After starring in the award-winning film Crazy Rich Asians, Yeoh is set to take the leading role for a currently untitled Star Trek: Discovery spinoff. She is also known for her lead in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and as an unconventional Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies. Yeoh currently acts as Captain Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery, with the second season dropping January 17th.
This Star Trek series has already broken barriers with Sonequa Martin-Green, an African-American woman, playing lead. In addition, Martin-Green’s character, Michael Burnham, was the first non-Starfleet captain to take on the leading role. Yeoh will follow suit as the first Asian female to play lead within the Star Trek anthology. Yeoh’s character, Captain Philippa Georgiou, will be her darker counterpart from the Mirror Universe: the nefarious Emperor of the Terran Empire. The story will follow her journey aboard Starfleet’s Section 31 division, an underground organization within the Federation.
Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, writers for CBS All Access and of the other Star Trek: Discovery episodes, will also be writing this new chapter of the Discovery plotline. Alex Kurtzman, executive producer and co-creator of the Discovery franchise, spoke highly of Michelle Yeoh and her work, claiming that, “Michelle has shattered ceilings, broken boundaries, and astonished us with her grace and gravitas for decades. As a human, I adore her. As an actor, I revere her.” Concerning the story, Kurtzman added that, “Erika and Boey are remarkable, exciting writers who bring a fresh perspective to the world of Star Trek, and we’re all thrilled to explore the next wild chapter in the life of Captain Philippa Georgiou.”
Yeoh also shared the excitement: “I’m so excited to continue telling these rich Star Trek stories. Being a part of this universe and this character specifically has been such a joy for me to play. I can’t wait to see where it all goes — certainly I believe it will go ‘where no WOMAN has ever gone before!’”
It is unclear how many more variations and additions to Discovery will be made, but Kurtzman noted in an interview that it is limited. “There has to be,” Kurzman told Hollywood Reporter. “At a certain point people are going to say, ‘It all feels so familiar.’ The only thing I’d throw back is that nobody seems to have said that about Marvel. Between film and TV, no one is tired of them. That means that in a world of a global audience, there is always room for more, but the more has to be meaningful.”