We use the phrase “action star” to describe the massive talent at the center of this episode, but Michelle Yeoh has demonstrated over the course of her remarkable career that she’s so much more than that.

In fact, her career as a performer didn’t start with scripts or stunts. She was more focused on pirouettes and pliés as a classically trained ballet dancer, getting all the way to London’s Royal Academy of Dance before a spinal injury set her on a path to the big screen (but not before becoming a literal beauty queen).

Dori and Kpolly get into Yeoh’s off-screen activities — even touching on her humanitarian work and activism — as they give her the star treatment for this episode. It’s a well-deserved spotlight considering everything Yeoh has accomplished across her 40-year career, from performing her own stunts despite zero marital-arts training to winning Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 2023 Academy Awards.

That’s just one of the Yeoh-centric movies you can check out at the Oriental Theatre throughout March as Milwaukee Film presents its irresistibly titled “Just Say Yeoh” series. You’ll hear our dynamic duo discuss all four movies in the series, a handful of her other memorable roles and the other releases you should catch at the Oriental this week.

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Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Door Company.