Michelle Yeoh Talks “Shattering the Glass Ceiling” and Asian Stereotypes

Wicked actress Michelle Yeoh is understandably proud to have shattered stereotypes during the course of her incredible career, which continues to thrive. It doesn’t seem like nearly 30 years have passed since Yeoh appeared as the formidable Bond Girl, Wai Lin, in the Pierce Brosnan-led 007 film, Tomorrow Never Dies.

Today, though, Yeoh portrays a much different character, Madame Morrible, in Wicked, and she’s proud to have broken through “the glass ceiling” in Hollywood. Yeoh said while appearing at the Red Sea International Film Festival (per Deadline):

I kicked my way to shattering the glass ceiling, right? We are beginning now to see more diversity, and we are beginning to see more women, especially behind the camera, and that is very important. Tell your story. Don’t compromise. Believe in what you do, because if you don’t believe that, you’ve lost just about everybody.”

Yeoh has played a pivotal part in several successful Asian films, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, Crazy Rich Asians, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In fact, Yeoh won the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role thanks to her portrayal of laundromat-owner Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Despite her success, though, Yeoh still believes there’s still room for improvement and innovation in Tinseltown. Yeoh said in the same interview:

“I think it’s crucial for the involvement of our industry to create more opportunities – equal opportunities – for storytellers to be able to tell their own stories in their own ways […] If we don’t take risks, we’re not going to come into something like ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ We take risks with big movies that flop, so why can’t we take risks with small movies?”

Michelle Yeoh Rises Beyond The Stereotyping of Asian Women

Michelle Yeoh’s film resume is impressive, to be sure. However, long before she joined 007/Pierce Brosnan in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, Yeoh had been working steadily since 1984. And while landing the role of Bond Girl Wai Lin opened up Hollywood to Yeoh, appearing in the spy franchise also slowed what roles she chose moving forward.

As Yeoh put it:

“That actually propelled me to the international market, but I couldn’t do anything for two years properly. Not because of the lack of scripts or parts coming my way, but because I did feel at the time they were so stereotyped in how we saw Asian women. Being able to say no is so powerful. I just felt at that moment that I wasn’t prepared to step backwards and accept the roles that were stereotypically writing Asian women down.”

On the heels of winning her Best Actress Academy Award for Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023, Yeoh was courted to portray Madame Morrible in the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, Wicked. “To come back to the set of Wicked was grounding,” Yeoh explained. “When you’re doing the Oscar thing, it’s wild because you’re so scared you’ll put the wrong foot forward and jeopardize your movie. Coming back to Wicked was love.”

Michelle Yeoh is riding high yet again thanks to the box office success of Wicked, which has made an astounding $382.7 million worldwide so far (per The Numbers), as the musical adaptation begins its third weekend of release. And fans of Yeoh needn’t worry, because she will return to the land of Oz as her character, Madame Morrible, plays an integral role in the exciting conclusion to The Wizard of Oz prequel, so look for Wicked: Part 2 when the film hits theaters on Nov. 21, 2025.

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Wicked

Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Cast

Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum , Jonathan Bailey , Ethan Slater , Marissa Bode , Bowen Yang , Bronwyn James , Keala Settle , Peter Dinklage , Aaron Teoh , Grecia De la Paz , Colin Michael Carmichael , Adam James , Andy Nyman , Courtney Mae-Briggs , Sharon D. Clarke , Jenna Boyd

Runtime

160 Minutes

Writers

Gregory Maguire , Winnie Holzman , Dana Fox , L. Frank Baum

Studio

Studio(s)

Marc Platt Productions

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Character(s)

Elphaba Thropp , Glinda Upland , Madame Morrible , The Wizard , Fiyero Tigelaar , Boq , Nessarose Thropp , Pfannee , ShenShen , Miss Coddle , Doctor Dillamond (voice) , Avaric Tenmeadows , Gilligan , Professor Nikidik , Glinda’s Father , Governor Frexspar Thropp , Melena Thropp , The Midwife

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