Michelle Yeoh: how an Oscar-winning action icon was forged in Manchester
There’s no such thing as a predictable road to success, with people from all walks of life making it to the top of their respective industries in infinite ways. However, students based in Manchester in the early 1980s could stake a claim for being in close proximity to one of the most unusual after Michelle Yeoh evolved into an action cinema icon and eventually an Academy Award-winning actor.
Yeoh’s pathway to the industry summit was hardly conventional to begin with because acting was never her first love. Originally, she wanted to be a dancer, but she stumbled into the world of beauty pageants after finishing university, where she ended up being named Miss Malaysia World in 1983.
The following year she made her acting debut in a watch commercial where she starred opposite Jackie Chan, who would eventually become not only a friend and a co-star, but the person who opened the door to her Oscar-winning performance when he declined the opportunity to play the lead in Everything Everywhere All at Once, after which the focus of the story shifted to Evelyn Wang, Yeoh was cast, and the rest became history.
Taken under the wing of the legendary Sammo Hung, Yeoh was elevated to leading status in only her third film appearance in 1985’s Yes, Madam, after which she rapidly blossomed into one of the leading lights in Hong Kong action. Kicking ass and taking names like it was nobody’s business, she would gain international prominence, holding her own against Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, splitting her time between international productions and Hollywood.
None of it would have happened without Manchester, though, where Yeoh spent many of her formative years. Relocating to England with her parents at the age of 15, she joined The Hammond School in Chester, attending the performing arts institution to achieve her goal of becoming a professional ballet dancer.
An injury ruled that out of the equation, but she didn’t turn her back on the area. Instead, she furthered her education at Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education, where she specialised in dance and choreography. Becoming a top-level action hero requires no small amount of intricate fight scenes, and it shouldn’t be overlooked that Yeoh took her first steps in that world by studying at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
She arrived in the United Kingdom with dreams of conquering the world of ballet, but by the time she left, those aspirations had been left in tatters. Of course, even the darkest of clouds have a silver lining, with Yeoh’s interest in other aspects of the arts serving her incredibly well as she segued into pageantry and performing, and it was Manchester that lit the touchpaper on a trajectory which took her right to the pinnacle of her chosen vocation.
