Michelle Yeoh Interview For Luc Besson’s Aung San Suu Kyi Biopic ‘The Lady’

‘The Lady’ is Luc Besson’s upcoming biopic about pro-democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, starring Michelle Yeoh as Aung. Aung San Suu Kyi became an icon for democratic freedom after she spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest in Burma after leading the National League for Democracy in an election victory over the ruling military junta in 1990.

‘The Lady’ is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi. It is a story of devotion and human understanding set against a backdrop of political turmoil that continues today. ‘The Lady’ was written over a period of three years by Rebecca Frayn. Interviews with key figures in Aung San Suu Kyi‟s entourage enabled her to reconstruct for the first time the true story of Burma‟s national heroine. ‘The Lady’ is set for release November 30th. Check out what Michelle Yeoh had to say about the film below.

How much did you know about Aung Suu before you embarked on this movie?

Michelle Yeoh: Coming from Malaysia we all know who Aung Suu is, but unfortunately because she’s been in and out of house arrest since 1988, we’ve really forgotten exactly the reasons why, who and what was truly involved. In the last three years, the news that came out was when the Americans swam into her compound and her house arrest was extended for another 18 months, and then news about her resurfaced. But by then, Rebecca Frayn had already finished the script and approached me when she finished her first draft of the script, and I knew this was not just a role of a lifetime, but an incredible story that really needed to be told. Fortunately Luc Besson came to my rescue (laughs), because I always believe that no matter how good a script is, if you don’t have a director who’s totally committed and dedicated to it, you won’t have a story that will come to life for the audience. That was very important to me, I lived and breathed her for the last four years. Everyday day, every night. I learned Burmese,. I slept with her, I woke up with her. Because it was necessary not just to mimic and give you a two-dimensional concept and feel for what she represented, of who she was, but to allow you to come into her world. A world so full of love and passion. I was submerged in it, I still think very much so.

If I understand right, you had some problems with the Burmese authorities because you met Suu Kyi?

Michelle Yeoh: The first time I met her was actually when we were still filming, in the last week in Bangkok, and we decided that, since we were literally next door, we should try and go into Burma. Luc Besson and everybody else had their visas denied but I was allowed to go in, so I went. I think everybody was a little bit worried for me, I felt it was the right thing for me to do. So I went, I met up with Aung Suu for an incredible two days. And then, about two months ago, Luc and the rest had their visas, and I decided I would join them, meet up with them and hopefully everyone would be able to see Aung Suu together. This time that I went there, the Burmese authorities were very firm, very polite, and escorted me straight out of the country. They just said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ And I said, ‘Don’t be sorry, just let me into your country.’ They said,‘No.’ I think they just wanted very clearly and quickly to show just how closed a country they are, and I was very saddened and disappointed by that. At that point I was thinking, ‘Do I make a big fuss and say, ‘I’m not leaving, No, you have no right to deny me entry.’ But then I thought it wouldn’t do anybody any good, it also showed how irrational they were. In fact they were the ones who released to the press that they would not allow me into the country. But I will go back again. I’ll be back (smiles).

How was it to prepare for this role, both physically and mentally?

Michelle Yeoh: Preparing for this role was really a very great responsibility because she is such a well-known, iconic figure. When you see her, she’s very recognisable. The first thing was with hair and make-up, we had all the things that would make me look a little bit more like her, I lost a lot of weight to play her. Then with her English accent, she has an amazing, beautiful English accent Also her deportment, the way she moves – because that was one thing Luc Besson said to me, ‘You prepare your English, and you prepare your deportment, the rest we will work out on the set,’ (laughs). That was just work that as an actor you do. I had a very good trainer and teacher that came to my house everyday, just to learn English all over again. Then I had to learn Burmese, that was probably one of the most difficult parts – learning Mandarin was a piece of cake compared to learning Burmese. The language was nothing similar to any of the languages I know, whether it Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, it was on its own. That just took sheer determination, there’s no pause in the language, it’s like a song, a melody that just goes on. It was really beautiful to hear. I didn’t want my Burmese to sound foreign, I wanted it to sound real, it was everyday….about four or six months I was saying the Shweagon speech…as I was opening my eyes I could hear myself speaking in Burmese.

With the research we had hundreds and hundreds of hours of research that was done by Rebecca and the team. There was a lot of reading material. But I felt to get to know the woman, I needed to know what was behind her thoughts. So I read the books that she would read, Gandhi was a big favourite of hers. Fortunately she’s a Buddhist and I’m a Buddhist so it was easier to come to terms with a lot of things. I’d watch her everyday, and then I realised it wasn’t just mimicking her and doing the things that she did, because we all know the eyes are the windows of the soul – for me to convey if she had strength or doubts or pain, a lot of the time it would have to come when you look into my eyes.

This process must have been so engrossing….

Michelle Yeoh: I think all of us who have been involved in this journey, there is no way that what you feel about freedom, democracy, human rights, that it doesn’t affect you. Because it must make you look at the situation a lot harder, and with more open eyes. I think we enjoy freedom, we take it for granted, we don’t for a second think….like when I went back to Burma for the second time, I didn’t stop to think that anything could happen to me – because I’m a Malaysian citizen and I go everywhere I please. It has effected me in many ways, I think it will always, because Aung Suu was always an inspiration, but now she’s given us the real understanding of what it is to have strength and passion and determination, with the right balance, to do the right things.