In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Malaysian-born star Michelle Yeoh opened up about “finally” being “cool” at 60 and how she’s learned to nurture her relationship with her body.
“You get to be my age and you can see it literally slipping through your fingers because you are no longer that prime age,” she said of getting older in Hollywood. “The worst is when people think, ‘Oh, she doesn’t look like she did in her 20s, so she can’t physically do the same things.'” What people don’t understand, Yeoh explained, is that she’s “learned some things over the years.”
“I’m more clever and smarter in how I can sustain my stamina. I’m as fit as I was before because I know how to look after myself much better than when I was younger,” she says.
Of course, with age comes a keen awareness of how to treat one’s body. “Before I even get out of bed, I start meditating and I do my mantra,” she explained of her self-care habits. “I wake my body up slowly. I’ve had injuries over the years, so I have to rectify them.”
“It starts from within,” she added of the process. “I tell my body, ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me for all the things I’ve done to you. And thank you.'” Yeoh says she’s one of many actresses having “the best times” of her career.
“As women, we are told to take all the work we can when we are young because when we don’t look quite as good, or move quite as gracefully, the best years of our careers are behind us,” she said in her speech at the Elle Women in Hollywood event in October.”There are many of us having the best times of our career well beyond our quote-unquote prime years.” As it turns out, her mindset is relatable for a lot of young moviegoers. “Teenagers will come up to me at the supermarket and say, ‘You’re cool! Can we have a picture with you?'” she said. “Outwardly, I’ll smile and say, ‘Of course!’ But inwardly, I’m pumping my fist, screaming, ‘Yes! Finally! I’m cool!'”
After all, “older women can still have these crazy adventures!” she said, referencing the half-dozen characters she plays in the action flick Everything Everywhere All at Once. “If people learn nothing else from this movie, I hope it’s that!”
