>> Stephen: THAT IS "THE LATE SHOW" BAND RIGHT THERE.
I WISH ALL OF YOU WERE HERE TO HEAR THEM TONIGHT.
IT'S ELEVATED. IT'S UP THERE SOMEHOW.
IT'S A VIBE. WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY.
MY FIRST GUEST IS AN ACTOR YOU KNOW FROM "CROUCHING TIGER,
HIDDEN DRAGON," "TOMORROW NEVER DIES,"
AND "CRAZY RICH ASIANS." SHE'S NOMINATED FOR AN ACADEMY
AWARD FOR HER PERFORMANCE IN "EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE
ALL AT ONCE." ♪ ♪
PLEASE WELCOME TO "THE LATE SHOW,"&
MICHELLE YEOH! ♪ ♪
[APPLAUSE]
PLEASE. >> Michelle: THANK YOU.
WOW. >> Stephen: HOW LOVELY TO HAVE
YOU HERE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
>> Michelle: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> Stephen: I WANT TO GET INTO "EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL
AT ONCE" RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT.
THIS FILM IS "EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE."
THE PERFORMANCES, SUCH BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCES, HEARTFELT, TENDER,
EXCITING AT THE SAME TIME. ACTION, SCIENCE FICTION.
IT'S A FAMILY DRAMA. IT'S PSYCHOLOGICAL INTRIGUE.
DID YOU HAVE SOME SENSE WHEN YOU ARE MAKING THIS FILM HOW MUCH IT
WAS GOING TO GRAB THE AUDIENCE BY THE RIB CAGE?
>> Michelle: I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU WITH ME EVERYWHERE.
YOU DESCRIBED THE MOVIE SO WELL. >> Stephen: DID YOU HAVE A
SENSE THAT YOU HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL?
>> Michelle: FROM THE SCRIPT I KNEW I HAD REALLY A GEM,
UNPOLISHED BY GEM. IT WAS WACKY, WEIRD, WONDERFUL.
WHAT RESONATED WITH ME WAS THIS VERY ORDINARY AGING IMMIGRANT
WOMAN WHO WAS TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM
AND FAILING MISERABLY. BUT THEN THE DANIELS GAVE HER AN
OPPORTUNITY TO BE EXTRAORDINARY, TO BE A SUPERHERO.
THAT WOMAN IS LIKE OUR MOMS OR OUR AUNTIES.
>> Stephen: SO FAR, YOU HAVE WON FOR YOUR PORTRAYAL A
GOLDEN GLOBE, YOU HAVE WON THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD.
YOU NOW HAVE AN OSCAR, OSCAR NOMINATION.
YOU HAVE CALLED THIS A ROLE YOU HAVE BEEN REHEARSING TO PLAY ALL
YOUR LIFE. HOW SO?
WHY IS THIS THE ROLE YOU BEEN POINTING TOWARD?
>> Michelle: LIKE YOU HAVE DESCRIBED, THE MOVIE'S FIVE
GENRES. SCIENCE FICTION, COMEDY, DRAMA,
ROMANTIC, LOVE. I REALLY TRULY FELT THAT IT WAS
BECAUSE I HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OVER THE YEARS.
YOU KNOW, HOW YOU TAKE ON, GATHERING IT ALL.
A YOUNGER PERSON WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FULFILL ALL OF THIS.
BUT AT MY AGE, 6-0. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
WELL, I GUESS 60 IS THE NEW PRIME, OKAY.
WHAT CAN I SAY? [LAUGHTER]
>> Stephen: I WANT TO SHOW A PICTURE OF SOME OF THE PREP THAT
YOU DID. HERE'S YOUR COPY OF THE SCRIPT.
THERE IS THE COVER OF YOUR COPY. THIS IS THE THING THAT I LOVE.
TELL ME WHAT THESE TABS ALL MEAN IN THE SIDE RIGHT HERE.
THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY. THE AMOUNT OF PREP.
WHAT DO THE COLORS REPRESENT? >> Michelle: YOU HAVE TO
UNDERSTAND YOUR SCRIPT. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST INSANE
SCRIPTS. IT DEALS WITH NOT JUST ONE
UNIVERSE. GOING ACROSS EIGHT
MULTIUNIVERSES AND THEN EVERY UNIVERSE HAS THEIR OWN STORY TO
TELL. AND WHO IS EVELYN WONG?
