should put her in our movie,'” she said. “So please release it! I would love to come back here and work with some of the true greats of European cinema.”
Yeo was also asked about Asian representation in Hollywood, saying, “It’s an ongoing struggle,” recalling the industry’s challenges in producing films such as “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“When he presented this movie, everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, he checked all the wrong boxes — all-Asian cast, romantic comedy — this movie is going to fail.'” But fortunately, I think it hit a nerve,” Yeoh said of “Crazy Rich Asians.” But she added: “I can see there was a change, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to create ‘All Places at Once.'”
“But it took courage to do that, because once again we checked all the wrong boxes,” she said of the Best Picture Oscar winner. “But we won. I think that’s what it is. I think the reason I’m sitting here today with the Golden Bear is not because of one movie, but because of my perseverance, my resilience, my stubbornness to say, ‘I’m not just going to leave. I’m going to stay until the right changes happen.’
Last night, Yeoh was presented with the festival’s honorary Golden Bear award for lifetime achievement by Anora director Sean Baker. The two collaborated on the short film ‘Sandiwara’, which will be premiered at the festival on Friday.
In his speech, Baker called Yeoh “a once-in-a-generation screen presence, someone who not only appears in a movie, but redefines the temperature of the place.” Upon receiving the award, Yeo moved the audience with an emotional speech in which he reflected on his career.
“Part of me is still a young girl who just wanted to make her parents proud,” she says. “My father is no longer here to see this moment, but I carry my father’s discipline, his steadfastness, his belief that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And if you could see me here tonight holding this golden bear, I’m sure I’d smile.”
In an interview with Variety on Thursday, Yeo spoke at length about her decades in show business and ageism in Hollywood. “Let’s not let them define us as women and put us in a box and say, ‘Well, you’re at this age, you just have to play grandma,'” she said. “I’m like, ‘Oh no. I’m doing it because I want to do it, and I can still do it.'”
