At the center of Everything Everywhere All at Once’s awards campaign has been the relationship between Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis. Their pairing is critical to the film, but their offscreen friendship has been just as fun to watch. Nobody’s rooted louder for Michelle than Jaime and anytime Michelle speaks, she includes Jamie as an inspiration. It’s lovely to watch. In her People cover story, Michelle assured us there is nothing made up in their fairytale. After having known each other for years, this was the first chance they got to work together, and the bond formed even before they set foot on set. Michelle gives the credit to Jamie because she said even though she’s Hollywood royalty, she’s nurturing.
“The love between me and Jamie Lee Curtis, it’s all real, yeah,” Michelle Yeoh says. On the set of her PEOPLE cover shoot, the Oscar nominee is talking about her costar — and fellow first-time Oscar nominee — Curtis.
They have been each other’s hype woman throughout awards season. But, says Yeoh, this friendship goes deeper than acceptance speeches.
“We have known each other for many years,” Yeoh, 60, says, but when they came together on the set of Everything Everywhere All at Once, something clicked. Well, actually, even before filming began.
“We fell in love on first email. She was like, ‘Let’s ditch the directors of the movie, the Daniels, and run away!’ I was like, ‘A woman after my own heart.’ ” Yeoh turns serious. “When you meet someone and have that connection, it’s not the length of time you’ve known them. A friendship became a very precious relationship.”
Yeoh’s first text of the day is usually from Curtis, 64. “She wakes up very early and I’m an early bird as well, so we end up texting each other. She’s rooting for me. Jamie Lee is one of the most generous in spirit that I have ever met. She’s always giving. She’s always sending me something and texting ‘Did you get it bae?’ She’s always sharing. And yet at the same time, she’s friggin’ Hollywood royalty — but she is nurturing.”
That’s the appeal of Jamie for me. She is Hollywood royalty. Her parents were icons, she’s married to a prodigious actor/writer/director, and she’s proven herself as a formidable actress in her own right. And she still works harder than most actors out there. But Jamie is always ready with advice for the newer actors or looking after them. She stays in touch with her former co-stars and keeps an eye on them. With Jamie’s pedigree many would expect her to be imperious, but I don’t think she has a haughty bone in her body. I have a friend like that. She’s incredibly hard-working and very talented and yet she’s always rooting for me. There’s never any jealousy or judgement, she’s just nurturing, and I love her for it. We should all go find our Jamie Lee.
Photo credit: Getty Images, Instagram and People
So wonderful! And The Criterion Channel is running a Michelle Yeoh Kicks Ass! series to celebrate her earlier martial arts work. They have a two week free trial – no excuses! The Heroic Trio is my personal fave.
Omg this comment made my day! The Heroic Trio is one of my faves!!!
‘Yes, Madam’ is probably my top favorite tho!
Wow thanks for mentioning this!
We should all BE JLC for the friends in our lives. 😉
I’ve always been a Jamie fan. But her support for JD kind of ruined it for me.
Two phenomenal women found each other and I’m so here for all of it. I love these two and the fact they basically fell in love with each other is epic.
Her nepo baby call out at the SAGs was hilarious.
I’m here for the female friendship focus on CB today (this and the Sheryl Lee Ralph/Lisa Ann Walters story)!! So nice to see women supporting each other, loving each other, and proving that we are at our best when we celebrate the people we love out loud. May we all have a Michelle and a Jamie Lee of our own, and may we all be that for the wonderful women in our own lives!!
Its nice to see something nice!
Two very cool women! They must have had a blast making that incredible film.