Speaker 1: Look man, oh I see you? Why why? And look
Speaker 1: over there? How is that culture? Yeah? Goodness, wow dang
Speaker 1: dungst cultures calling. Oh, it's just me and bow because
Speaker 1: we are we are postcoidal right now, we're postcoidal. We
Speaker 1: have post nut clarity. Joy we Um didn't have all
Speaker 1: the time in the world with our guests by now.
Speaker 1: You know it's Michelle Yo, you're looking at the title
Speaker 1: the app. You know she's been doing days of press
Speaker 1: for this movie, everything everywhere, all at once, which you
Speaker 1: must see if you haven't already. And in fact, we
Speaker 1: do get into some spoilers. So just if you're listening now,
Speaker 1: just know, you know, maybe hold off on listening to
Speaker 1: this episode. Please go see the movie first. Yeah, implore you,
Speaker 1: because we really get into you know, we really talked
Speaker 1: to her about what it was like to work on
Speaker 1: this and it was just such a special conversation. It's
Speaker 1: really I mean, this is I think one of my
Speaker 1: favorite moments we've had on the podcast. Not likely because
Speaker 1: you know, she's such an incredible icon of screen and
Speaker 1: just like cinema history, but also she was a very
Speaker 1: real person and I think that she had a lot
Speaker 1: to say that like really resonated about how she prepares
Speaker 1: and how she never stops learning when she's on set,
Speaker 1: and she just really a very grounded person and you
Speaker 1: wish that someone like her gets her do like this.
Speaker 1: You know what I really do, you really do? And
Speaker 1: it's that you know, classic thing where at this point,
Speaker 1: you know, this is something that Matt says all the time,
Speaker 1: which is can anyone else do this role? Can anyone
Speaker 1: else do which this actor does in any given project?
Speaker 1: And we definitely feel like that's not the case with
Speaker 1: Michelle and everything everywhere else once like the role was
Speaker 1: written for her. There aren't that many Asian female actresses
Speaker 1: who can pull off action in a sci fi comedy,
Speaker 1: who can pull off physical comedy as well as martial
Speaker 1: arts like that is like she's I've listened to her
Speaker 1: talk about the nuance and the different between physical comedy,
Speaker 1: which he's never done before and martial arts, which she has,
Speaker 1: and like how much fun it was for her anyway,
Speaker 1: we're really just like soaring from this interview. It was
Speaker 1: so fun. It's a little bit tighter than usual because
Speaker 1: of the time constraints we had, but so much fun.
Speaker 1: I Mean, it's just unreal because I've seen the movie
Speaker 1: now twice as as you'll hear, and I'm so overwhelmed
Speaker 1: because it's that thing, bo you know, way back when
Speaker 1: we first met the people that we we all met,
Speaker 1: and like you had a feeling about certain people and
Speaker 1: then coming to find out it happened to be true.
Speaker 1: So Stephanie Shoe is like our old friend from college.
Speaker 1: Like I think we probably all met when we were
Speaker 1: like nineteen nineteen. I was probably I was eighteen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so bo And is famously a little bit younger than us.
Speaker 1: What she just mentioned, which was which was which was
Speaker 1: not rude at all to mention his young age. But
Speaker 1: Stephanie is literally one of those people that you meet
Speaker 1: and it is just Yeah, she's truly limitless in terms
Speaker 1: of what she's able to do perfect word. I'm also
Speaker 1: really happy that she got to show off her beautiful
Speaker 1: voice in this movie. So it's everything I mean, and
Speaker 1: it really bowled me over bow because I'm more and
Speaker 1: more I'm realizing that like those people that we had
Speaker 1: a good feeling about from way back, actually that was true,
Speaker 1: you know, And how how lucky to be in the
Speaker 1: orbit of some of these people. I Mean, this is
Speaker 1: such a incredible performance, and all the performances are amazing,
Speaker 1: but I have to like sit here and tally as well,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like you gotta see it
Speaker 1: to believe it. I texted you right after I saw
Speaker 1: it the first time. I was like, Steph is gonna
Speaker 1: blow your fucking mind. And you know what's funny, It's like,
Speaker 1: first of all, this is like the most Steph movie
Speaker 1: of all time yea, from everything from like from like
Speaker 1: the Chaos of It to like the Bagel. I was like,
Speaker 1: Steph found the step Shoe movie to do. And maybe
Speaker 1: you know step from Marvelous Missus masl or you've seen
Speaker 1: her on Broadway. She was in SpongeBob and Ye Be
Speaker 1: More Chilled, so people are aware of her, but now
Speaker 1: they're going to become super aware of her. Just watching
Speaker 1: my friend. It's crazy, you know, because she was there,
Speaker 1: like she does all these different things, but she was
Speaker 1: there the whole time, and I was like in this
Speaker 1: in this amazing way, you know what I mean, And
Speaker 1: I was just like, oh my god, that's step I know.
Speaker 1: You know. She always says like, oh I gave up
Speaker 1: on comedy because the hours were crazy and she had
Speaker 1: other things going on. But like she was doing political subversities.
Speaker 1: It was the show in New York City, like at
Speaker 1: the same theater that pap Roulette did shows out like Steps,
Speaker 1: which is one of those people that you would like
Speaker 1: kind of run into all the time and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: what are you working on? And to see her do
Speaker 1: this is really incredible and I just were so so
Speaker 1: so thrilled. We must have her on the podcast and
Speaker 1: I'll sort of mention some stuff to her then, But
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking back to like conversations we had in
Speaker 1: college and truly like such a like a great friend,
Speaker 1: and yeah, I just like I'm like sitting around like emotional.
Speaker 1: I'm so emotional about the movie because of the messages
Speaker 1: in it, but also it's just really special to see
Speaker 1: someone that you care about who's so talented, I know,
Speaker 1: just and so full of love and always was supportive
Speaker 1: of us, which she would. We shared a couple days
Speaker 1: on set together at Norah. This was right before she
Speaker 1: was about to start. Daniels directed that episode of Nora
Speaker 1: The Daniels directed the flashback episode of Nora from Queens
Speaker 1: where you know at all, like it's Grandma telling Nora
Speaker 1: like her story and it all kind of gets shot
Speaker 1: in the style of like a seed drama or a
Speaker 1: K drama, and you know, and that's where the Daniels
Speaker 1: like met, like Harry sham Junior, who's who's in the movie.
Speaker 1: She's so so funny, so great. I've never been more
Speaker 1: excited to support a project that, like I had nothing
Speaker 1: to do with, which sounds so disgustingly vain, but it
Speaker 1: is weird when someone's like so hype for something that,
Speaker 1: like in our business at least, like it's someone's hype
Speaker 1: for something that like they hadn't no part of. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but we need more of that. I know, I totally agree,
Speaker 1: because I always feel like that's how we get interesting. Yes,
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't. I don't even know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It's just like, I mean, that's really what I want
Speaker 1: this podcast to be anyway as I would I would
Speaker 1: love you know, that's so interesting talking about it, like
Speaker 1: three hundred episodes in like what we wanted to be.
Speaker 1: But I guess that's a good sign. Yeah that, like
Speaker 1: you know, now that we're able to have access to
Speaker 1: someone like Michelle Yo, like, it's so mind blowing. But
Speaker 1: I do think that, like, especially nowadays when people aren't
Speaker 1: necessarily going out to the theater. Like I'm happy like
Speaker 1: that that, like there's things out there that are there's
Speaker 1: really challenging things out there available to us that we
Speaker 1: can go see. Like I'm going to New York um
Speaker 1: next week and I'm gonna see five Broadway shows and
Speaker 1: I haven't done that in years. But I think there's
Speaker 1: like there's like a renewed interest in me and like
Speaker 1: seeing things and absorbing things, and I think that that's
Speaker 1: that's like a really important thing now that the world
Speaker 1: is opening back up, as I knock fucking would, but um,
Speaker 1: like you gotta get out there and see stuff and
Speaker 1: then share what you loved about it with people. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know that's like a simple, maybe like you know,
Speaker 1: sort of stupid thing to say, but like tell people
Speaker 1: what you like. I mean like, and I guess that's
Speaker 1: what is so podcast. That's like this podcast, and that's
Speaker 1: what I want it to be. And that's why I
Speaker 1: feel like, while this feels like a crazy episode for us,
Speaker 1: because I never in a million years bo that we
Speaker 1: started this on fucking Mercer Street in New York thought
Speaker 1: that we would get to the point where we could
Speaker 1: have Michelle Yo on our podcast. But now that we can,
Speaker 1: it's like I'm so excited because I genuinely feel like
Speaker 1: I can't express enough how this movie enriched me likewise,
Speaker 1: and like there aren't that many movies that I can
Speaker 1: like rattle off that have like had such an effect
Speaker 1: on me like you have. I didn't even get to
Speaker 1: say this to her. I watched that movie. All I
Speaker 1: can think about is my mom. And that's that's what.
Speaker 1: That's what, that's what I think about. I think by
Speaker 1: my mom all the time. When I see Michell Yow movies.
Speaker 1: I remember going and Crouching Tiger with my mom and
Speaker 1: being like, wait, she kind of talks like my mom does,
Speaker 1: and like she has the same sort of like warm
Speaker 1: than energy and strength and whatever. Anyway, I'm just talking
Speaker 1: about my mom now. But with everything ever, everywe at
Speaker 1: all at once is literally the story of this woman
Speaker 1: who's like, what if I had done things differently? But
Speaker 1: my mom, in her loving way, She's not saying this
Speaker 1: in like a way to like give me an existential
Speaker 1: crisis or like throttle me into that kind of crisis,
Speaker 1: but she always is, like, you know, I think about
Speaker 1: all the time if I had stayed in China, like
Speaker 1: I would have been this very successful doctor, I would
Speaker 1: have not had you because you're the second child, because
Speaker 1: you know, back then was one child only, Like in
Speaker 1: Cheap it's a very common thing in the immigrant experience,
Speaker 1: at least, not to make it specifically about that, to
Speaker 1: be like what if it's very much about that, though,
Speaker 1: no it is, but it's a universal thing, like everybody
Speaker 1: walks this earth going what if I had done things differently?
Speaker 1: What if things were different enough that we're out of
Speaker 1: my control? You know, like everyone is in that space
Speaker 1: all the time. And it's the perfect concept to bring
Speaker 1: into a multiverse movie. It's just so I loved this
Speaker 1: movie so much. It's so smart on so many different levels,
Speaker 1: and it's also fun and it's moving, and it's because
Speaker 1: and it's because the thing about this film is and
Speaker 1: we should just say, it's also wild. I mean, like,
Speaker 1: it's a truly crazy movie and you will be asking
Speaker 1: yourself what the hell is going on? You've never seen
Speaker 1: anything like this, and then it becomes clear. But the
Speaker 1: thing is, while it is so expansive and so ambitious
Speaker 1: and so audacious, it's also very simple in terms of
Speaker 1: the story. It's actually just about a family trying to
Speaker 1: come back together, and it's about realizing what you have
Speaker 1: and it's about understanding possibility but embracing reality. And it's
Speaker 1: just it's just so good. It's about accepting whatever reality
Speaker 1: you're in. Yeah, and noticing noticing this movie. It was
Speaker 1: so good and also especially and blah blah blah. But
Speaker 1: in a time when everything is a sequel or you know,
Speaker 1: a franchise movie, like you gotta go out and support
Speaker 1: this movie. What we say in the episode, like put
Speaker 1: on a mask if that makes you feel better, if
Speaker 1: you haven't been out to the theaters, like this is
Speaker 1: the movie to go see. You won't regret it. You
Speaker 1: really won't regret it. It's not the kind of movie
Speaker 1: that you will be like whatever, yeah, no, no, no, no no,
Speaker 1: no no. At the very least, you'll have a strong reaction. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1: And isn't it fun to go to a movie and
Speaker 1: potentially hate it. I don't think you will, you won't,
Speaker 1: but it. But also like I don't know, like it
Speaker 1: made me feel all the feeling I mean, I just
Speaker 1: I did not just say yeah, but that's like it's
Speaker 1: just I don't know, it really transported me back to
Speaker 1: like I don't know, maybe even feeling like that childlike
Speaker 1: thing of like going to the movies and something just
Speaker 1: is completely new. It's movie magic. And she not just
Speaker 1: not to spoil the interview, and you know, if you
Speaker 1: haven't skipped all the way to when Michelle Yo starts talking,
Speaker 1: God bless, you think you're listening to us talk, but
Speaker 1: she gets into that like, yeah, movie magic, Like it's
Speaker 1: this thing that's hard to come by. Especially I felt
Speaker 1: this way before I saw the movie, Like I feel
Speaker 1: like I've been a little desensitized, just a little bit
Speaker 1: desensitized to like the viewing experience or the intake or
Speaker 1: consumption of something that I'm watching because I'm like in
Speaker 1: bed watching it like from a TV or an iPad
Speaker 1: or like it's sedentary, it's passive. Like there's something so
Speaker 1: literally activating about this movie that you watch it and
Speaker 1: you cannot help but go, oh my god. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that sensory overload that happens in that atmosphere. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: that is not replicable at home. It really isn't unless
Speaker 1: you have, like, you know, a crazy Dolby setup or something.
Speaker 1: Unless you have a crazy Dolby set up, Honey, you're experience.
Speaker 1: It's it's really culture number four. You're not gonna get
Speaker 1: that experience, honey. Anyway, as do we have any anything
Speaker 1: else to say? It's a bit of nothing else say.
Speaker 1: I'm like so tapped from this conversation, Like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: just excited. I'm so excited. She was so generous with us,
Speaker 1: just was so honest. She was giving ponytail through a
Speaker 1: white baseball cap. Un girl, can we talk about I
Speaker 1: guess people know this already, but a hard reminder needs
Speaker 1: to be set that, like this is a fucking style legend. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: glamour Icon, glamour Icon. She just came out with her
Speaker 1: interview magazine photos where she looks fucking amazing. Yeah. The
Speaker 1: Ring and crazy rich Asians is her ring. Oh wow,
Speaker 1: did you hear that? Have you heard the story? I
Speaker 1: think I actually do like like like the props, like
Speaker 1: like like because the ring is like a plot point.
Speaker 1: It's like the like the Young Ring, and it's like wow,
Speaker 1: the eleanor Young Ring, and it's like they like did
Speaker 1: like a pretty generic looking but still like you know,
Speaker 1: like something that communicates wealth or whatever that this family has.
Speaker 1: But she came on to set or she saw the
Speaker 1: ring for the first time, she was like, no one better,
Speaker 1: I have a collection she has. This woman is like
Speaker 1: very unassuming in a lot of ways. But also I'm
Speaker 1: just remind ended of the fact that she is married
Speaker 1: to the former CEO of Ferrari Oh Jesus, Like, this
Speaker 1: woman knows fucking lavishness and luxury, and yet she still
Speaker 1: is like such an artist in her way, and like
Speaker 1: it doesn't like would never let that show, like, doesn't
Speaker 1: let that inform anything about her in her work brings up.
Speaker 1: But I just I'm obsessed with that. Like she's a
Speaker 1: fucking glamour She's like, it's it feels old Hollywood. It
Speaker 1: feels like so fucking Oh, I love it. It's so
Speaker 1: lucks But anyway, it's her ring, that giant fucking emerald.
Speaker 1: I don't know what cut of diamond that is, but
Speaker 1: so beautiful. Yeah, this was I mean, we're doing the
Speaker 1: fluffing of the century here, this four play that we're
Speaker 1: doing with the readers. I say, let's just play of
Speaker 1: the episode. You're gonna hear us ding dong again. The
Speaker 1: intro is very short with her. I swear to god,
Speaker 1: we're getting to Michelle Yo. Very very very soon. This
Speaker 1: feels like when you're about to get on the roller coaster,
Speaker 1: but like there's like a technical problem. It's like you
Speaker 1: waited for an hour and then you get there and
Speaker 1: they're like we're experiencing technical difficulties and you're like, fuck off, right,
Speaker 1: but with no, with no further ado Bo, that's welcome,
Speaker 1: Michelle fucking yo, come on, Dan du lost culture racist
Speaker 1: calling oh bo. And it's a moment in time. Man, again,
Speaker 1: what was the last movie you saw multiple times in theaters?
Speaker 1: Besides everything everywhere all at once. I would have to
Speaker 1: go back, but I can't remember, like sometime a movie
Speaker 1: that I was immediately excited to see again, you know,
Speaker 1: like that's how it happened, especially in the theater, especially
Speaker 1: like pursuing the IMAX experience of it. I was like,
Speaker 1: I have to see this on a giant screen with
Speaker 1: a bunch of people. I will say this, The last
Speaker 1: time I saw a movie repeatedly, again and again and
Speaker 1: again was A Star Was Born with Lady Gaga and
Speaker 1: Bradley Cooper, which I famously did see four times opening weekend.
Speaker 1: Now that does not mean that I wasn't equally moved
Speaker 1: by this new film everything everywhere, all at once, which
Speaker 1: I've twice this week in the theaters, and I know
Speaker 1: Bowen has as well. And I have to implore all
Speaker 1: of the readers of this podcast, everyone out there, to
Speaker 1: get to the theaters to see this. Bowen, I know
Speaker 1: you were as just as excited as I was. I was.
