Michelle Yeoh: Making Memories

Probably the most Westernized of the female Oriental cast in the new film Memoirs of a Geisha, actress, martial artist and ex-ballerina Michelle Yeoh still retains the ultra-polite mannerisms she grew up with in Malaysia. She made a point of shaking hands and chatting briefly with every journalist who interviewed her at the recent New York press event for the film.

Wearing jeans and white, fringed Roberto Cavalli sweater, Michelle let us know that she and fellow actresses in "Geisha" had some marathon girl talk sessions that director Rob Marshall would have to break up. Playing Ziyi Zhang's mentor Mameha in the film, was quite different than attacking the actress with intense swordsmanship as Michelle did in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Previous action in films included that exciting motorcycle ride with Pierce Brosnan in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. We chatted about Michelle's character in "Geisha", the intense training she and castmembers had to endure and her extraordinary work past, present and future...

TeenHollywood: What was the attraction of this project for you?

Michelle: I think first of all, the greatest attraction to this movie was Rob Marshall (who also directed the film version of Chicago). I really felt that he was the perfect guy, because he had that sense and sensibility, the masculine and very feminine side of him. It appealed to me tremendously that he came from a dance background, he was a choreographer, and it felt like this movie really needed that fluid side of it, the rhythmic dance to it where the girls, the geishas, really had to flutter about.

TeenHollywood: And the character of Mameha?

Michelle: Mameha was one of the biggest challenges I had as an actress. I had been trained for years to be a dancer, a martial artist, so moving from one movement to another was familiar but still, it was a very specific style of movement that I had to learn from scratch. Mameha is the sensei [teacher]. She was the epitome of the geisha, and I had to teach on-screen Sayuri what to do, how to bow correctly, how to kneel, how to get up, how to walk, everything, and if I didn't do it well, it would be a disaster. You do not talk about love. You only think of your music, your dance, your calligraphy, your rituals, all those kind of things. You're not a wife. There are so many rules to obey and to observe, and what I think was the most difficult was Mameha really, truly denied herself all that. I think that, to me, was the most difficult part.

TeenHollywood: Although there are Japanese actors in the film, is it going to be an issue that three Chinese actresses, famous worldwide, are playing the lead Japanese geishas?

Michelle: I sincerely hope that it is not an issue, because this is a fairy tale. This is an amazingly beautiful love story, and I hope that we have done a good job, that we take you into this world, where your breath will be taken away and you will appreciate what we have done. Honestly, in Asia, in Japan, it's never been an issue, so I don't see why it should be made an issue and take away from the greatness of the film itself.

TeenHollywood: Ziyi said you guys get along great. Like you are her big sister. Do you feel that way?

Michelle: I think in my eyes, she's always going to be my little sister and in her eyes, I am the big sister. We don't see each other that often [since co-starring in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 5 years ago] unfortunately, because all of us make movies around the world at different times, but I can see in her eyes that I am her big sister. I think Rob saw that right away and it's very important that these two characters have that bond. You know what sisters are like, it's that love/hate relationship. 'I am big. You listen to me'. It's like 'No, I am young but I have my own dreams and ways I want to do things'.

TeenHollywood: This is the first big American movie in ages with almost an all-Asian cast. Why did it take that long?

Michelle: Thank God on TV now you have the newscast reader who is Asian, and then on TV, you see more Asian faces, but it's taken time, and thank God this time Sony [studio] said 'Guess what? We have to be the leaders in saying we are confident enough that an all-Asian cast can do very very well in the American market' then it's really good for us, because you know, we seriously need this. I mean, our world is not that big.

TeenHollywood: We've heard various stories on how hard it was to turn everyone into perfect geishas. What is your version of the tale?

Michelle: Well, we used to laugh about this, but it's actually not that funny. We called them the '7 Rooms of Torture'. During the rehearsal period, we had a room very specifically for learning how to play the shamisen because that is a musical instrument that to be a true geisha, you had to play perfectly. And to be Mameha, I had to play that for Sayuri when she did her performance at the tea houses. Then, the second room was where we learned how to do all the rituals of pouring sake, handing the cup. It was very specific, and I think we needed to do that so that by the time we got onto the set, we put on our kimonos, we've done this millions of times, but it was not easy to do. Everything had its own particular place and we had to do it effortlessly. And then the other room was where we had to learn the dance.

TeenHollywood: Was there a special class in just wearing the kimonos correctly?

Michelle: Yeah. Just walking in a kimono was a different thing, because once you had the kimono on, you had to make the tail flutter, and you had to glide across the room, so to first learn how to walk, we had to tie our knees together, and then the next step was to just put a thin slip of paper in between, so that if the paper fell, you failed, and you had to get to the back of the class. It was embarrassing, because there were a lot of us and we were trying to outdo the other one. And then the next was to put a sake bottle on top of your head, so you didn't bob down, you glided down, so this stayed on top. And then to do that with the fans, so every day was something new and something to learn. A geisha is literally a moving piece of art with her kimono, the way she is dressed, her make-up, her hair, so when she dances or even she talks to you, it is a moving art form.

TeenHollywood: The slippers you wore were really high as well.

