How Quentin Tarantino inspired Michelle Yeoh to keep going after a life-threatening stunt accident

There was a point at the beginning Michelle Yeoh’, 30 years ago, who almost gave up acting. It’s hard to imagine, given his successful decade-long career that has included amazing stunts, memorable performances and a 2023 Oscar win.

But as Yeoh recently shared, a stunt gone horribly wrong during her time in Hong Kong cinema pushed her to the brink of being fired. It was an unexpected meeting with the director Quentin Tarantino which convinced her to stay in the game.

Before Yeoh made waves in Hollywood as a Bond Girl Tomorrow never dies or the wuxia warrior within Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonYeoh was making a name for himself in the Hong Kong action scene.

But during the filming of the film The acrobatic womanone of his stunts led to a terrifying accident. As he explained during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show:

“I had a bad accident during filming: I wanted to pay homage to stuntmen, so we made a film called The acrobatic womanand during filming I was pushed over an overpass. And we had done the wide shot, where I landed. Everything was fine.

“Then we wanted to do a close-up and maybe the fall happened from there [points to column above]. But I hadn’t anticipated: the pushing was so hard. And I fell and nose dived – and we used cardboard boxes. …

“And all I remember is my head got stuck in the boxes, my legs came from behind and I felt this [claps] in my back. I capsized.”

The aftermath left her hospitalized, wearing a full-body cast and questioning her career: “I was in hospital. I had a full cast on and then I went home, trying to recover. And, when you injuries, that is the most depressing period of your life, because you are helpless.

“You can’t do anything. And I think, at that point, I was thinking, ‘Maybe I should just rethink this whole action thing. Maybe it’s time to take a step back, maybe do something else. I do not know.'”

It’s not hard to understand why Yeoh felt this way. The mental and physical toll of such a serious injury can be overwhelming. But just when he was thinking about giving it all up, Quentin Tarantino entered the picture.

Tarantino, who is a devoted fan of Hong Kong cinema, was in town and while there he wanted to meet Yeoh, along with Jackie Chan AND Jet Li.

When he visited Yeoh, who was still recovering. He continued, “It was at that point that Quentin came to town. And you know Quentin, he’s very determined to do certain things. And, when he came to Hong Kong, he said I wanted to meet him Jackie [Chan], Jet [Li] and Michelle.

“So he met our guys and I said, ‘OK.’ So I’m sitting in the living room with my collar on, very stable. And all of a sudden I see this huge guy bounding down the stairs. ‘Hey, Michelle!’ Then he takes a pillow, throws it on the floor, literally sits at my feet and starts talking about my films and what inspired him and going from frame to frame to the first action sequence I ever did, going through a glass pane and all.

“So as I was talking to him, I realized – and I started getting really emotional – and then the next thing, my people were like, ‘Can you please stop waving your arms and just stand still?’ And then I realized that it’s true. You love something, you can’t give it up, so I have to thank Quentin for that, because it brought everything back to a realization: be smart, don’t give up.

Tarantino once called out a scene from his 1992 film Super cop “the greatest stunts ever put on film.” It was her passion that reminded her why she loved what she did and inspired her to continue.

Thankfully, Yeoh didn’t leave and kept moving forward! He has made some incredible films throughout his career!