Michelle Yeoh and other Asian women actors long road
By Salomé Grouard
(L-R) Cheng Pei Pei in ‘Mulan’, JuJu Chan Szeto in ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon : Sword of Destiny’ and Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Cover (L-R) Cheng Pei Pei in ‘Mulan’, JuJu Chan Szeto in ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon : Sword of Destiny’ and Michelle Yeoh in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’: just a few of the female martial artists impressing one and all with their power moves (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Sign up so you don’t miss out on exceptional stories from across Asia over 8000 brand new daily articles waiting for you
Michelle Yeoh, Cheng Pei Pei and other action stars became a symbol of female empowerment on screen in the 1990s. But female martial artists are still underrepresented in Hong Kong cinema, and according to actress JuJu Chan Szeto, it’s because men just don’t like losing to women, even in movies
Most people can easily remember that one positive moment or encounter that changed their lives for the better. For martial actress JuJu Chan Szeto, this encounter happened on a cinema screen as a kid.
“I remember being really proud when I saw Michelle Yeoh in James Bond (1997),” writes Chan Szeto to Tatler Front & Female. “It was something of an acknowledgement to see a Hong Kong actress starring in a major Western film. I was also really impacted by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)’s female martial artists, like Yeoh and Cheng Pei Pei.”
“Through martial arts, I learnt about patience, discipline and hard work,” she adds. “The complex moves can take quite a long time to master. It’s easy to give up after a few tries, but having gone through the training, I understand the disappointment that one often has to go through before finally reaching your goal. There’s no doubt that martial arts training has toughened me up.”
There are many like Chan Szeto who have felt similarly inspired by female martial artists onscreen and have chosen to tread this path.
Read more: Martial artist JuJu Chan Szeto on her screen career and new Netflix film
“Guys just don’t like losing against women… even if it’s make-believe!”
- JuJu Chan Szeto -
In fact, several Hong Kong martial arts movies in the late 20th century cast Asian women in empowered roles, contrary to the passive “damsel in distress” tropes popular in more mainstream movies.
These “woman warriors” were already part of a long cinematic tradition called nüxia, which can be traced back to Shanghai’s martial arts movies of the 1920s and early 1930s. When the martial arts film genre was revived in Hong Kong in the late 1940s, these martial artists were given stronger character development arcs—a significant step towards gender equality in films, but not enough to balance it out, according to Chan Szeto.
She elaborates: “Guys just don’t like losing against women… even if it’s make-believe! There’s always a lot of ego that women have to face in any male-dominated field, and action filmmaking is probably the most male-dominated in entertainment. I can certainly imagine that in the 1970s to 1990s, it would have been terribly difficult for someone like Cheng Pei Pei, or the many other fantastic female martial arts stars of the time, to get heard if they had an opinion.”
Chan Szeto is not wrong; in a 2021 interview with the Guardian, Yeoh revealed that on the set of Supercop (1992), Jackie Chan had asked her to stop performing her “crazy stunts”, because “when you do one, I have to do one better”. Chan apparently thought that women belonged in the kitchen until Yeoh “kicked his butt,” the latter revealed. She put a full stop to this duel almost thirty years later when she won an Oscar for the role of Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), a role which was originally written for Chan.
Chan Szeto concurs that things have changed for the better in the recent past. “I’m given more leeway to choreograph my own moves, and I can question moves that are choreographed for me. But I acknowledge that this newfound freedom for me has its foundation built by those female martial artists who came before me.”
Tatler Asia
Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan, stars of Supercop, attend the film's US premiere party (Photo: Getty Images)
Above Michelle Yeoh, also known as Michelle Khan, and Jackie Chan, stars of Supercop, attend the film's US premiere party at Planet Hollywood in New York City. (Photo by Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Tatler Asia
Michelle Yeoh
Above Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once (Photo: courtesy of Imdb)
While Chan Szeto is reaping the benefits, she has also proved herself to be a worthy heir to the female martial artists’ legacy. To name but a few, her roles in Wu Assassins (2019) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Swords of Destiny (2016) alongside Yeoh really put her under the spotlight.
But the path to success wasn’t devoid of challenges. “Though I was impressed by these female action actors, by the time I’d started working in Hong Kong movies, there wasn’t a place for women in action. Women in action films were either playing victims or were obviously using stunt doubles. There didn’t seem to be a place for actresses with actual martial arts skills.”
She thinks part of the reason for this is the lack of women behind the camera, starting with directing.