Speaker 1: It's it's the superlatives are are there aren't enough? Do
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. I think I told you immediately.
Speaker 1: Our friend Stephanie Shoe is in it. We went to
Speaker 1: college with her. I can't we can't wait to get
Speaker 1: into this, can't wait to talk about it with our guests.
Speaker 1: So there's really no need to introduce her, I mean
Speaker 1: the way. She's truly a legend in cinema in so
Speaker 1: many ways. Just we're so inspired and privileged to have her.
Speaker 1: So please welcome Michelle Yo. Hello, Oh my god. What
Speaker 1: an introduction to everything everywhere, all at once. I love
Speaker 1: you boys already well, especially because you have friends with
Speaker 1: my baby girls. Stephanie Shoe. We went to college with her.
Speaker 1: I did sketch comedy with Stephanie Shue. I first met
Speaker 1: her as you know, the hilarious, funny girl who could
Speaker 1: do anything and then as I got to know her,
Speaker 1: I realized how she's so good with drama, musical, She's
Speaker 1: in completely insane person. She's everything everywhere all at once.
Speaker 1: Absolutely it is. I mean, she is amazing in this
Speaker 1: She's amazing, poll stop anything. So you are very lucky
Speaker 1: to have met her at the early age, and I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see all the amazing things that she
Speaker 1: will continue to do and have the opportunity to do
Speaker 1: what was like to set up that relationship and to
Speaker 1: sort of brown that into something that was very, very
Speaker 1: convincing because by the end, I mean, Matt and I've
Speaker 1: talked about this, I never cry at movies, and I did.
Speaker 1: I did cry multiple to multiple both times I've seen it,
Speaker 1: especially in that last thing. We won't spoil up, but
Speaker 1: there's a last moment with you and Stephanie's character Joy,
Speaker 1: between Evelyn and Joy, like, how how did you? What
Speaker 1: was the process like of just getting into that relationship? Okay,
Speaker 1: but first of all, I really really want, I want
Speaker 1: want to say thank you for you too having given
Speaker 1: the shout out about going to the cinema yat this movie.
Speaker 1: It is a shared experience and hello, Matt, if you
Speaker 1: don't watch it more than four times. I'm coming okay,
Speaker 1: I know. Hey it is the lady Yaga step aside. Okay,
Speaker 1: he is going to say to Brad out of my way?
Speaker 1: Is you? Okay? Absolutely? I love that movie. This one
Speaker 1: is unique. It's different, right and all right. It is
Speaker 1: like the primal way of our ancestors, where you sit
Speaker 1: under the stars and you're a great storytelling. You have
Speaker 1: to see it in the cinema because that's when you
Speaker 1: devote yourself to that magic of filmmaking. Yeah. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: it's like you don't want to go on a roller
Speaker 1: coaster ride by yourself, No, I never. This is like
Speaker 1: the more incredible rollercoaster ride that you're going to have
Speaker 1: in the cinema and you're doing it. You have to
Speaker 1: do it with people. You have to do it with
Speaker 1: your friends, your family and strangers. And the most important
Speaker 1: thing is like having conversations afterwards. Oh yeah, on all
Speaker 1: the different issues, whether it's the mother and daughter, the
Speaker 1: father and daughter, the husband and wife, just a relationship.
Speaker 1: Look at the two antagonists because yeah, you know the audit,
Speaker 1: the tax auditor, who is like that you think the
Speaker 1: scariest person, but who is a real human being? Yes,
Speaker 1: and you meet and you don't want to be left
Speaker 1: out of the conversation, do you when everybody is going
Speaker 1: have you seen this movie? Do you know what we're
Speaker 1: talking about? And God forbid, You're like, no. It is
Speaker 1: that though. It is a cultural moment, and I really
Speaker 1: do believe that this movie is going to be something
Speaker 1: that as more people see it, as more people talk
Speaker 1: about it, is going to become a cultural conversation because
Speaker 1: it's unlike anything. It's unlike anything. It is the Daniels
Speaker 1: just I call them my evil geniuses because he had
Speaker 1: the audacity, the courage to put it all on paper.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like five genres of film in one movie.
Speaker 1: And they took a very ordinary, totally unsuccessful immigrant Asian
Speaker 1: aging woman, immigrant who is trying to pursue the American
Speaker 1: dream with the love of her life, came here to
Speaker 1: the complete disagreement and disapproval of her parents, especially of
Speaker 1: her horrible father. I'm sorry, Jeff to say that. It's
Speaker 1: almost like a vicious circle. It's like, that's how you are. You.
Speaker 1: You understand that your parents want the best for you.
Speaker 1: They tell you what to do and you should do that,
Speaker 1: and God forbid you disobey them. And it's like when
Speaker 1: she sees her daughter. That is the core of the
Speaker 1: core of the movies is this mother daughter relationship. And
Speaker 1: you right, Stephanie and I found the bond. We didn't
Speaker 1: we didn't have you know, we are an independent film.
Speaker 1: I only arrived in January. We had eight weeks to
Speaker 1: shoot this, thirty seven days. Because you know, there is
Speaker 1: a union. We can work like constantly, like twenty four seven, right.
Speaker 1: So we but every character from Stephanie, myself, Kei Kuan, Jamie, Lee, Curtis, James, Honest,
Speaker 1: the Daniels, every character was completely invested and knew who
Speaker 1: they were. I saw I seeing this woman on this
Speaker 1: we've passed by this Evelyn Wall, the supermarket, or when
Speaker 1: we are if we're in Chinatown, we see the mothers,
Speaker 1: the aunties, the grandmothers, where they are weighed down by
Speaker 1: the responsibility of keeping a family together, keeping a business alive,
Speaker 1: you know, doing what is right and helping the facts
Speaker 1: the family survive. And she you know, she doesn't walk straight.
Speaker 1: She literally waddles her way through, right, She's waving through
Speaker 1: all these like problems and things. So what is the
Speaker 1: American dream? It is tough it is also tough, but
Speaker 1: the Daniels have given her such a strong voice to
Speaker 1: highlight and to tell her story and give her an
Speaker 1: opportunity to be a superhero because at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, we believe in love, we believe in our family,
Speaker 1: and we will never give up on that, and that
Speaker 1: journey needed to be told in this way. This is
Speaker 1: something I've observed, And I don't know if this is
Speaker 1: what maybe jumped out at you when you first read
Speaker 1: the script, but I feel like in your career you
Speaker 1: portrayed power in such a such a wonderful way through
Speaker 1: so many ranges, through such a wide range of things,
Speaker 1: whether it's you know I when or young, or you know,
Speaker 1: Star Trek with you know Phil so yeah, yeah, but
Speaker 1: it's like I mean, you know, or even in mar
Speaker 1: never dies. Like I feel like the Michelle Yoe in
Speaker 1: her roles up to this point has been about portraying
Speaker 1: a woman in power, which is wonderful. But this is
Speaker 1: someone you look at, Evelyn, and this is someone who
Speaker 1: is vulnerable at every level, socially, economically, emotionally, physically. Did
Speaker 1: you recognize that to be something unique and different immediately?
Speaker 1: Because you're right, like, this is a woman we've passed
Speaker 1: on the street who is basically invisible to a lot
Speaker 1: of people, Like, how how did you dive into that vulnerability?
Speaker 1: That's a great question. Thank you for that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's very i think at the beginning of my
Speaker 1: career to show because we were all the ming bass
Speaker 1: the Asian woman is like the fragile, you know, who
Speaker 1: needs to be carefully catered to and all those kind
Speaker 1: of like whatever, the very stereotypical indication of what it
Speaker 1: is to be an age Asian woman. And for me
Speaker 1: it was very important spell no, no, no no, no, we're
Speaker 1: not that. We are at a mother. We are strong,
Speaker 1: where independent, we are in control of our lives. And
Speaker 1: it was it's a choice to portray and give a
Speaker 1: voice to that because we cannot be seen as the
Speaker 1: victims only. But with Evelyn Wong, she's not a victim. No.
Speaker 1: She is trying to be the strong, the successful and
Speaker 1: all that, but life has beaten her down in every
Speaker 1: turn of the way. And that's a reality that surround us.