THAT IS THE KEY. YOU MUST HAVE A SOLID
FOUNDATION. WHEN I RECEIVED THE SCRIPT I
SAID TO THE DANIELS, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE HER NAME.
SHE'S NOT GOING TO BE CALLED MICHELLE.
I LOVE DANIEL QUAN. YOU KNOW, SO I SAID BECAUSE THIS
WOMAN, SHE DESERVES A VOICE, SHE DESERVES TO BE SEEN.
IF YOU CALL HER MICHELLE, YOU AS AN AUDIENCE WILL KEEP GOING,
THAT IS MICHELLE TRYING TO PLAY THIS AGING IMMIGRANT WOMAN BUT
WE STILL SEE MICHELLE. I HAVE TO ALLOW EVELYN TO HAVE
HER OWN VOICE BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY EVELYNS IN THE WORLD AND
THEY SHOULD GET A CHANCE TO BE SEEN AND HEARD AND TO BE A
SUPERHERO. >> Stephen: MY WIFE'S NAME IS
EVELYN. UNRELATED TO THE FACT THAT SHE
SHARES THE NAME, I'VE NEVER SEEN HER CRY SO OPEN HARDLY THEN SHE
DID AT THE END OF THAT FILM. >> Stephen: DO YOU HAVE A
DAUGHTER? >> Michelle: I HAVE A
DAUGHTER. SHE WASN'T WITH US IN THAT
MOMENT. BUT WE HAVE A DAUGHTER.
I THINK THERE WERE A LOT OF MOMS AND DAUGHTERS WHO WERE CRYING
THAT WAY, TO ME, AS MUCH AS I WAS ENJOYING THE FILM, I WAS
COMPLETELY UNPREPARED FOR THE EMOTIONAL DEPTH OF THE ENDING.
WERE YOU PREPARED FOR THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE ENDING?
>> Michelle: IMPACT. YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE MAKING THE
MOVIE, THIS WAS QUITE AN INCREDIBLE SHOOT.
WE DID THIS MOVIE IN 38 DAYS. >> Stephen: EXTRAORDINARY
GIVEN HOW MUCH YOU ACHIEVED, AND RIGHT BEFORE COVID.
>> Michelle: ON THE DAY OF COVID LOCKDOWN, THAT WAS OUR
LAST NATIVE CHUTE. THEN WE ALL WERE SEPARATED.
WE WERE BONDED. WE STARTED OFFICE CAST AND CREW
BUT WAITED UP HIS FAMILY. WE HAD TO DO TOGETHER IN THE
DANIELS HAD A LOVELY RITUAL. EVERYONE HAD COME OUT FROM
WHATEVER CORNERS OF THE BUILDING.
IT GROUNDED US BECAUSE IT GAVE US A BASE WHILE WE WERE
WANDERING THROUGH ALL THESE UNIVERSES.
THIS BASE WAS ROCK-SOLID. EVERYBODY WOULD GATHER.
BEING AN INDIE FILM, EVERY MINUTE COSTS MONEY.
WE TOOK THE TIME TO LOOK AT EACH OTHER IN THE EYES.
WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER. WE SAW EACH OTHER.
EVERYONE KNEW THAT WE WERE THERE TOGETHER.
WE WERE FAMILY. THERE WAS NO HIERARCHY.
WE WERE ALL EQUALS BORING OUR LOVE INTO THIS LITTLE GEM AND
POLISHING IT. FOR 15 MINUTES, WE WOULD DO
WARM-UP EXERCISES. WE WOULD TAKE TURNS AND LEADING
THE WARM UP, COURSE JAMIE LEE. I DID LIKE THE DRAGON DANCE.
ALL THE CREW NORMALLY THAT YOU DON'T SEE BECAUSE THEY ARE BUSY,
VERY BUSY DOING PROPS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THEY WOULD COME OUT
AND FOR 15 MINUTES WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER'S EYES AND SAID COME
ON. WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER.
WE ARE GOING TO GIVE IT OUR HEART AND SOUL BECAUSE WE
BELIEVE IN IT AND WE LOVE IT. SO WE EMBRACED EACH OTHER, LIKE
THE EVERYTHING BAGEL. >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A
QUICK BREAK. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE
MICHELLE YEOH, EVERYBODY. STICK AROUND.