SHANGHAI — Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh said Sunday that she will star in an upcoming kung fu movie directed by John Woo, adding that she’s not avoiding action movies despite a recent break from the genre.
The “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” actress told a press conference at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival that the Chinese-language film will start shooting in China in September.
She said Woo will share directing duties on the film — tentatively called “The Sword and the Martial Arts World” — with Taiwanese filmmaker Su Chao-pin, who directed the horror film “Silk.”
She declined to give further details.
Yeoh is a former beauty queen who first made her name as an action star in Hong Kong. Her recent roles in “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005) and “Far North” (2007) have veered toward drama, but the 46-year-old actress said she still feels fit enough to handle action.
“I have felt physically stronger the past few years. I don’t let age limit me,” Yeoh said, adding she chose her recent projects because she enjoyed the stories — not because they were less physically taxing.
The film with Yeoh is Woo’s first new project since his $80 million two-part historical epic “Red Cliff.” The Hong Kong native was supposed to next direct “1949” — an epic romance set against the Chinese civil war in that year — but the project fell through because of a dispute with its Taiwanese investors.
