Michelle Yeoh Shares ‘Worst Accident’ On ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’: ‘The Most Happy, Most Painful Film’

Actor Michelle Yeoh rose to international fame thanks to her brilliant performances in a variety of action movies. However, they certainly aren’t as effortless to shoot as she makes it look on the silver screen. Yeoh shared the “worst accident” that she had while filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She also added what the experience was like on the set.

Michelle Yeoh played Yu Shu Lien in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon follows a great warrior named Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat). He decides to turn in his sword, the Green Destiny, to a close friend. However, it gets stolen and Mu Bai must seek it out. Meanwhile, he seeks vengeance against the evil Jade Fox (Pei-Pei Cheng) for killing his master.

However, Mu Bai isn’t alone on this journey. Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) is willing to fight alongside him in this quest, who is also the love of his life. Yeoh has an extensive filmography with over 60 credits, but her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of her most iconic performances.

Michelle Yeoh detailed her ‘worst accident’ while filming ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’

Entertainment Weekly interviewed Yeoh about her filmography, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She talked about how she first heard about the movie and how her initial conversations with filmmaker Ang Lee went.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Yeoh reminisced. “Ang Lee. Whew. I think that was probably the most memorable, the most happy, most painful, the most emotional. They said, ‘Oh, Ang Lee is wondering if you have time to meet with him.’ I’m like, ‘Ang Lee, my God! I have the greatest love and respect.’”

Yeoh continued: “He started to tell me this story and he said, ‘You know, I want to do a martial arts film, but with sense and sensibility.’ I’m like, ‘When? I don’t need to see a script. Just tell me when.’ I literally waited for him for 2 years. I didn’t do another film and it was worth the wait.”

However, Yeoh didn’t anticipate having what she called one of her “worst accidents” during the first action scene of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

“I also had one of my worst accidents where after the first action sequence, I tore my ACL,” Yeoh said. “The specialist said, ‘Well, it’s not torn. It’s gone.’ Without hesitation, Ang was like, ‘No, I’m waiting for you. Do what you need to do. You get well, and you come back to us.’”

However, this impacted how an “emotional” scene went when she returned to filming.

“The one scene that was the most emotional was the scene where I was cradling Li Mu Bai, Chow Yun-Fat, on his deathbed,” Yeoh recalled. “I still had a leg brace at that time. I had to put my leg up literally with a wooden box. Then, I had put this leg and I cradled Chow Yun-Fat like this (cradles with her arms). It was the most ridiculous-looking position, but fortunately, it was closeup, so you could only see the two of us.”

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ puts martial arts into the multiverse

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Yeoh’s most recent big action flick was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but she already has another big movie hitting theaters in the near future. A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once finds her playing an aging Chinese immigrant, who finds herself involved in the multiverse. It’s up to her to save the world by going into other universes, exploring other lives she could have lived.

Swiss Army Man filmmakers Dan Kawn and Daniel Scheinert wrote and directed the film. The actor stars alongside Jenny Slate, Jamie Lee Curtis, Harry Shum Jr., among others.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is making its world premiere at the SXSW 2022 Film Festival before it hits theaters on March 25.