She has played a wuxia master, a Bond girl, a geisha and an astronaut on a mission to save the Earth from destruction, but Michelle Yeoh believes her latest role, that of the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, will be her most important so far.
As production of the Luc Besson biopic, titled The Lady, wrapped in Thailand, Yeoh said she hoped the film would raise vital awareness about Aung San Suu Kyi's battle to return her country to civilian rule. The activist has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest and was released from her latest period of incarceration by Burma's ruling dictatorship in November. The military junta has made efforts to convince the world that the country has returned to civilian rule, but critics say little has changed.
The film will chart Aung San Suu Kyi's remarkable journey from housewife bringing up her children in Oxford to Burmese opposition leader, building up to the awful choice she had to make between country and family when her husband, Michael Aris, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In The Lady, Aris will be portrayed by the British actor David Thewlis.
Speaking in Hong Kong, Yeoh, whose films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies, Sunshine and Memoirs of a Geisha, called the movie "an incredible love story that has political turmoil within".
"More important for me is that people should know her story because unfortunately I think a lot of people have forgotten or don't really understand what was going on because it's been 20 years," she said.
Yeoh, 48, a former Miss World contestant who was born in Malaysia but is now based in Hong Kong, was able to meet Aung San Suu Kyi last year following her release. She said she was grateful that the Thai shoot had gone well, with little interruption from fans. "It was very important that we did it low-profile and I think because of that you have the integrity of what the film is about," she said.
Yeoh added that Besson was currently editing the movie and is planning a world premiere at the Venice film festival, which runs from 30 August to 10 September.
