Actress Michelle Yeoh put so much practice into walking in a form-fitting kimono for her new movie "Memoirs Of A Geisha", she says she still catches herself doing the dainty strut unconsciously.
The queen of the martial arts cinema ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") says that learning to walk as a geisha in the difficult outfit proved to be more challenging than many of her fighting moves.
"From the minute I got out of bed, I'd walk around the house in it - it became second nature. Sometimes I'd be walking down the street in jeans and get into that little shuffle. But then I'd be like, 'Okay, time out, girl. You look a little strange.'"
She practiced so hard, she says, because, "If I didn't do it well, Rob Marshall (the director) would have taken me out and shot me. I had to teach the others what to do onscreen - how to bow correctly, how to kneel, how to walk, how to get up, everything. If I didn’t do it well, it would’ve been a disaster."
"Martial arts is just practice," she explained, "but a geisha requires complete control."
There's a great interview with Michelle at comingsoon.net on the new film (which also stars Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li) and her future career plans.