Speaker 1: It's not that everybody gets to be successful even though
Speaker 1: they give it they are hundred and two hundred percent right. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that's the reality of life, but to be able to say, yes,
Speaker 1: she is a failure as so many things that she does,
Speaker 1: but every failure becomes it's an impact on our lives
Speaker 1: and we have to learn to be to learn from
Speaker 1: that and be stronger with that. And I think for
Speaker 1: Evelyn Wong, if she was not open to be always
Speaker 1: trying to be better or do something, she would not
Speaker 1: be able to go into these multiverses and tap into
Speaker 1: that and have an open mind. And I think that
Speaker 1: was what that really attracted Yes, because we are all
Speaker 1: flawed characters. We are all flawed human beings. And in
Speaker 1: the beginning of my career playing the Strong, you know,
Speaker 1: more and more dynamic characters were important because it empowers
Speaker 1: you to believe that you can do this. And now
Speaker 1: it comes to a stage where it's like, I want
Speaker 1: to give the people who are not seen right the
Speaker 1: chance to have a voice and say they can have
Speaker 1: a different life too. And the Daniels have given us
Speaker 1: a perfect opportunity to say, well, guess what in a
Speaker 1: science fiction world, we can you know, because you're going
Speaker 1: to be able to go into all these kind wolves
Speaker 1: and see what could have happened, But what can you choose?
Speaker 1: That's very important. That is I think, and I'm actually
Speaker 1: emotional even thinking about this, but what moved me so
Speaker 1: much about the film was the message of choosing each
Speaker 1: other and you know, even in seeing the vast possibility
Speaker 1: in choosing the love in your life and in noticing
Speaker 1: the things in your life that have actually given you
Speaker 1: the strength that you didn't know. Because even though Evelyn
Speaker 1: acquires skills and she's able to tap into these different universes,
Speaker 1: it is her the whole time, and she is the
Speaker 1: soul that we're with, and she is the person at
Speaker 1: the end of the film who makes the decision that
Speaker 1: she makes. And I cannot remember being more moved than
Speaker 1: towards the end of the film when there is a
Speaker 1: specific montage with Keys character and you are and I
Speaker 1: just want to say, Michelle, like, there is so much
Speaker 1: power in the way that you receive that you are
Speaker 1: outstanding in this movie. I mean, it is an outstanding
Speaker 1: I will say it Oscar worthy performance. I know it's whatever,
Speaker 1: but this is the kind of thing where I just
Speaker 1: don't think there is another person in the world that
Speaker 1: could do this. And when I tell you how moved
Speaker 1: I was, it had so much to do with keys
Speaker 1: performance but also the way you receive that, and you
Speaker 1: can see the character realizing so much about her life,
Speaker 1: her reality, and what she wants in that moment. So
Speaker 1: just that message I think is so important, you know,
Speaker 1: in showing the beauty and the love in a life
Speaker 1: that's big, but also a life that feels quote unquote small.
Speaker 1: And so I just was that something that jumped out
Speaker 1: to you in the script and maybe made you say
Speaker 1: like absolutely, this is it. Oh my god, now you're
Speaker 1: making me emotional some moved by the movie. No, I
Speaker 1: think what it is it's like because when you read it,
Speaker 1: it resonates, you know, like you say, with a husband
Speaker 1: and wife relationship, any relationship is continuous work, and sometimes
Speaker 1: we get sideswept, bocked down by the things, problems and
Speaker 1: all those kinds of things, and we start looking at
Speaker 1: the other person like why couldn't you be better at this?
Speaker 1: But then we forget why did you fall in love
Speaker 1: with this person to change him? Right? You love him
Speaker 1: because he's a little darky. He knows how to find
Speaker 1: like joy and beauty in the most horrible places, and
Speaker 1: he's trying to instill happiness, and that was why you
Speaker 1: loved him. In the first place, and you were ready
Speaker 1: to you abandon your family, your parents, to go in
Speaker 1: search of a new life because you love this man.
Speaker 1: And I think sometimes we get lost along the way,
Speaker 1: and I think what happened was like it didn't hit
Speaker 1: her until when she saw the divorce papers. They were like,
Speaker 1: what the f are you talking? It real? And then
Speaker 1: it was yeah, right, But that was his point. It
Speaker 1: was like, I don't really want a divorce, but I
Speaker 1: think this will force you to stop because it happened
Speaker 1: to somebody else. It stopped them to think. It's like,
Speaker 1: do you really value this relationship? And if you have
Speaker 1: lost complete respect and for the man or the woman
Speaker 1: and the relationship, then yes, maybe it's time to step away.
Speaker 1: Because you don't want to hate each other because it's
Speaker 1: a very fine line. But if there is real love,
Speaker 1: then you have to fight for it. You have to
Speaker 1: fight for each other and you have to continue to
Speaker 1: do that. I think where the Daniels were very very
Speaker 1: clever when they wrote this is the emotional thread between
Speaker 1: each character with even like the simple you know when
Speaker 1: Jobu Chaki, then Stephanie comes out with all these like
Speaker 1: amazing costumes and things incredible, she looks a comfortable but
Speaker 1: I looked into her eyes and I see the longing
Speaker 1: of I'm looking for my mother. Yes not you know,
Speaker 1: even though my mouth says nothing matters, your eyes don't
Speaker 1: say that. And that's what I see from from that
Speaker 1: what bonds us together, because that's what Evelyn is seeing. Right.
Speaker 1: It's like you know how sometimes children they say the
Speaker 1: worst things. They're like I wish you're dead or your
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. Always say it too because I wish
Speaker 1: they never had you, Like what, don't be ridiculous, Okay,
Speaker 1: but you say things you think to hurt each other
Speaker 1: because you want them to feel, to hurt you are feeling, yeah,
Speaker 1: and then you just take like silly things at each other.
Speaker 1: But that's where you know when you are working with
Speaker 1: someone like Key and Stephanie, who we look at each
Speaker 1: other and we see love and we know this is
Speaker 1: where we have to go because if you don't believe
Speaker 1: that you love me, nobody else going to. You know,
Speaker 1: your eyes are as an actor, the eyes are the
Speaker 1: windows to someone's soul. Yes, and I believe in Evelyn
Speaker 1: Wall as Stephanie believed in Joy and to packy. So
Speaker 1: you know when we walk into that even though she's
Speaker 1: like clinging those adult toys around. Yes, what the hell?
Speaker 1: And that's where the geniuses of the Daniels are. They
Speaker 1: put you in the most unapologetic raunchiness, silliness or whatever,
Speaker 1: because you are thrown off balance, your head is getting
Speaker 1: like messed up like Evelyn, watch right, and then they
Speaker 1: pull the rock from under you and they watch you
Speaker 1: fall going a genius evil genius. But this is something,
Speaker 1: This is like the opposite end of what you've always
Speaker 1: said that you know martial arts scenes are, which is
Speaker 1: there's always drama and emotional sticks to any fight scene
Speaker 1: you've done. And even with even between these characters, even
Speaker 1: though there are all these insane visuals going on, there's
Speaker 1: still that dramatic core, that thread between these two characters
Speaker 1: that like makes you you can't take your eyes off
Speaker 1: it because you understand what's going on on some different emotional,
Speaker 1: different levels, the emotional curve for these two women they're
Speaker 1: fighting me. You know, if it's like with Jobu Chupaki,
Speaker 1: she she thinks she's trying to kill this woman that's
Speaker 1: her mother, right, but she's she's testing her to the limits.
Speaker 1: Is how much do you actually want me? Yes? Right.
Speaker 1: It's like our children test us all the time, from
Speaker 1: the minute they know how to crawl. They test you
Speaker 1: to see, right, that's what we do and that we
Speaker 1: do that with our friends. We do that with our
Speaker 1: the people that we love. Right. You don't do that
Speaker 1: to people that you don't know, because it's the ways
Speaker 1: of the time. Right. But you you test your limits,
Speaker 1: you test each other's limits constantly. But does that mean
Speaker 1: that you don't you love that person? That's why you
Speaker 1: are testing the boundaries. That's why you know how much
Speaker 1: more than I can I achieve from this? And even
Speaker 1: with the fight sequences with like the Late lay Brothers,
Speaker 1: you know, with the mud clouds and all this kind
Speaker 1: of thing, it's all about survival. It's all about that
Speaker 1: and what I loved right at the end, you know,
Speaker 1: when I was doing it, it it was like, huh, I
Speaker 1: opened my arms and I fight love. At first, I
Speaker 1: was really like, what the hell are you two boys
Speaker 1: trying to do? It's like, how do you fight for love?
Speaker 1: That's a very interesting thing. How do you say I'm
Speaker 1: going to now not fight you with the physical like
Speaker 1: you know, you are coming at me with knives at bombs,
Speaker 1: you know, the whole staircase. Other alphas is like they
Speaker 1: are they are ready to kill me and ready to
Speaker 1: kill Evelyn wrong, and she has the google eyes and
Speaker 1: she suddenly realized all the googly eyes it's all about
Speaker 1: love and joy and this. But how do you present
Speaker 1: to them. It's like, I'm not gonna fight you with
Speaker 1: my fist. I'm going to embrace you and fight you
Speaker 1: with love. So we were standing there going like, how
Speaker 1: do you do that? How do you present that? Well,
Speaker 1: I guess I would just call right, Loma, this is
Speaker 1: something you know. We are in the industry, so we
Speaker 1: know this, but these films are shot out of sequence
Speaker 1: and so and so. So that must be a real
Speaker 1: mind f for you to sort of like, you know,
Speaker 1: have the script and you're reading the script and then
Speaker 1: you get a shoot schedule. And that is something that
Speaker 1: is also really impressive about your performance. Is it all
Speaker 1: feels It's extremely specific, emotionally and continuous, which has to
Speaker 1: be incredibly difficult because you could be shooting one scene
Speaker 1: that leads into another at the end of the shoot
Speaker 1: from the beginning of the shoot. So how did what
Speaker 1: was your process for keeping that line that I am
Speaker 1: going to post on my Instagram very soon my script.
