During an interview at the Berlin Film Festival, Michelle Yeoh declined to discuss U.S. politics, stating that it is “best not to talk about something I don’t know about.” Yeoh responded as an international actor to a reporter’s question about the current situation in the United States, referring to Trump’s ICE operations.
She added, “I don’t think I am in the position to really talk about the political situation in the U.S., and also I cannot presume to say I understand how it is. So, best not to talk about something I don’t know about.” Yeoh, who is Malaysian and primarily lives in Switzerland, added that she wanted to “concentrate on what is important for us, which is cinema.”
Continuing, “We hear, ‘Oh, cinema is not going to survive because there’s so many other things happening, the attention span is getting shorter.’ But I truly don’t believe that,” she said. “Because I believe when we go to the cinema, that is time for you. You know, you switch off your phones and you’ve chosen to watch something that you want. And that is the time when you can open your heart and free your mind and have time to yourself. Cinema is a place where we all come together and laugh and cry, we celebrate, but it’s always important to keep that tradition alive. And I hope that is what we are here to do.”
In the conference, Yeoh stated that she is “dying” to collaborate with Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and would love to collaborate with more European filmmakers.
In her words, “I think it’s finding the balance and hoping that the European directors will take notice of me and say, ‘Maybe we should have her in our film,’” she said. “So please put it out there! I would love to be back here and working with the true greats of European cinema.”
When asked if Asian representation in Hollywood “continues to be a struggle,” Yeoh recalled the difficulties faced by the entertainment sector while producing movies like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
She added, “At the time when he presented the movie, everyone was going, ‘Oh my God, he ticked all the wrong boxes — all-Asian cast, rom-com — it’s going to fall flat.’ But fortunately, I think it hit a nerve,” Yeoh said of “Crazy Rich Asians.” But, she added, “you could see that there was changes, otherwise I would not have been able to make ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’”
