I grew up watching a lot of Indian movies: 'Wicked' star Michelle Yeoh

Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh says she watched many Indian movies while growing up in a multiracial society in Malaysia and hopes her new film "Wicked" clicks well with the audiences here as it is a musical. Yeoh, who won the best actress Oscar for her role "Everything Everywhere All At Once" in 2023, reunites with her "Crazy Rich Asians" director Jon M Chu for the big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Wicked". She stars as Madame Morrible in the movie, which is her first musical.
"I grew up in Malaysia and we're a very multi-racial society and I have many Indian friends. In fact, I grew up watching a lot of Indian movies even when as a young child, I used to know how to sing Indian (songs). I'm very familiar with Indian culture and cinema.
"I have many idols in the (Indian) cinema as well. I think 'Wicked' will go down really well with our Indian friends," Yeoh told PTI in an interview.
The actor, 62, said while she was terrified at the prospect of singing in the movie, she has always loved musicals as a genre because of their ability to transport viewers to a different kind of world.
"It's a fantasy world where people, instead of just talking, suddenly break out into song and dance, and I love that," she added.
One of the big reasons for Yeoh to star in the movie was Chu, whose 2018 film "Crazy Rich Asians" is credited for being the first major Hollywood hit to feature an entirely Asian cast in a modern setting since 1993's "The Joy Luck Club".
Yeoh said she and many others have been fighting for this change for a long time and a lot of the credit goes to storytellers like Chu.
"So many of us have been fighting to create these opportunities. Sometimes we demand to have these changes because I think we should have equal opportunities to be able to showcase our talent in front and behind the camera as well...
"We also have to be good storytellers and tell our kind of stories that echo our faces and our culture and should be seen more and more often. But then we do need amazing storytellers like Jon M Chu to be able to showcase and highlight all this," she said, pointing at the diverse cast of "Wicked".
Yeoh, a prominent face in world cinema with acclaimed international performances in films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Tomorrow Never Dies", "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", said she has always believed in the transformative power of cinema and that's why she chooses her roles carefully.
"Which movie or which TV series I want to be part of is a choice. You want to be able to ensure that the choice you've made is a good one because cinema and shows are such powerful mediums of being able to reach out to people to highlight issues.
"There are answers in there that we know too well but are afraid to say it out loud, but then in a movie or in a song, you can sing it away," she said.
"Wicked", whose first part releases in theatres on November 22, is inspired by the Broadway show of the same name and serves both as a prequel and a relook at the 1939 movie classic "Wizard of Oz".
Yeoh is happy that the movie is receiving positive reviews and has generated so much buzz even before its release.
"Cinema for me has always been about a shared experience where you go in and you enjoy something together, you laugh together and come out feeling bonded in a very special way."
Yeoh said she portrayed Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University in the "Wicked"universe, as someone who seems approachable and caring.
"What happens is some people get blinded by their own ambitions... So our approach for Madame Morrible is like, she is a good witch. I don't think any of us start off by being wicked."
She credits the film's two leading ladies -- Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande -- for helping her with singing, which was "very daunting". Erivo, she said, gave her confidence to perform the song "The Wizard and I" with her in the movie.
Yeoh, who rose to fame in the 80s and 90s by starring in Hong Kong action and martial art films such as "Yes, Madam", "Magnificent Warriors" and "Wing Chun", wants to dance in her next and she has pinned her hopes on Chu.
"He gave me the most amazing opportunity to be in a musical, which is something that I had not done before and I had always wanted to do.The only other thing I hope that he will do for me next is allow me to dance in it as well. This time it was the singing," she said.
A Universal Pictures release, the film also stars Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage.