Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan. The Truth About Their Relationship

Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan. The Truth About Their Relationship

They are the most popular Asian actors in the world, and both won an Oscar. Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh first met almost 40 years ago, and since then they have starred in several films together. How did their relationship develop, and what really connected them? Keep watching to find out. This is Wow Channel. Before we continue, make sure to subscribe to our channel and hit the bell icon for notifications. Let’s begin.

Michelle Yeoh met Jackie Chan for the first time in 1984. They starred together in a television commercial. At that time, Chan was a real star in Hong Kong and was trying to succeed in Hollywood. And for Yeoh, this was the first acting work. Before that, she became famous only for winning the Miss Malaysia World beauty pageant. The girl from childhood dreamed of being a belly dancer and trained for many years to achieve her goal. But at the age of 15, she injured her back, and the doctor said that she would have to forget about the dream. She stopped dancing, but still wanted to be in the spotlight, so she decided to become an actress. And it is so symbolic that her debut took place with Jackie Chan, after all, since then they have starred together several times.

After that, Michelle Yeoh began acting in action and martial arts films. Thanks to her excellent dance training, she moved perfectly, so she performed all the stunts herself. Already in her third film, Yes, Madam, she got her leading role. However, she married in 1987 and left her career to devote herself to her family. But after five years, she returned to acting with Police Story 3: Super Cop, after having divorced. Chan and Yeoh ended up back together on the set. Jackie Chan was initially skeptical about the young woman. However, Michelle Yeoh decided to show him everything she was capable of. She performed all the difficult and dangerous stunts on her own. Sometimes she really had to risk her life. In one of the scenes, for example, she did the motorcycle jump onto the train.

Chan was impressed, but didn’t show his emotions, because at that time he was convinced that a woman’s place was in the kitchen. And once, on the set of Police Story 3, he even saved her life. In one scene, Yeoh was supposed to fall off the back of the van and land on the hood of Ka-kui’s car, but everything went wrong. The windscreen didn’t shatter the things that were supposed to make it, so Jackie couldn’t get a handle on me. When you watch the outtakes, he scrambled over the windscreen and tried to hold on to me. Luckily, he grabbed onto a bit of my shirt as I was sliding off the car. He saved me, I think my life, said Michelle Yeoh. After all, thanks to this movie, they became very close friends.

However, there has always been an element of rivalry in their relationship. When Chan saw a young, fragile actress doing incredible stunts, he requested more daring action scenes for himself. After all, he was a megastar and should have looked more determined next to a beautiful woman. Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh have always respected each other for their skill and talent. Their path to success was very similar in many ways. However, as real friends, they not only praised, but sometimes criticized each other. In 1997, Michelle Yeoh appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. When the showman asked her if her success was inspired by her first co-star and friend Jackie Chan, Yeoh gave a brutally honest reply, saying, “No, actually, he’s a male chauvinistic pig. Jackie and I are very good friends. I say this to him, you know, to his face. He always believes that women should stay at home and cook and don’t do anything and be the victim, except for Michelle now, he said, because I would kick his butt.”

The actress added that she had never considered herself to be one of those typical women. After all, she was equal to him in many ways. Perhaps this is why Chan never imagined any romantic relationship with her, as his ideal is a woman who dedicates her life to her family. Since 1982, the actor has been married to Joan Lin, who was a successful actress before marriage. However, after the birth of her son, she forever forgot about her career and devoted her whole life to her husband. Lin also forgave him for his adulteries. Apparently, Jackie Chan always represented this kind of homely and submissive woman as his ideal. That is why their relationship with Michelle Yeoh has always remained only friendly and partnership.

Despite some rivalry in their careers, they supported each other in everything. Michelle Yeoh has always admitted that Chan has played a big role in her career. The Oscar goes to Michelle Yeoh. When in March 2023 Yeoh received the award for best performance by an actress in a leading role for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Oscars, she admitted that the role was originally intended for Jackie Chan, and she was offered to the supporting role of his wife. However, Chan dropped out of filming due to being busy with other projects. Therefore, the others decided to rewrite the script in such a way that Yeoh played the main role. The idea that a woman could be a superhero and save the world was brilliant. The audience was delighted with the character of Michelle Yeoh. That’s why she made history as the first Asian actress to win an Oscar.

Jackie Chan realized that he had lost a great role, however he was so happy for the success of his colleague. Yeoh told CBS News in January 2023, “Yeah, the role was written for Jackie Chan. He texted me and he said, ‘Hey, congratulations on your film. Do you know your directors came to look for me first?’ I said, ‘Yes, bro, I know. You lost, bro. Thank you.'” It’s hard to believe that Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh have been friends for almost 40 years. The actress proved to Chan that a woman is capable of achieving great success and performing stunts on a par with men. Chan began to respect her and probably realized that he was wrong when he said that a woman’s place was in the kitchen. These two are just good friends, however they have greatly influenced each other’s life. Don’t you think so? Thanks for watching, don’t forget to share your thoughts with me, to click like, and to subscribe. See you next time.