American Born Chinese: Michelle Yeoh's Goddess Of Mercy Teaches Lessons Without Fighting
"American Born Chinese" brings some much-deserved diversity to Disney+. Its cast includes some of the industry's most prolific Asian actors, including an unintentional "Everything Everywhere All at Once" reunion, with many bringing Chinese gods to life. Michelle Yeoh plays Guanyin, and while she has a rich history with martial arts, the Academy Award winner had to find a different approach for the Goddess of Mercy.
"We had to be very respectful," Yeoh told Entertainment Weekly. "Goddess of Mercy does not fight. She looks at you with love and compassion." When Yeoh's Guanyin clashed with Leonard Wu's Bull Demon, the "American Born Chinese" production went to great lengths to ensure they remained respectful to the gods. "She doesn't hit him or punch him," she said. "This was something that we did not want the Goddess of Mercy to be doing. She's deflecting him. She's pushing him away. But at the same time, she needs to teach him a lesson or hope that she can impart a lesson on him."
"American Born Chinese" went to great lengths to remain faithful to its Asian American culture. Director Destin Daniel Cretton discussed the representation, saying that Disney allowed them to make it as authentic as possible, which undoubtedly played a role in attracting its all-star cast members like Yeoh.
Playing the Goddess of Mercy was a challenge for Yeoh
Everyone can agree that Michelle Yeoh is practically a goddess walking among us. The actress skyrocketed into the industry with her high-octane roles in many Hong Kong action films, continuing that hot streak decades later in movies like "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Yeoh can practically do anything at this point, and we'd be first in line to see it, but "American Born Chinese" challenged her, unlike any other role.
Yeoh is a devout Buddhist, so she only had one chance to bring Guanyin to life faithfully, or else hordes of people would be after her. "To us, the goddess of mercy is very revered. We pray to her for our well-being, and that she will look after the family," Yeoh told USA Today. "To be asked to play her was a little daunting because you don't want to get her wrong. You'd have millions of people come after you!"
Thankfully, it's safe to say Yeoh nailed the performance, with "American Born Chinese" going to extra lengths to remain faithful to Asian American and Chinese cultures. The actress can breath a sigh of relief that swarms of Buddhists won't be coming after her, so she can continue to be the real-life goddess she is.