Michelle Yeoh Had Been Waiting To Receive A Script Like Everything Everywhere All At Once For Years
Will the real multiverse of madness please stand up? In the last few years, the term "multiverse" has become a genre unto itself, perhaps most closely associated with the MCU's cadre of universe-hopping heroes that's only going to grow more bonkers in the lead-up to "Avengers: Secret Wars." In the hands of directing duo the Daniels, who began researching multiverses in 2010, the concept reached its singularly strange, phantasmagoric apex with "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Perhaps the only film to feature allusions to both Wong Kar-wai and "Ratatouille," "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is a poignant, deeply original genre freakout. Evelyn Wang, owner and proprietor of a laundromat, is sucked into the mind-bending world of "verse-jumping," whereupon she's able to access the skills and emotions of untold versions of herself. Michelle Yeoh anchors the film as Evelyn, who is in over her (many, many) heads. Here's why the zany "Everything Everywhere All at Once" script spoke to Yeoh.
Michelle Yeoh was proud to bring the story of an ordinary immigrant woman to life
Veteran actress Michelle Yeoh has been in everything from Hong Kong action films to Academy Award-winning epics to series like "Star Trek: Discovery." In an appearance on "The View," Yeoh mentioned how blessed she was to have played the overbearing mother in "Crazy Rich Asians" and the aunty in Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Still, the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" script spoke to Yeoh in particular.
"When I first received the script, it was a little unbelievable. It's like, I've been waiting so long — my God, so long! — to actually have an aging Asian immigrant, [an] ordinary woman, turn into a superhero, and a story [that's] all about her," Yeoh told CinemaBlend.
In addition to being a landmark script in terms of representation and visibility, the role of Evelyn Wang meant that Yeoh could effectively demonstrate the abilities she had garnered over decades in the industry. "Suddenly someone sees and is giving me the opportunity to showcase what I've learned over the years," Yeoh said on "The View." She appreciated that the role had both humor and martial arts skills. It also gave her the opportunity to be troubled and silly. "In my previous movies, I've always been the mentor, the teacher, very elegant," she added, right before gesticulating spastically in a fit of joy.