Michelle Yeoh on the Challenge of Filming American Born Chinese's Goddess of Mercy Fight Scene

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for American Born Chinese Episode 3. Read at your own risk!]

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Across East Asia, few figures are as recognizable — and revered — as Guanyin, or the Goddess of Mercy. In Disney+'s American Born Chinese, adapted from Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel of the same name, this divine being is portrayed by none other than Michelle Yeoh.

"We were always, always very respectful of the Goddess of Mercy because she's very, very iconic in our world, and we had to be careful in how we did that without taking too much liberty," Yeoh told TV Guide at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour earlier this year. "On the Chinese side at least, you have an altar, and you always have the Goddess of Mercy," the actor said of Guanyin's prominence. "She didn't go back to the heavens because she stayed to look after the people in the world."

Yeoh recalled conversations with the creative team — including Yang, director Destin Daniel Cretton, and executive producer Kelvin Yu — in which they discussed approaching the figure with respect, but also relatability. "When she is on Earth being auntie, I love the way we changed her look from this goddess into, she's wearing sweats and baseball cap," Yeoh said. 

Part of American Born Chinese takes place in the heavenly realms. But most of the story is set in the high school that Jin Wang (Ben Wang) attends. Jin is just trying to fit in, but when he meets Wei-Chen (Jim Liu), the Chinese teen becomes entangled in a web of disputes between mythological gods. One such conflict is between the Goddess of Mercy and Niu Mowang (Leonard Wu), also known as the Bull Demon King. In Episode 3, Niu Mowang finds the goddess while she's on Earth and launches an attack.

"I think the challenge, of course, was we had fight sequences in there," Yeoh said of playing Guanyin. "Working together with our stunt coordinator, it was like, 'She is the Goddess of Mercy, she doesn't hit people.' She's not supposed to be throwing punches." Hence, the battle with Niu Mowang was carefully choreographed. "When I had that big fight with the Bull [Demon] King, he was totally angry. So we did it in such a way, it was always deflected," Yeoh explained. "It was almost like a dance."

At one point, Guanyin even swipes a pillow so that Niu Mowang's head lands on its cushy surface instead of against the hard wall. This approach infuriates Niu Mowang even more, the actor said. "It was nice to see the contrast of all the different fight sequences," Yeoh added.

Executive producer Kelvin Yu recalled seeing Yeoh walk on set for her role. "I don't know that there's anybody more than Michelle Yeoh who can enter a room and you're like, 'Yeah, that's a goddess,'" Yu said. The writer remembered his and Yang's response upon seeing Yeoh in an American high school on one of the first days of shooting. "I think we both almost started crying."

American Born Chinese is available to stream on Disney+.