Asif Kapadia said that the idea for the film Far North shot in the extreme climatic conditions of the North Pole  came from a short story  called Far North which his writer Tim Miller had read and this gave him the idea to shoot the film in the North Pole. He needed to select a physically fi and mentally tough  crew to film in the extreme conditions of the North Pole. Michelle Yeoh came to mind as the actress with the determination to fulfil this very demanding role.  

Michelle Yeoh is known for her roles in Martial arts films and whether this helped her meet the physically tough demands of shooting in the North Pole. She said that it was wonderful to be in Marrakech. She was fascinated to work on “Far North” . She thought her agent was trying to kill her sending her up to the North Pole with all the Polar bears but then she was fascinated to see how the story was told not just with the words but  also the hostile environment which nothing prepared her for. It was overwhelming and scary . The first time she landed was in Tromso with its shopping mall was a walk in the park compared to the location up in the far nor. They were living on an ice breaker for a month which was the longest  she had ever stayed in one place. This was quite an experience to start off with. While they were there  when they stepped on to the shore there were no trees or vegetation, just rock ,and sand with snow as far  as the eye could see. For  the first time she felt that if she had been left out there, all the training in the world to control mind over matter because she was at the mercy of the environment. It was the first time she appreciated the power of mother nature. 

Michelle was asked about her role in big block buster movies such as  “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”  it  looked like she really wanted to do this privately funded film. Michelle replied that  the most important thing for her was finding the right script and particularly the right director with vision and a rue story to tell . That is how she chooses her projects. It doesn’t matter if it is a block buster, an action movie or an independent film. It matters to her that the person who is going to tell the story is really truly passionate . She could spend months even some times years with amazing people like Asif Kapadia . Life and time is very precious . When acting in independent movies she found that often the story is told from the guts because there are no thrills or trailers waiting for the actors  and none of the creature comforts. You have to have true love for what  you are doing. The block busters are important as well, there are many ways of telling a story and sometimes  directors have a mega budget , but when you can participate in films that are dreams that has an edge for her. 

Michelle was a ballet dancer and she was asked if this helped her in her acting. She said that she had a back injury which ended her  ballet dancing career. Her dreams at 14 were shattered but she was very fortunate because the principal where she was at school in England  encouraged her to go on and do a degree in dance and she dabbled in acting. She has stage fright even in the press conference!  She never really thought that one day she would be working in movies and particularly on stage. However as a child her mother was a big film fan and this influenced her. As a child she sat in the movies in awe . She thought it would be great to play these characters and little did she know that one day she would have the privilege of doing this. She became an actress by accident when she was asked to do a commercial in Hong Kong and she was fortunate that the owner of the company making the commercial was also the owner of a production house . They offered her a film contract and at 21  she ceased the opportunity. 

She was asked about action movies and said that when she started her director spoke about  the fighting  aspect and she felt that she had to seem to be fighting for her life bur that when she was not fighting she should not be looking like Robocop. She made a very conscious effort to be feminine , but if needs be very tough. Many women are like that nowadays because they enjoy men opening doors for them and helping them out of the car,  while they enjoy this they also want their independence.