Speaker 1: Oh how I normally work a script. It's like I
Speaker 1: tag you know, when you get your script and I
Speaker 1: tag them which are the scenes I'm appearing in. If
Speaker 1: it was an action sequence, they get a red tag,
Speaker 1: and if it was a very heavy dramatic one, it
Speaker 1: gets like a blue one. So you know, you work
Speaker 1: it out. And then because you have to see as
Speaker 1: the character, you see the entirety of the script, right,
Speaker 1: And that was how you the emotional arc of where
Speaker 1: you're going or whatever it is. I think one movie
Speaker 1: that I had was as challenging but not quite as
Speaker 1: this was The Lady, where it spanned like twenty years
Speaker 1: of her life, right, And like you say, we don't
Speaker 1: do it in order, You never do. I mean for
Speaker 1: so many reasons. So you have to know that if
Speaker 1: you go into the eighties or then the twenty two thousands,
Speaker 1: what is the mindset? Where are you going from your hair,
Speaker 1: a wardrobe or whatever that helps you recreate this this moment.
Speaker 1: But with everything everywhere all at once, it is everything
Speaker 1: everywhere all at once, you're self. Then you're like, oh
Speaker 1: what okay, I'm like back to this universe and then
Speaker 1: I'm jumping into the jail whatever you know. You But
Speaker 1: when you see how I have tagged, I am literally
Speaker 1: every scene of them. Yes, oh yeah. Emotional art goes work, work, work,
Speaker 1: he goes sideways, up and down and every It really
Speaker 1: is insane. And the amazing thing is like, even though
Speaker 1: she goes into the other multiverse, Evelyn is still Evelyn Warm, right.
Speaker 1: She she sees what this multiverse is about. She doesn't
Speaker 1: live that multiverse. It's not like, Hey, his character Wayman
Speaker 1: when he is can travel, right, but in that universe
Speaker 1: he is who he is, like the CEO. He doesn't
Speaker 1: know about the other uni versus, so he is very
Speaker 1: contained with who Wayman is in that universe. But with her,
Speaker 1: it's like she sees, this is like why am I here?
Speaker 1: And can you imagine when she went into the hot
Speaker 1: Dog Dutiverse Nightmare atagonist Jamie Lee Curtis whose dear reader
Speaker 1: whatever her name is, like yeah, and it's suddenly her
Speaker 1: lover and coming at her with these like hot dog
Speaker 1: you guys and wanting to hug her and Kissa like
Speaker 1: don't touch me, you know, And that was the amazing
Speaker 1: thing about the whole thing. It's like, first you have
Speaker 1: to know your spirit. I am like Stephanie. She is
Speaker 1: brilliant with ad living and you know she is quick
Speaker 1: to change and do stren right off the skin. She
Speaker 1: always and I say, I don't do that to me. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not gonna make up. You have to
Speaker 1: a certain guidelines that we're going to do this the point. Yes.
Speaker 1: So then it's like when you get into all these things.
Speaker 1: One thing I always say to my dinos, you are
Speaker 1: my you are my anchors, right because we are going
Speaker 1: to be jumping from here to there all these kind
Speaker 1: of times. I'm going to look to you and say, okay,
Speaker 1: and we passed out? We rock are we? I mean earlier?
Speaker 1: It's like and because it's into cutting the whole time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the two geniuses know exactly where they're going with Lockin
Speaker 1: our DP, and I think at the end of the
Speaker 1: day with Paul our editor, Oh my god, they had
Speaker 1: it down to the team. Like the action sequences. We
Speaker 1: don't have much time to shoot it, right, we have
Speaker 1: like a day and a half or two days maximum
Speaker 1: for the entire sequence of you know, the thing and
Speaker 1: the dad and the butt plugs and all these kind
Speaker 1: of things. Yeah, they have to know what they need
Speaker 1: and take that time. They can get attle bit more,
Speaker 1: but they first have to shoot what they need. I
Speaker 1: can't believe from like an art direction and set decoration
Speaker 1: standpoint that this was shot in eight weeks. That is crazy.
Speaker 1: That must have been like stepping into a completely different
Speaker 1: film every day. Yeah, exactly. I think what grounded us
Speaker 1: was the IRS building. We were very fortunate. You know,
Speaker 1: when you're you're an ND film, you have to be creative.
Speaker 1: You have to know where you can save the money
Speaker 1: and you know, put it where you need to spend it.
Speaker 1: And so with this abandoned IRS building, it grounded us
Speaker 1: because we shot six weeks there. Yeah, this place you
Speaker 1: could build little sets and things like that in there,
Speaker 1: So we had a place to go to which we
Speaker 1: were familiar with. I mean it was a huge place,
Speaker 1: but it had us to sort of have it centralized
Speaker 1: in some way. And I heard this great story from
Speaker 1: Keihuai sharing having his dressing room next to Jamie Lee's,
Speaker 1: but Jamie Lee never being there, and then he finally
Speaker 1: was like, why are you ever in your dressing him?
Speaker 1: And she was like, even with her career that spans decades,
Speaker 1: she goes, I never learn anything in the dressing room.
Speaker 1: I always learn everything when while I'm on set because
Speaker 1: she's she is. She's not just an amazing talent. She's
Speaker 1: not just an amazing actress. She's an amazing human being, thoughtful,
Speaker 1: she's generous, she's always giving, and she's always learning. And
Speaker 1: that's what we all need to do, is that you
Speaker 1: wake up in the morning and not think I know everything?
Speaker 1: So why don't you just go back to sleep? Then? Right?
Speaker 1: The whole process of being alive is about learning and
Speaker 1: experiencing and being there. And Jamie is going to it's
Speaker 1: it wants to direct her own movie. She oh wow,
Speaker 1: oh you will, so that she will. I mean she
Speaker 1: has children's books, she has her own podcast, she has
Speaker 1: so many things she he's ever ever inventing and creating
Speaker 1: and things like that. So the next step for her
Speaker 1: is to tell her own story or direct her own film. Right, absolutely, right,
Speaker 1: He's right. What is she going to live sitting in
Speaker 1: the you know she has she's and she's always out
Speaker 1: there because she loves people, always watching, and it's sometimes
Speaker 1: it's not fun. It's like the legendary Jamie is watching
Speaker 1: your performance. Why does she just go back have a
Speaker 1: cup of coffee. Ye, but our friend Tally Metals plays
Speaker 1: Stephanie's girl. She's so wonderful in this broo, oh my god.
Speaker 1: Really that relationship that she has very very little lines.
Speaker 1: But it's not how much screen time you have, is
Speaker 1: what you do impact you have that And she has
Speaker 1: such a beautiful presence, that expressive eyes and face. She
Speaker 1: doesn't have to say a word, but you can, you know.
Speaker 1: So that's exactly it was so well cast in that
Speaker 1: way she gave brilliant She was saying that you were
Speaker 1: so so kind to her, You were so just curious
Speaker 1: about her life. You made her feel so at ease,
Speaker 1: and I just I read that she know, she posted
Speaker 1: this to her Instagram, and I just got so emotional.
Speaker 1: I wasn't surprised that you were gracious, but I was like,
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, like you're the star. You're setting the
Speaker 1: tone and the environment for that kind of project that
Speaker 1: is so ambitious, and um, I don't know, I just
Speaker 1: I just I just think that's so special that you
Speaker 1: and Jamie Lee and Kihwi Kwan just being like these
Speaker 1: three people who have seen various signs to this business
Speaker 1: all coming together kind of like handing it down to
Speaker 1: another generation of people. No, um, not handing it down,
Speaker 1: not handing it down. Sharing, sharing, I'm sorry sharing, you know, like,
Speaker 1: but but teach not yet, not yet, not yet, I'm
Speaker 1: so sorry. But teaching it in a way, you know,
Speaker 1: like I you know, I don't think I am good
Speaker 1: enough all we don't try to teach. We try to share.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of years just like when
Speaker 1: you see someone young and talented, you have to tell
Speaker 1: them that they are talented, but making them understand. Don't
Speaker 1: just take it for granted. I don't think I'm entitled.
