Michelle Yeoh Quotes

“Action shouldn't just be seeing all those crashes. You can blow up a cathedral; next time you blow up the Great Wall of China, and then what? But when you're in love with your characters, the smallest action becomes an important action.”

“As an actor, you can't just imitate someone. You have to get under her skin.”

“As an actor, you hope to find roles that are challenging to you as an artist. Then if you are truly blessed, you will find that it also carries a message that you can impart to your audience.”

“Beauty shouldn't be superficial and should come from within, and your eyes will tell the story.”

“Before you get into the mind, you have to inhabit the physicality. Body language is a great way of speaking.”

“Body language is more fascinating to me than actual language.”

“Every time I choose to do a movie, I make the decision because of what I think I can learn from it.”

“For me, beauty comes from natural happiness. I think that a woman glows, and a man, even, when they're healthy and they're happy.”

“I always thought of myself as James Bond.”

“I believe all of us want to do good for our country.”

“I don't like cutting my hair. I did that once, and my mum thought I was a boy.”

“I gravitate towards roles where women find strength in very difficult, uncompromising situations but maintain clarity in mind, discipline at heart, and a certain strength in spirit.”

“I have people who love me and people that I love and a man that I love. So in that sense, I feel that I'm pretty well rounded.”

“I kick and punch quite hard, and it surprises people.”

“I'm not a fashion victim, and I don't closely follow trends. I dress the way I feel comfortable because, at the end of the day, you have to be comfortable.”

“If I only get to play Malaysian roles, there wouldn't be very many roles for me to play.”

“If you read a lot of Chinese literature, there has always been very strong women figures – warriors, swordswomen – who defended honor and loyalty with the men. So, it's not new to our culture – it's always been very much a part of it. It's good that now the Western audience would have a different image of the Chinese women.”

“It can only be true love when you enable your other half to be better, to be the person they're destined to be.”

“Let's empower men and help them take a stand to stop acts of violence against women.”

“Martial arts is just practice. Being a geisha requires complete control.”

“My grandmother had flawless skin just from using basic skincare – an old herbal remedy in the form of a white powder and cream. I don't actually know what was in it because when you're young, you're not interested in skincare, and I didn't want to walk around the house with a white face.”

“Playing a sinner is very liberating!”

“There is so much we can do to save lives on our roads.”

“This world belongs to all of us, and all sexes should be able to live in respect and harmony.”

“To be a geisha, you have to have to an iron-clad layer around you – around your physical body and your heart.”

“Wai Lin is the first Bond Girl who is on a par with Bond, someone who can match up with him mentally and physically. From the moment our characters see each other, there is a wariness and a recognition that this person is not who she or he seems to be.”

“When I watch myself on-screen, I always look for the flaws.”

“When men have a smile on their faces, that does a lot for me.”

“When someone acknowledges you for something that they think about you, it's a huge compliment.”

“When you love someone, you don't try to change them.”