96 TIME April 11/April 18, 2022
able to keep it together; not every-
body is able to be successful at what
they set out to be.We don’t always see films
centered around difficult middle-
aged women, much less sci-fi
action comedies like this one.
How did you feel taking on a
layered character like Evelyn?
I love the beauty that she becomes
a superhero, that she’s allowed to
be a superhero. All of us have the
superpower in us when we are able
to show kindness, because that is a
great superpower that will enable
us to help the people around us,
especially those we love, to i nd
acceptance in ourselves in whatever
we’re doing.What does it feel like to have this
absurdist comedic role that also
uses all your skills as an action star
at this time in your career? If after
30-something-odd years being in
the business, I can still surprise you,
that means I am doing something
right. As an actor, that’s what you
want to do—the last thing you want
to do is to be stereotyped or typecast
or put in a box. When I approached
Evelyn, I was like, “I do not want to
be recognized as Michelle Yeoh; I do
not want you to see Michelle in any
form.”At the beginning, Evelyn feels
really limited in her life, but by
the end, she realizes that the only
limitations are the ones she has
been putting on herself. Was there
anything that you could relate to
within feeling limited or limitless?
If you don’t feel like you’re capable,
if you don’t think you’re capable,
then you won’t be capable. Because
the i rst person that says no is you—
you’ve already said no. So how are
you going to be able to do anything?
—CADY LANGYou’re starring in Everything Ev-
erywhere All At Once, a title that
might also describe your career
lately. You just appeared in Shang-
Chi, are currently filming American
Born Chinese, and have other proj-
ects. But the movie is about a laun-
dromat owner who discovers alter-
nate realities and amazing skills.
It’s a good thing, right? Who would
have thought, at my age, to be busier
than ever? I’m very, very lucky.
I loved the film. What drew you to
this project? When was the last time
you saw a woman like this become a
superhero? So I immediately said, “I
need to meet these two directors [Dan
Kwan and Daniel Scheinert].” They
had me with their passion, the clar-
ity of the story that they were telling.
They have very strong women in their
lives, basically their mothers, which
made sense when it came together. I
signed on after I understood where
they were coming from. They told
me, “Well, you know, Michelle, if you
refused to do this movie, we would
have to go back and rewrite the whole
script again.” In their craziness, they
really believed in me.
How did you prepare to embody
Evelyn? Every time I take on a new
role, I have to give her history; I have
to know where she’s coming from. Be-
cause Evelyn is a real character and
she deserves her story to be told in its
entirety, I kept a diary of Evelyn Wang
[starting from] when she left China
with the man she loved, much to the
dismay of her parents, and her father
disowning her because she didn’t do
what he wanted. She had the Ameri-
can Dream, like a lot of immigrants
do, because they are in search of a bet-
ter life. Hoping for one thing, which
was what Evelyn did, they started
their laundromat, they started a fam-
ily, and maybe it’s all coming together.
But then it’s hard. Not everybody is
Did you ever
i nd it hard to
keep up with all
the di erent
worlds in the
multiverse?
6 QUESTIONSMichelle Yeoh The actor talks about her new
movie set in the multiverse, her inspiration for this
new role, and how to feel limitless
JON KOPALOFF—GETTY IMAGES