Speaker 1: There is no entitlement. We have been in the business
Speaker 1: so long and you look at us and say, oh god,
Speaker 1: you guys are the successful, legendary la la la la.
Speaker 1: But every day we learn, we find things to learn.
Speaker 1: We don't just sit back and go, well, you know, wow, No,
Speaker 1: and I want them to already begin their incredible journey understanding.
Speaker 1: It's like, as long as you have grounded, you will
Speaker 1: fly to a lot of places, but you always feel
Speaker 1: the earth. But can you imagine if you fly and
Speaker 1: you don't know where to land, it's a long way down. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And it's it's interesting to hear you acknowledge, um, you know,
Speaker 1: people coming to you with this this verbiage of legend
Speaker 1: like you know, and even the movie is aware of
Speaker 1: that because when when you need to acquire the skill
Speaker 1: of martial arts, you know, there's a funny montage that
Speaker 1: cuts to essentially b roll of your life and it
Speaker 1: doesn't inform that. But I wonder, like, what has it
Speaker 1: been that has kept you grounded and kept that in
Speaker 1: mind mindset? I mean, you've worked with some incredible legendary people.
Speaker 1: I was looking at the list of directors you've worked with.
Speaker 1: I mean, ang Lee, Rob Marshall, you know, upcoming, James Cameron.
Speaker 1: I mean, and I'm gonna be asking about that, but
Speaker 1: I I bet, I'm sure I can ask and you
Speaker 1: will give me nothing you right now, But is it
Speaker 1: that is that the people you've worked with that have
Speaker 1: kept that instilled in you? What has what has anchored you?
Speaker 1: My family and friends, my real friends? You know, It's
Speaker 1: like I remember at the beginning, very start, and someone says,
Speaker 1: you have to remember every time, don't let every flashbulb
Speaker 1: like make you go. Always appreciate your opportunities that you
Speaker 1: are given. Love what you do, because the day that
Speaker 1: you don't love to do it. That means maybe it's
Speaker 1: time to find move on to something else that you
Speaker 1: find joy it. And yes, when you meet it's very interesting.
Speaker 1: The more successful they really are, the more grounded they are. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they are not taken them back by the bs of
Speaker 1: you know, glitz and whatever it is. Yes, we love that,
Speaker 1: you know when we walk down the red carpet and
Speaker 1: all this, because this is part and parcel of the allure,
Speaker 1: the magic shut the movies or you know, TV, and
Speaker 1: that gives our audience, our fans that ah, it's not great. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's part of the whole thing. I mean you don't
Speaker 1: really want to see your stars coming out in their
Speaker 1: sweatpants and go like yeah whatever, you know, Yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: and for a night or two to dress up and
Speaker 1: have fun and you know, look fabulous. Why not. It's
Speaker 1: it's nice, it's fun. But do I want to do
Speaker 1: it every night? Now? Absolutely not. But I think what
Speaker 1: it is is like your real friends, your family, and
Speaker 1: a lot of times you make real friends in this
Speaker 1: world as well. Right, they ground you because they remind
Speaker 1: you who you are. You're not some character in a
Speaker 1: movie or a TV series. You are who you are
Speaker 1: and you should never ever forget that and be present,
Speaker 1: you know, appreciate what you have. That's that's the thing
Speaker 1: that really grows me. Wow, thank you. I mean, just
Speaker 1: going back to your script being tagged in all these ways,
Speaker 1: I mean, how did you develop this sense of for
Speaker 1: lack of a better word, I'm using this word again,
Speaker 1: development like because I feel like it's always so finely
Speaker 1: tuned that you always match the tone of the project.
Speaker 1: But then this is just so you know, to go
Speaker 1: from like wild West Hong Kong beginning of Hong Kong
Speaker 1: cinema days where like no scripts, you just go in,
Speaker 1: they tell you what to say on the day and
Speaker 1: then you do it where you know you don't have
Speaker 1: to think about it, like you know, on those sort
Speaker 1: of macro conceptual terms. But now you i'd be hearing
Speaker 1: you talk. I could hear you talk forever about the
Speaker 1: way you prepared for this role, Like what what was
Speaker 1: the process like for what was your journey like to
Speaker 1: sort of get that instinct. It's learning along the way.
Speaker 1: It's like from no squitts and learning to shoot from
Speaker 1: the hip. You're like going whatever is thrown at me.
Speaker 1: I mean, when we started, we have time for rehearsals.
Speaker 1: We have no rehearsals. You get there, you get on
Speaker 1: the set, you're all dressed in your costume, and they
Speaker 1: will choreograph the action sequence. You learn it, you shoot it,
Speaker 1: and you do something else. And like you say, sometimes
Speaker 1: the lines are not given and you're going like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
Speaker 1: eight nine, ten. Oh yeah, many of many times. And
Speaker 1: then finally when you see the final cut of New oh,
Speaker 1: that is what's going on in that. Yeah, because they
Speaker 1: edit and they filmed so fast, I mean for the
Speaker 1: longest of time, even Jackie Chatt. We didn't have we
Speaker 1: didn't use, we didn't dub our own movies right right,
Speaker 1: somebody else did it for us. Yes, they were only
Speaker 1: from when I did the song Sisters. That was the
Speaker 1: first time I actually it was. I think it was
Speaker 1: recorded right on the set Prior to that. Never because
Speaker 1: you know, the we didn't have that kind of technology.
Speaker 1: It wasn't done and it was much faster, easier after
Speaker 1: they edit and get someone to do it. As you
Speaker 1: know some Alltelians, while we're filming, their editors someone is
Speaker 1: recording it. So wow, that process didn't really come into
Speaker 1: play because there was no none of that time for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, but what you did learn was that you
Speaker 1: watched and you listen and it was like how these
Speaker 1: I was very fortunate to work with some of the
Speaker 1: best actors in Hong Kong as well, so I watched
Speaker 1: how they did it. It was like, I was fascinating,
Speaker 1: How the hell do you cry on? Like, yeah, so
Speaker 1: what do you do? Where is that coming from? Yeah? Right?
Speaker 1: And I think that's the time when you're young and
Speaker 1: you have to be like, I am a ding dong,
Speaker 1: I have no I am I am learning. And if
Speaker 1: I am so proud and say then you look nothing,
Speaker 1: I would go in too, like Dani Yip and say
Speaker 1: please teach me. Wow. And you know, then you work
Speaker 1: with like Jung Win or you know all the amazing
Speaker 1: Maggie Chung and yeah, oh my god, we were best friends.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm not afraid to ask my best friend.
Speaker 1: I have no clue what I'm doing. Okay, maybe I
Speaker 1: can do martial arts better than you, but when it
Speaker 1: comes to the performances, you guys, and Maggie is like
Speaker 1: an award winning actress is to have a conversation with
Speaker 1: her and like, so tell me how do you do this?
Speaker 1: But I must say it's also the directors, starting with
Speaker 1: you know, with Tomorrow That Never Dies really was my
Speaker 1: first international sure, and we have a bond girl in
Speaker 1: the zoom everyone, okay, I have some respect to This
Speaker 1: is our first bond girl ever on Lost Cultures. That's
Speaker 1: it's a huge moment. And I remember Roger Spotters were
Speaker 1: turning to me and he says, do you know I
Speaker 1: can double you when it comes to the action. We
Speaker 1: don't need the martial artists or whatever it is. You
Speaker 1: are here because you demonstrated in your auditions that you
Speaker 1: can carry the role of playing way Lynn. You don't
Speaker 1: need us someone who can fight, because I can't double
Speaker 1: you when it comes to the emotion. Yeah, emotional tide. Right.
Speaker 1: So that's where you learned that how you have to
Speaker 1: be invested in the character. And every director gives you
Speaker 1: something and taught me tremendously about giving the character a
Speaker 1: full background. Yeah, that's very clear when you we watched
Speaker 1: the film again last night Crouching Tiger in preparation for this,
Speaker 1: and even when you first come in and you see
Speaker 1: Chaw Yun Fat for the first time, there is so
Speaker 1: much history on your film and it is very lived
Speaker 1: in he's obviously an incredible director. Yeah, because I've had
Speaker 1: the privilege of working with like Danny Boyle, like Rob
Speaker 1: Marshall and all these kinds of people. They it's a
Speaker 1: learning process. But if you are ding dong in off
Speaker 1: not to open your heart and mind to that, then
Speaker 1: you've lost great opportunities to learn. And so you know,
Speaker 1: you gather all these kinds of things and you learn
Speaker 1: how important the script is, how important the director is,
Speaker 1: how important your co stars are are, because you know
Speaker 1: that making a movie or TV series, it's not a
Speaker 1: one person thing. It's true collaboration on all the different
Speaker 1: levels and all the people behind the scenes. Yes, and
Speaker 1: you know the crew that whether it's the gaff or
Speaker 1: the DP. You know the set designer, the costume designer,
Speaker 1: your hair and makeup. They help. They're the accessories that
Speaker 1: make this character. That how you build this character and
Speaker 1: make a real They could really really, like you say,
Speaker 1: have a life. And yeah, and I just because I
Speaker 1: know you're not going to be able to tell us
Speaker 1: anything about the plot of the Avatar sequels, which you are,
Speaker 1: Here's this is the question. I will ask you, what
Speaker 1: did you learn working with James Cameron on these films.
