Michelle Yeoh was having a flashback, not of the acid variety, but it was pretty intense all the same.
She was seated in the middle of the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, in March for the South by Southwest premiere of her movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once," nerves frayed, worried how people would react to her performance — or should we say "performances," since Yeoh plays half a dozen different characters in the movie. Would the audience laugh in the right spots? Would they find her funny?
And, sitting there, waiting, Yeoh thought back to the midnight premiere of her first headlining movie, Corey Yuen's 1985 Hong Kong action classic "Yes, Madam!," where she was perched in the balcony tier, first row, constantly peeking over the railing to see how the hardcore moviegoers seated below her, the ones given to sharing their feelings very vocally, would react. She was bracing herself for the boos and instead was ecstatic when the audience erupted into cheers.
