Michelle Yeoh opened up about her infertility struggle during her interview with BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The Academy Award winner revealed she wanted to have children but her fertility problems went in vain during her marriage to Hong Kong business tycoon Dixon Poon and she felt like a “failure”.
“I think the worst moment is when every month you feel like a failure,” she said. The Crazy Rich Asians actress admitted that some body parts don’t work as they should and she blamed herself before realizing that this is what happens.
He said, “You just have to let go and move on. And I think you come to a point where you have to stop blaming yourself.” To some extent, this led to their first divorce, Yeoh and Poon were married between 1988 and 1992.
The actress went ahead and tied the knot with her longtime partner Jean Todt in 2023 after a 19-year long engagement. Although he described not having children as “the greatest sorrow of my life” (in an interview with The Times) he is grateful to have six goddaughters, several nephews and nieces.
“I’m 62 years old. Of course, I’m not going to have a baby right now, but the thing is that we have a grandson right now. Then you think you’re still very, very lucky because you have a baby in your belly Is life,” she said Yeoh made history by becoming the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Evelyn Wang in Everything, Everywhere All at Once.
Now, she is starring in one of the most anticipated films of the year, Wicked. The film adaptation of one of the hit Broadway shows focuses on the growing friendship of Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). As for Yeoh – who reunites with her Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu – she plays Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Shi’z University.
Billed as a prequel to Wizard of Oz, ‘Wicked’ will be released in theaters on November 22.