Michelle: You're right up there, and with those heels. Ziyi and I would be pumping each other up, going, 'Okay, girl. Don't fall.' And the streets were cobblestones. You think, 'Why? Who invented these shoes?' Probably a guy.

TeenHollywood: Yep. On a serious note, unfortunately, we live in a world where there are young Asian girls sold into situations of prostitution and other servitude. This is a story about a girl who was sold. Do you feel that the film should make us reflect on our modern situation?

Michelle: I think you should have a moment where you think about that, because unfortunately, very sadly, in this century, in the affluent life that a lot of us have, this still happens very randomly in Burma, in Vietnam, in Thailand, and it's horrifying. I see that because I live in Asia, and it's terrifying that that still happens. Some [parents] think that the kid would have a better life and there are the Triads or the Mafia that are doing it for all the worst possible reasons. I'm a great fan of Jackie Chan, and when he was a very young boy, he was 'sold' to the acrobatic house because his parents believed that if he went there and trained, he might have an opportunity to be an acrobat and look where he is today. But if his parents said 'Oh, no. I can't sell my child. I'll just keep him at home.' Where would he be? So we have to take a step back and not just lump it all together and say 'This is bad' or 'This is not right'. There is a different way of approaching it.

TeenHollywood: You are in another movie called Sunshine about an impending disaster in the future. That must have been quite a contrast after this one.

Michelle: Yes, because at the beginning of last year, I was a geisha, right? Four hours of make-up and every day walking around like a supermodel. This movie, I'm the astronaut fifty years ahead in time, fifteen minutes in hair and make-up and it's 'Okay'. And I'm like 'Wait a minute. What about my eyebrow?' and she's like 'No, you're a real character, you're an astronaut, you're a physicist, you're a scientist. Get back to your lab.' It's fantastic. This is like eight astronauts going up to save the world. We've heard that so many times before, but you have to see it. It's got an edge. I loved it.

TeenHollywood: Okay, what is your beauty secret for looking so amazing?

Michelle: Oh, thank you! I was thinking 'Oh, jetlagged, blurry eyed, you guys are going to see through me right away'. I think it's just trying to be happy, cause with our kind of work, sometimes you take things personally, and you never should. You should think 'Oh, well, if this doesn't work out, hey, you did your best'. You had a really good time, and today is a gift.

TeenHollywood: You are a producer as well as an actress. Do you have time for a life?

Michelle: I think you just try to be normal. I mean, I think I'm very grounded and I'm normal. I have my workout, I have my godchildren, I have my family and my friends, and then when I'm not doing a film, I'm not doing a film. I don't sort of think and agonize about it. I think I've learned to just let go of things.

TeenHollywood: Isn't being a producer really hard?

Michelle: I did that for three years, sometimes I felt 'this is really a thankless job'. I was the star of the movie, I was the producer, I catered to the director, to the cast, to the crew, to the buyers, to the distributors, and I was thinking 'What am I thinking here'? I love being an actor, I love the job, and I felt that I was sort of stepping away from it too much. I didn't have time to do what I really truly enjoyed, because being a producer is about crisis management. I'm thinking 'When you're the actress, everybody looks after you. You don't have to think about what happens if the electricity doesn't come on. The set is not ready. You can just sit there and go 'I'll go to the spa...it's okay...I have another day to work on my lines'.

TeenHollywood: On "Geisha" wasn't there a language problem on set with the American director and different Asian languages and Japanese actors, etc.?

Michelle: Well, we had great interpreters on set. Gong Li and I just hit it off from the first day. It was so funny. By the end of the day, after like rehearsing, she just stepped up to me and said 'I really like you'...and I was like 'Girl, guess what. I really like you, too!' We would be conversing in Mandarin. Rob has immense patience. He stands there, and when you have a room full of girls, it's not easy, okay? So there's me, Ziyi and Gong Li going yadayadayda in Mandarin, there's Yuki and interpreters going on at full speed in Japanese and Rob would just stand there and let us have our moments, and go 'Girls, director here. Talk to me now'. So we had a great time, and we watched each other's backs, basically.

TeenHollywood: Did you get to keep any of your kimonos?

Michelle: At that time, we were thinking 'Gosh, wouldn't it be great if we could?' And you know what was the most difficult? Deciding which one we wanted to keep. I couldn't decide. For the life of me, I couldn't decide and that was horrible. That one and that one and that one. But it will always be immortalized on film, so you know, sometimes it's much better that way. You don't have to keep the physical thing. It will always be there, and it's fantastic. For every movie that I've done, they're like a kimono. I packed them very neatly and very preciously in a box but they're kept in my mind, and I really don't need a physical thing to say 'Hey, remember this time when you did this?' It will always be here (points to head) and here (points to heart).

TeenHollywood: What message do you hope audiences will take from this film?

Michelle: It's not a movie just for women. It's for men as well. It's a movie that gives you a glimpse into a culture that some of us think we know a little bit about. Some of us have no idea about it. But it's such a beautifully sensual film, but at the same time a very pure film. It's a celebration of a culture. What I took away most from this movie was a new family. That's really particularly sweet. I hope that people will go in there just for the two hours and be swept away into a magical time and place and leave all your worries behind and feel love.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.