Michelle Yeoh voices the mother of titular character Nezha for the English dub of Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2. Photos: AFP, Handout
For Malaysian actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, it is time for Hollywood to focus more on Asian mythological characters like the ones showcased in Chinese movie Ne Zha 2 (2025), which has become the highest-grossing animated film in history worldwide.
“They’re warriors and demigods,” Yeoh said.
The 63-year-old, who made history as the first Asian to win the Best Actress Oscar for her role in the science-fiction comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), voices the mother of the titular wide-eyed demon-child Nezha for the English dub of Ne Zha 2.
“I guess it’s like Zeus, you know, and Thor, but these are ours,” Yeoh said.
“And I think that’s very important because when you learn about another culture’s myths, you have a nice, deeper understanding, and it teaches you to embrace something that is different.”
Ne Zha 2, distributed by A24, follows the events of the first film, Ne Zha (2019).
In the new film, the souls of Nezha and dragon prince Ao Bing work to regain their physical bodies and protect their families.
The original film grossed over US$700mil (RM2.95bil) worldwide.
The English-dubbed version of the fantasy film, directed by Chinese filmmaker Yang Yu and based on Chinese novelist Xu Zhonglin’s 16th-century novel Investiture Of The Gods, arrives in American cinemas on Aug 22.
The sequel, originally in Mandarin, made waves when it overtook Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (2024) in February to become the highest-grossing animated film globally in history, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan.
Ne Zha 2 has amassed a total box office of 12.3bil yuan (RM7.23bil), including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth-highest-grossing box-office film globally in history.
While Yeoh emphasises the cultural richness of the film, she wants audiences of all walks of life to understand that the most important thing is that it is “a beautiful story”.
“I think we should stop seeing it as, ‘Oh, it’s a Chinese film,’” she added.
The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) actress recalled watching Ne Zha 2 for the first time and not being able to tear her eyes away from the screen.
“You’re going up to the heavens. You’re going down to the bottom of the seas. You see the dragons,” she said. “You see all these kind of things, and just for that two hours – be transported.” – Reuters
