Michelle Yeoh reveals what Jackie Chan texted her after Everything Everywhere's success

Michelle Yeoh recently revealed that her role in the Oscar-nominated film Everything Everywhere All at Once was initially slated for action legend Jackie Chan. In a recent interview, the actor said that Jackie Chan had reached out to her. Everything Everywhere All at Once received critical acclaim and scored many Oscar nominations.

The Witcher: Blood Origin actor revealed in an interview with CNN what Jackie Chan texted her upon the success of the film. Jackie congratulated her, though mentioned it was him who was first approached for the role.

"I remember Jackie texting me and saying, 'Congratulations! You know, did you realize that your boys came to see me first?' And I'm like, 'Thank you, bro, you did me a huge favour!'" 

Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, the directorial duo behind the film, initially told The Hollywood Reporter about basing the film around Jackie Chan. Collectively named Daniels, they said that they initially thought about casting Jackie Chan as the lead character in the Oscar-nominated film. 

"At first we were like, 'Action movie, going to star a dude. We were having trouble figuring out the casting for the father figure, and one of us started wondering what happens if we take Michelle's character and flip it and she becomes the protagonist. And the film just opened up in a completely different way."

Michelle Yeoh was planned to be cast in the film even before they flipped Michelle’s character. She had been imagined as Chan’s wife by the duo, as they revealed during the interview.

Casting Michelle Yeoh was “a bit of a pipe dream” for the Daniels

They added that after flipping the characters, they became more relatable. The duo also wondered initially if Kwan will sign off on the character. They further said that it felt like “a bit of a pipe dream” to get Michelle Yeoh to join the film, and if she hadn’t chosen the film, they might have halted their efforts to create it. 

Michelle Yeoh ended up loving the script, as she told the outlet. 

"I love working with young directors because they bring a different energy. That's what I need: to be challenged, to have directors look at me in a different way."

Everything Everywhere All at Once is leading the charge with the most Oscar nominations. It holds a total of 11 Oscar nominations, while The Banshees of Inisherin and All Quiet on the Western Front hold nine each.