Quentin Tarantino didn’t cast Michelle Yeoh in Kill Bill for a badass reason

Michelle Yeoh felt a bit put out when she wasn’t cast in Kill Bill. However, Quentin Tarantino had an amazing reason.

Kill Bill – released in two volumes across 2003 and 2004 – is the vengeful story of The Bride (Thurman), who tracks down a team of assassins who brutally murdered her on her wedding day – or so they thought.

Yeoh is a bona fide legend. Having risen to fame in Hong Kong action films, she’s starred in the likes of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies, Yes Madam, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Police Story 3.

The latter Jackie Chan sequel is a favorite of Tarantino’s, who cited Yeoh’s character as a major influence on The Bride. So, why wasn’t she headlining the Whole Bloody Affair?

Michelle Yeoh reveals Quentin Tarantino’s reason for not casting her in Kill Bill

During a recent interview with Town & Country, Yeoh spoke about her relationship with Tarantino and his reason for not casting her in Kill Bill alongside Thurman.

She said: “He’s very smart. He said, ‘Who would believe that Uma Thurman could kick your ass?'”

Miramax

Uma Thurman starred as The Bride in Kill Bill

Still, Yeoh isn’t bothered about missing the opportunity. “I go forward, because life is about moving forward, failures make us stronger, and they make us understand the path,” she said.

Quentin Tarantino convinced Michelle Yeoh to come out of retirement

Tarantino, who’d long felt enlivened by Yeoh’s mesmerizing stuntwork, met Yeoh after she sustained an injury on The Stunt Woman. “I thought I broke my back. I thought I was paralyzed,” she said.

While he was in Hong Kong to screen Pulp Fiction, he visited Yeoh. “I must say, Quentin, he’s persistent,” she continued.

“He is who he is today because he’s full of passion and love, so he wore me down.”

While she’d only afforded him five minutes of her time, he managed to convince her that it wasn’t time to quit moviemaking just yet. “Suddenly we became animated. So then I thought, maybe I’m not ready to give up on this,” Yeoh said.

Tarantino also told the outlet: “I was just a huge, huge fan of hers. There was always a twinkle in her eye.”

Find out more about where you can stream Everything Everywhere All At Once here.