Michelle Yeoh was pressured to walk away from Hollywood — right before she landed her first Oscar nomination.
Looking back on her career, Michelle says that as she got older, the roles she was being offered started to dwindle.
“You know, as you get older, the roles get smaller. It seems like the numbers go up and these things go narrow and then you start getting relegated to the side more and more,” Michelle told the LA Times.
She added that over time, people began to tell her she should retire — but she thankfully didn’t listen.
“You know, as you get older, people start saying, ‘Oh yeah, you should retire. You should do this. You should,'” Michelle said.
She continued, “No, guys. Do not tell me what to do. I should be in control of what I am capable of, right?”
When Michelle ended up getting offered Everything Everywhere All at Once, she says she finally felt seen for what she could accomplish.
“When Everything Everywhere came, all at once it was very emotional because this means that you are the one who’s leading this whole process, who’s telling the story,” she said.
She later added, “The first thing is you feel like, ‘Finally, thank you. You guys see me, you guys really see, and you’re giving me the opportunity to show that I’m capable of doing all this.'”
“As an actor, you need the opportunity. You need the role that will help you showcase what you are capable to do,” she said.
Michelle’s faith in her acting capabilities clearly paid off as she’s currently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
On top of that, she’s already taken home a Golden Globe this season and is up for quite a few more awards!
You can read all that Michelle had to say here.
