Michelle Yeoh

“I think that learning Burmese has to have been one of the most challenging things that I have had to do for a movie.”

“I believe that the director is really the soul. It is a collaborative effort, but the director is the one who needs to have that vision. It could be a great script, but it starts from there. You need to have good material, at least, but if you don't have someone with vision, it's just words.”

“Some of the martial arts films, the motivation is about martial arts. That's where it's coming from. It is a visual, commercial film, to showcase the next stunt, the biggest thing. And character development becomes a side thing.”

“I have been presented with roles with demand not just a physical ability but mental disciplines as well. 'Memoirs of a Geisha' was not so much about physical exertion... it was much more graceful and contained than that.”

“It's very important for us all to understand that we are interconnected and we need to hold hands together, especially when the going gets tough.”

“Every time I choose to do a movie, I make the decision because of what I think I can learn from it.”

“When it is real person, especially who means so much to millions of people, you have an obligation, you cannot take liberties, you cannot pretend to know. But we are telling the love story of Michael Aris and his wife, the story of a beautiful, lush country, and the emotions of a mother.”

“'The Lady' is an incredible love story about how a family was cut off from each other, about sacrifice, about the ability to put the needs of million of people before your own.”

“Movies cater to what the audiences want.”

“If you read a lot of Chinese literature, there has always been very strong women figures - warriors, swordswomen - who defended honor and loyalty with the men. So, it's not new to our culture - it's always been very much a part of it. It's good that now the Western audience would have a different image of the Chinese women.”

“I don't plan to go out and do action or not do action.”

“I gravitate towards roles where women find strength in very difficult, uncompromising situations but maintain clarity in mind, discipline at heart, and a certain strength in spirit.”

“I went to the Gobi Desert, even though I had no scenes there. This is the greatness of China, the landscape, even for us.”

“Martial arts is just practice. Being a geisha requires complete control.”

“In Europe and America, you never see a director pick up a camera. They all sit behind monitors.”

“I have people who love me and people that I love and a man that I love. So in that sense, I feel that I'm pretty well rounded.”

“As an actor, you can't just imitate someone. You have to get under her skin.”

“I want to be there for all those who are left behind in this world, whether it's because they are born poor, born a woman, or born in an area affected by devastation.”

“We have to make movies where we do not think this is for the American market or this is for the Chinese market. We have to make a good movie that anyone would just want to sit down and watch because love, language, culture transcend everything.”

“On 'Far North,' we were always aware of being at the whim of mother nature. She's the biggest star in the film.”