Hollywood star Michelle Yeoh has reflected on the “biggest sadness” in her life as she celebrates her recent career success.
The Oscar-winner is currently promoting her role as Madame Morrible in the blockbuster film Wicked alongside Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Michelle Yeoh wins Best Actress at the Oscars.
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However the actress, who is known to be private, has not had the chance to play the real-life role of mother.
She was married for three years to Hong Kong entrepreneur and CEO Dickson Poon whom she wed in 1988.
The couple were only married for three years and in that time she chose to give up her acting dreams to pursue starting a family.
“It was my choice. I felt that if I wanted this to work I had to give it my all,” she told The Times this week.
“I’d had a good career, a good run of what I was doing. I was in a very good place and that is the time when you decide what is important. I really wanted to start a family.”
But then when she did try to get pregnant, Yeoh discovered she was unable to carry children.
“Maybe that is the biggest sadness in my life, that I cannot have kids,” she said.
“But the beauty is that I have six godchildren, many nephews and nieces.
“I have always given it my 110 per cent. I did everything to make it work, and sometimes even that is not enough.
“You have to learn to let go, and sometimes letting go helps you move forward.”
Her marriage came to an end as her ex-husband “really wanted a big family … not just one son, but two sons or three even better”.
“He was working hard for a big empire and he needed sons to carry on his lineage,” Yeoh added.
“I don’t know how women in our line of work juggle being pregnant, having a baby, going back to work … I’m not a multi-tasker.”
Following her divorce, she focused on her acting career and became a huge star over the 1990s and into the 21st century with starring roles in films such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and in the past few years, Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All At Once — for which she won a Best Actress Oscar in 2023.
That year she also wed her now-husband Jean Todt, the former Ferrari CEO.
She is now a grandmother to her stepson’s child.