Michelle Yeoh reveals that the role of ‘EEAAO’ was initially Jackie Chan

Michelle Yeoh he initially played a different role in the comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All At Once. In a recent interview, he revealed that the showrunners wanted Jackie Chan to play his wife.

However, after Chan pulled out of the project, they decided to flip the script rather than post a replacement. The actress stated that she was shocked when the showrunners approached her to take on the role, as it was not typical in the film industry to cast an older woman in the lead role.

Since its debut, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” has won numerous awards, including two Golden Globe Awards in its most recent edition.

Read on to learn more.

Michelle Yeoh Says ‘EEAAO’ Was Originally Written To Star Jackie Chan

In an interview CNN, Yeoh revealed that playing the lead role in the film was not the original idea that the showrunners were shooting.

The Malaysian actress said that directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert initially approached Chan for the role while they were waiting for her to play the wife.

“It was written for a man,” she told the publication Insider. “When the filmmakers tell the story, they also have to keep in mind that this is show business. “I have to write something that someone will make a movie out of.” That’s how they wrote it, Jackie and I are the wife.

However, due to a “mutual” decision, Daniel and Chan did not work together, leading to a rewrite of the script to introduce a female character as the lead.

Michelle Yeoh was shocked to be chosen for such a huge role

After reading the script, Yeoh claimed to question whether the Daniels were “definitely crazy” for casting her in the lead role, as the film industry was not used to casting older female performers in such a capacity.

The director duo also expressed their concern earlier in an interview The Hollywood Reporter when they explained that they were forced into a situation after Chan was no longer available, even though Yeoh had always been mentioned.

Kwan then said per Insider, “We had no trouble figuring out the cast of the father figure, and one of us wondered what would happen if we ditched Michelle’s character and made him the main character? And the film opened it up in a completely different way.”

“Why can’t I do it too”

In the end, the new idea seemed more enticing even to Yeoh, who shared in an interview that he liked who would save the day.

“There’s always that guy who goes on an adventure and saves the world and saves his daughter, and you think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’ said the “Crazy Rich Asians” star. “It was so overwhelming at the time to get a script that said, ‘This is a very ordinary woman, an Asian immigrant woman, with all these issues that we can all relate to.’

Yeoh also praised how the film reinforced the narrative that women are “superheroes”, sharing the idea.

“Everything everywhere at once”

Yeoh played Evelyn Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” a worn-out Chinese immigrant who runs a failing laundromat with her husband. His seemingly routine journey to the company’s IRS audit turns into a strange, multifaceted adventure.

Yeoh starred alongside a number of talented actors including Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Tallie Medel, Jennie Slate and Harry Shum Jr.

The film debuted in the second quarter of 2022 to critical acclaim. Nominated in six categories at the recent Golden Globe Awards, he ended up winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture and Best Picture. Performance by an actress in a motion picture – musical or comedy.

More accolades are expected after being nominated in ten categories at the upcoming Academy Awards, which will be held on March 12, 2023.