Speaker 1: If that's something you can answer. He's a bringing genius.
Speaker 1: He is so creative. He multitasks like madness. He's a writer,
Speaker 1: he's the creator. He dreams of all these universes that
Speaker 1: we can't even begin to fathom. I okay. The one
Speaker 1: thing I said to him, can't you turn me blue?
Speaker 1: I don't want I'm like hope. So I also learned
Speaker 1: that he is also very resolute in his decisions. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he seems to be a capital D director. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know what it is you have to be. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: how you have to be, how you lead a discipline. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a determination, the discipline. You know. The dude, you
Speaker 1: have to be the duo. You have to be the
Speaker 1: one that says yes no, I imagine, I have to
Speaker 1: visualize this. I have to fight for what I believe in,
Speaker 1: and it's cost with the director, like here in the
Speaker 1: Daniels cases with them so, oh my god. Before but
Speaker 1: before I forget you mentioning Maggie Chung, I just I
Speaker 1: just think it's incredible. It's it's incredible, everything all everywhere,
Speaker 1: all at once. It's incredible for movie lovers, just because
Speaker 1: you you can't believe you're watching like snippets of a
Speaker 1: wonkr Y film, like you doing Maggie Chung. You know,
Speaker 1: I was gonna doing Tony Lung Like it's just so incredible,
Speaker 1: And I just think back to you in this movie,
Speaker 1: like for any actor this would be so so so
Speaker 1: it's steeping yourself in so much work on a technical
Speaker 1: lovester obviously it's just a master class. So Michelle, I'm
Speaker 1: just just congratulations. We do do a thing on the
Speaker 1: podcast where we brought this up to you at the top,
Speaker 1: and I know you can answer it. We asked the
Speaker 1: question what was the culture that made you say culture
Speaker 1: was for you? And I just want to know what
Speaker 1: was it When you can think back to your childhood
Speaker 1: or maybe when you were, you know, a teenager, how
Speaker 1: did you decide to go along this path of becoming you, Like,
Speaker 1: what was that thing you saw or received from the
Speaker 1: universe that made you say I'm gonna do this okay?
Speaker 1: As a child, I think it was very open to
Speaker 1: the world of music, dance, and my mom used to say,
Speaker 1: you know, you could dance before you walked, and so
Speaker 1: but I think one I never dreamed that I would
Speaker 1: be an actush I did not have that dream. I
Speaker 1: was always like the ballet, so watching ballets and you know,
Speaker 1: seeing these ethereal creatures on the stage. But one thing
Speaker 1: that always fascinated me was the cinema. My mom was
Speaker 1: an avid cinema goal so human. As a small child,
Speaker 1: we would go as a family to watch all these
Speaker 1: like whether it was Indian movies, comm these love stories, Dracula,
Speaker 1: New Magic, and my dad was like the Nature of
Speaker 1: Us so documentaries, Tarzan ben Her. But that that feeling
Speaker 1: of the magic of cinema, sitting there and like I
Speaker 1: still see myself, you know, like watching like the Sound
Speaker 1: of Music, Wizard of Us. It was like all the
Speaker 1: all the things that I love into that. But I
Speaker 1: did not understand at that point the magic of cinema,
Speaker 1: you know, telling a story through cinema. It was just
Speaker 1: enjoying it and taking it in that whole experience. Did
Speaker 1: it lead me to this? I think when I was
Speaker 1: given the opportunity to join it, when I was went
Speaker 1: to Hong Kong to do the commercial, the Watch commercial
Speaker 1: with the Jackie Chan and I was given the opportunity
Speaker 1: to partake in this world, and you go like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I remember the magic of it. Yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: I can be part of that. Maybe that was the
Speaker 1: culture thing that drew in and I had to say
Speaker 1: it sounds like it was, yeah, right, So I said yes.
Speaker 1: And today I still recognize that as a fact. And
Speaker 1: I think when we went to watch Everything Everywhere, all
Speaker 1: at once in south By Southwest, and I think for
Speaker 1: so many people it was the first time they had
Speaker 1: gone to the cinemas in two years. These last two
Speaker 1: years has been such an impact on people's lives and
Speaker 1: so many different levels. And you know, with our industry
Speaker 1: on how it's been you know, touch and go and
Speaker 1: opening up more like streaming and different platforms for creative people,
Speaker 1: which is good and sometimes you please don't just rush
Speaker 1: into it and turn it all out, because good things
Speaker 1: does take time, and time is something that we feel
Speaker 1: that we're always like, oh come on, come on, I
Speaker 1: need more of. But sitting in that cinema and watching
Speaker 1: not just our our love on there, but sharing that experience, yeah,
Speaker 1: with with everybody. Oh yeah, I would like when you
Speaker 1: hear them laugh and yeah, they actually find me funny.
Speaker 1: You were like, you know what's funny? You were so funny,
Speaker 1: and you were talking about how it's that communal experience.
Speaker 1: The first time I saw it, I did go by myself,
Speaker 1: but it was in a packed theater and during the
Speaker 1: end of the movie, I truly cried during the last
Speaker 1: thirty minutes, and I looked over at the guy next
Speaker 1: to me, and we were having the same experience, and
Speaker 1: it was really fun because even though I didn't know him,
Speaker 1: it was that community connection, right, It was community in
Speaker 1: connection and that and I don't know anything about him,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know anything about his life. I
Speaker 1: don't know anything about the woman he was sitting next to,
Speaker 1: but we knew that we were receiving the same messages
Speaker 1: and we were internalizing them. And maybe it meant something
Speaker 1: different to him when he was thinking about his relationships
Speaker 1: in relation to the movie than it was for me.
Speaker 1: But we were both moved. And when I went back
Speaker 1: with my friends last night, it was the same situation
Speaker 1: where I was just excited to share it. And so
Speaker 1: I would say to everyone listening, if you've been hesitant
Speaker 1: about going to the movies, now is the time put
Speaker 1: the mask on. If it's going to make you feel better, go,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's a movie that, especially you
Speaker 1: know in the sequences where your reality is breaking and
Speaker 1: they have those incredible montages, and kudos to the editor.
Speaker 1: Just watching that in the theater, it was breathtaking. It
Speaker 1: was just simply breathtaking. Nicely, and with our last five
Speaker 1: minutes with you, we are going to do I don't
Speaker 1: think so, honey. So this, Michelle, is our one minute
Speaker 1: segment on lost cultures, this very podcast where we take
Speaker 1: something in pop culture or in our lives that are
Speaker 1: bothering us and we do a rant for one minute
Speaker 1: about it, using the phrase I don't think so honey.
Speaker 1: The demonstration first, you're gonna get two one from that
Speaker 1: one from me, and then you'll all set to go.
Speaker 1: So for now, let's have Matt Rodgers go. This is
Speaker 1: Matt Rodgers. I don't think so, honey. As time starts now,
Speaker 1: I don't think so honey. Stephanie Shoe as a Texter girl,
Speaker 1: it takes you a day to get back to me,
Speaker 1: and I know you can text your old girl from
Speaker 1: college back sooner than that. I know you're on a
Speaker 1: worldwide press tour, Mama. I know all of a sudden
Speaker 1: we're at International Film Star suddenly and about to pop
Speaker 1: all the way off into another stratosphere. But you can
Speaker 1: text me back because you listen. We have a sole connection.
Speaker 1: Stephanie Shoe and I connect. I remember when you were
Speaker 1: Flarge and a sketch character in college. This is just
Speaker 1: for me and you right now on people in Hammercats.
Speaker 1: But I remember all the trips we took. I've seen
Speaker 1: you get drunk on college campus as a girl. I
Speaker 1: have photos of you you do not want released. So
Speaker 1: text within eighteen hours. Let's say I'll give you a day.
