Michelle Yeoh says ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ lit a fire in Hollywood
Everything Everywhere All At Once star Michelle Yeoh has said that Crazy Rich Asians “lit the fire” in Hollywood that has fuelled an increase in diversity within the movie industry.
“What I don’t understand is why are we minorities?” Yeoh mused. “What does that word mean? Why does that word even exist?” She says that the success of Crazy Rich Asians helped to highlight this by illustrating that things don’t have to be white just to be enjoyed by the masses.
However, she also cautioned: “What if Crazy Rich Asians had not been a success? Would it have set us back another 25 years? So, there was a lot riding [on it].” Fortunately, it was a hit and Yeoh opines that the marketing team and producers did “a brilliant job” of ensuring it was “not just separated, but included.”
Following the success, Yeoh says “the studios were going, ‘They do like to see an all-Asian cast‘. And it made it a lot more easier,” she told Variety. “What I found now today is the best thing that has happened is I receive a script that does not describe the character as a Chinese or Asian-looking person.”
She concludes: “With Everything Everywhere All At Once all I can say is that we kung-fu’d the hell out of that glass ceiling.”
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