Michelle Yeoh, 53, is set to reprise her role as expert martial artist-warrior Yu Shu Lien in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.” The sequel's release is 18 years after she played a Bond girl in the 1997 film “Tomorrow Never Dies” opposite Pierce Brosnan, 62, who played James Bond.

Yeoh recently attended the 26th Singapore International Film Festival, which ran from Nov. 26 to Dec. 6, to receive the festival’s first Cinema Legend Award. During the event, she talked about her role in “Tomorrow Never Dies.”

“I’m still proud to be a Bond Girl,” Today Online quoted Yeoh as saying. “ I mean, you’re part of a legacy that’s been around for 53 years, what is there to be embarrassed about? Especially my Bond Girl. I thought she was pretty cool, right?”

The one-time Bond girl said the 26th Singapore International Film Festival’s Cinema Legend Award was such an honour but she does not deserve it because she never thinks she has done enough. However, she said she hopes she can inspire young filmmakers and young people with the title.

In another interview with Channel News Asia, Yeoh noted that audiences who want better movies should exert an effort to support films. She said the audiences are the filmmakers and actors’ bosses, and movies cater to what the audiences want.

Meanwhile, set to be released in 2016, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” stars Yeoh opposite Donnie Yen. Ang Lee passed the directorial role to Yuen Woo-Ping, and Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen did not reprise their respective roles in the film.

In 2016, Yeoh will also star in “Marco Polo” Season 2 and in the action film “Mechanic: Resurrection” with Jason Statham, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones. In 2017, the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2” star will lend her voice to a character of the animation film “Blazing Samurai.”

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