Speaker 1: Text me back within eighteen You always get back, and
Speaker 1: it's always very warm and happy. Don't forget about Matt
Speaker 1: Rogers me. We used to have lunch and downsteam. We
Speaker 1: shared emotional connections. Stephanie Shoe as a text her, I
Speaker 1: don't think so, honey, Stephanie Shoe as a person, I
Speaker 1: do think so honey. You're the most lovely person in
Speaker 1: the role, and I can't wait to hug you and
Speaker 1: squeeze you. We love It is crazy Wow. We are
Speaker 1: we gonna be? Are we gonna be the project that
Speaker 1: scares Michelle Yo after she's done so much, The project
Speaker 1: that Michelle YOUO walks away from. I can see where
Speaker 1: you guys definitely went to the same college. Two crazy
Speaker 1: rents just like that. I mean you should see. I
Speaker 1: mean I think Stephanie Shoe and I think I've been
Speaker 1: in more situations with Steph Shoe and Bowen Yang then
Speaker 1: I can remember. But um, anyway, I love Steph. I
Speaker 1: just love. I want to be texted back. She's got
Speaker 1: a text back. She is very busy right now. Maybe
Speaker 1: she did say, Stephanie, if you don't texting back, god
Speaker 1: knows what the next rent is going to be about.
Speaker 1: She has always been a flaky text her. I will
Speaker 1: say that some people are not a text thing. Are
Speaker 1: you a good texter, Michelle? I am the worst, the worst.
Speaker 1: I've gotten worse. Yeah, Bowen has gotten way worse. Actually sorry,
Speaker 1: and again it's when it's when they get famous. I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, no, we having other things to do. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to say important things to do, but yeah,
Speaker 1: other other All right, Boon Yang, are you ready to
Speaker 1: do your I don't think so. I'm ready. I'm ready there,
Speaker 1: Bowen yangs, I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.
Speaker 1: I don't think so, honey. I Love Before Time by
Speaker 1: Coco Lee and the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon movie not
Speaker 1: winning Best Original Song at the Oscars in two thousand.
Speaker 1: I tell you can you guess which song won that year?
Speaker 1: I bet you can was a two thousand. It was
Speaker 1: two thousand. It was Things Have Changed by Bob Dylan
Speaker 1: from Wonder Boys Things. Who cares? I all do respect
Speaker 1: to Bob Dylan. We love Bob Dylan on this podcast.
Speaker 1: But A Love Before Time is one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic Mandarin to English translations international hits thirty seconds? Can
Speaker 1: you think of an international hit from that time? Like
Speaker 1: for a movie to cross over that way and for
Speaker 1: the song to be nominated for the Oscar and to
Speaker 1: impact nations, communities all around the world, and to not
Speaker 1: receive it. To do is abominable to me. Second song
Speaker 1: is auditory memory to me. It's sense memory to me.
Speaker 1: When I think about Crouch and take your hind Dreg
Speaker 1: and I think about Michelle, I think about Chaw, you
Speaker 1: and Fat, I think about things Z, I think about everybody.
Speaker 1: But that song deserves more seconds. I can't believe we
Speaker 1: as a culture have forgotten about A Love Before Time
Speaker 1: by Coco Lee. That's one and that's one minute. Wow,
Speaker 1: absolutely correct, Bo, look at the show right now. She
Speaker 1: is moored. Michelle can do it. You can do it.
Speaker 1: I know there's something in pop culture that grinds your gears.
Speaker 1: Can you bring me a bottle of whiskey? Please? Whatever else?
Speaker 1: You do it for as long as you want. We won't.
Speaker 1: It won't be the full minute. But it's something that's
Speaker 1: like on your mind, maybe from this press tour. Perhaps. Okay,
Speaker 1: you know what I think. One thing that I wish says,
Speaker 1: I don't think so, honey, and put your phone down
Speaker 1: and have dinner with your most adorable cuckoo and all
Speaker 1: of you are still on the freaking phone. What are
Speaker 1: you texting someone on the table that's next to you,
Speaker 1: and you can't have a real conversation. And when we
Speaker 1: go to the cinemas, you freaking put your phone down, sweet,
Speaker 1: and don't try and receive messages in the middle of
Speaker 1: a movie when your life st are so bright and
Speaker 1: you're taking me away from this amazing movie or everything
Speaker 1: everywhere all at once. And if you don't look at
Speaker 1: it and watch your phone for two seconds thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: rip on what is happening? So I don't think so
Speaker 1: honey that you can't put your phone down. You have
Speaker 1: to put your phone down because you want to have
Speaker 1: a gorgeous dinner with your adorable godmother or auntie or
Speaker 1: whatever it is, and you second phone down and if
Speaker 1: you're in the cinemas, if I see you one more time,
Speaker 1: I don't think so, honey, you're gonna get away with it,
Speaker 1: because I'm let the hell out of you that phone
Speaker 1: at eight you Okay, you that one, Michelle, you really
Speaker 1: very delete on that one. You were great. That was perfect.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I did that, you know the Alamo
Speaker 1: Drafthouse where I saw the first time I saw um
Speaker 1: everything everyone all at once. I love they really they
Speaker 1: make it funny too, like they're like, seriously, put the
Speaker 1: phone away, seriously, put the phone away, and you do.
Speaker 1: But it's crazy that we have to get to this
Speaker 1: point where we're like threatening the audience because they really
Speaker 1: can't put the phone down. No, it's so crazy. And
Speaker 1: then they answer the phone. It's like, yeah, I'm watching
Speaker 1: a movie. Okay, Yeah, I'm in the cinema okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean in the cinema watching a movie. Like what
Speaker 1: the hell? Yeah, I know you're not on the movie
Speaker 1: anymore if you're on the phone. Wow, this was so
Speaker 1: so special. Thank you so much for taking the time
Speaker 1: to talk to us, Michelle, Thank you both of you.
Speaker 1: And the movie is everything everywhere, all at one, and
Speaker 1: luckily for you, it's now playing nationwide everyone lucky audiences everywhere. Um,
Speaker 1: and you have to go. You have to go, and
Speaker 1: you you're going to be moved by it. You're gonna
Speaker 1: be surprised by it. You will laugh, scream, cry, feel
Speaker 1: all the emotions. It isn't that why we go? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's why we go. Thank you so much, Michelle, Thanks,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you Matt.
Speaker 1: It was a real pleasure talking to Thank you foraking
Speaker 1: the time. Of course. Well well well that was um yeah,
Speaker 1: just really fantastic. I want this is I won't get
Speaker 1: over this. This is a highlight of my year, highlight
Speaker 1: of my life. You texted me right after Cloud nine,
Speaker 1: Cloud nine, Cloud nine, and thank you for bearing with
Speaker 1: this structurally different kind of episode. You know, she this
Speaker 1: opportunity to talk to her. It came in a little
Speaker 1: last minute and we were like, yes, let's we've got
Speaker 1: to make it work. No matter what. I texted people like,
Speaker 1: you know, producers at work. I was like, I need
Speaker 1: this hour blocked off. Yeah, I'm it's a very important
Speaker 1: thing that I have to do, so please don't schedule
Speaker 1: anything around it. I've never pulled that before. I was like,
Speaker 1: you need to leave this open. So um completely worth it.
Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, this is amazing. And we only jumped
Speaker 1: on because we want to give the readers a full episode. Um, well,
Speaker 1: you see we jammed in the culture question. We jammed in.
Speaker 1: I don't think so, honey, and we're gonna jam in
Speaker 1: the fact that we finished every episode with the song
Speaker 1: great Hi would see fuck bye, hey bye bye. I
Speaker 1: see in your eyes the world I know they do.
Speaker 1: What tie? It's an amazing whoa, I love that time.
Speaker 1: That was good. Listen to it. It's like it's like
Speaker 1: an R and B song mixed with like a traditional
Speaker 1: Chinese like gujang Bob Like it's it's quiet, says and
Speaker 1: I agree, he did get quiet really like my gain
Speaker 1: is my gain is off? Yeah, something happened. I thought
Speaker 1: you did it on purpose? No, no, did you touch
Speaker 1: the mic? Consa saying, Um, I don't think so. How's
Speaker 1: how's it now? Is it better? Better? Yeah? Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: I think you have to sing it again. Really it
Speaker 1: got quiet in the song, very okay and we're keeping
Speaker 1: this whole thing. You have to sing it again. I
Speaker 1: would do bye bye in your eye. The world I
Speaker 1: know fades away before time time. I butchered the last
Speaker 1: little melody, but I think it was one of the
Speaker 1: most stunning vocal performances of the of the decade. I
Speaker 1: think Coco Lee. Her name is Coco Lee. Can you
Speaker 1: think of a better pop star name? I can't, and
Speaker 1: I know names like Camila Cabe and I still think
Speaker 1: this name is better. Thank you well, goodbye bye. Do
Speaker 1: you hear the rest of that song? Listen to a
Speaker 1: love before time Bye Coco Lee on the Crouching Tiger
Speaker 1: Hidden Dragon sound. I'm putting it on a checklist for today.
Speaker 1: Bye Bye,