Tatler Asia
Actress and martial artist JuJu Chan Szeto discusses the heritage of Cheng Pei Pei and Michelle Yeoh (Photo: courtesy of JuJu Chan Szeto)
Above Actress and martial artist JuJu Chan Szeto discusses the heritage of Cheng Pei Pei and Michelle Yeoh (Photo: courtesy of Sheldon Shwartz)
Tatler Asia
For actress and martial artist JuJu Chan Szeto, there’s not enough female martial artists behind the camera (Photo: courtesy of JuJu Chan Szeto)
Above Actress and martial artist JuJu Chan Szeto feels there’s not enough female martial artists behind the camera (Photo: courtesy of Lewis Tan)
“In Hollywood, you have Patty Jenkins and Kathryn Bigelow who have done great action films but in Hong Kong, female directors are few, and of them, none have been given an action film to direct,” she says. “There have been many female action stars from Hong Kong since the ’60s, but not a single female action film director. I find that shameful.”
The message is clear: female representation in martial arts movies has come a long way—but there’s still much more to do, and this starts with a better representation of women behind the cameras.
READ MORE
‘Warrior’ and ‘A Thousand Blows’ actor Jason Tobin opens up on Asian representation in HBO, Disney+ and Hollywood productions today
Lewis Tan on playing a Marvel superhero in ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, and having an ‘awkward meeting’ with Ryan Reynolds
Fourth-generation white crane kung fu artist Andrew Pong on redefining the modern meaning of martial arts in film
Topics
Michelle Yeoh
Cheng Pei Pei
JuJu Chan Szeto
Female martial artist
Representation
Lifestyle | Arts
Carina Lau and Dayo Wong to star in ‘The Truth about Lying’, a play about marriage and divorce in contemporary Hong Kong
Cover From left: Dayo Wong and Carina Lau at the press conference of ‘The Truth about Lying’ (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
This will be the first theatrical collaboration between Hong Kong award-winning actor Carina Lau, known for starring in Wong Kar-wai’s ‘Day of Being Wild’, and famed comedian Dayo Wong
Hong Kong’s theatre scene is abuzz with the news of award-winning film actor Carina Lau joining forces with pioneering standup comedian Dayo Wong in a play called The Truth about Lying, which is set to be performed at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Wan Chai from December 13.
The show was written by local playwright Wong Wing-sze, who was inspired by the marital anecdotes of her friends. The play revolves around a divorce lawyer and a trainee solicitor who experience love, marriage and divorce on both personal and professional levels. It explores the forms that relationships can take in contemporary Hong Kong.
The playwright teases that Dayo Wong will have fewer dialogues in the play, which is uncommon in the comedian’s usual stage performances, while the audience will get to see Carina Lau in a vulnerable role.
In case you missed it: 7 unmissable shows at Hong Kong Arts Festival 2025: Geisha performance, ‘Carmen’ and more
Tatler Asia
carina lau
Above From left: Dayo Wong and Carina Lau in the poster of ‘The Truth about Lying’ (Image: Facebook/@thetruthaboutlying)
Originally commissioned and produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2010, the show won Best Play at the Hong Kong Drama Awards in 2011. Since then, it has been re-run for four times and performed by different casts.
This fifth performance will mark Wong and Lau’s collaboration for the first time as actors and will run for 40 shows. It will also be Lau’s return to the theatre since her last stage performance in Witness for the Prosecution, a local production adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1925 short story by the same name, six years ago. For Wong, this show also adds to his recent move of branching out to the theatre, such as Show Me Your Love (2023) and One Last Gift (2022).
Tatler Asia
Above Dayo Wong and Carina Lau (centre) and the rest of the creative team at the press conference of ‘The Truth about Lying’ (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
In a press conference today, the comedian said he felt Lau is the perfect actor for the lead role. But when the creative team had reached out to Lau, she had apparently rejected the opportunity initially. She says, “I have been in a few theatre productions before and I love the theatre. The theatre is mysterious and powerful, but it can be a stressful experience. I want to be comfortable at this stage of my career.”
When her manager mentioned the comedian’s involvement, she reconsidered the offer and met the creative team earlier this year during Chinese New Year. In the end, she said “yes”.
“One must take challenges from time to time, and I don’t want to just stay still. And I hope to put on stage another good Hong Kong show, [especially one that’s] reflective of modern women’s experiences.”
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings