Michelle Yeoh opens up about divorce with ex-husband

What she said: Speaking to Gwyneth Paltrow on “The Goop Podcast,” Yeoh, 61, said her ex-husband, Dickson Poon, 67, became upset about not being able to conceive during their marriage as he wanted to have a big family. She described it as one of the main reasons she and the Hong Kong businessman decided to call it quits after a four-year marriage.

“We did whatever was necessary,” the Academy Award winner said. “Unfortunately, I was physically unable to.”

Being busy and apart from each other for months also played a part in the former couple’s decision to call it quits.

“With our work, we’re always traveling,” she said. “If you’re filming outside the country, maybe we’ll not see each other for a couple of months. When both parties (are working), it’s hard to find that balance.”

How they met: Yeoh met Poon after she was signed into the businessman’s D&B Films Co. in 1984 when she was 21 under the name “Michelle Khan.” The two began dating and got married in February 1988.

Yeoh then took a step back from the film industry to focus on motherhood, but when she found that she could not conceive, she returned to acting. The former couple divorced in 1992, and more than three decades later, Yeoh tied the knot with long-time partner Jean Todt in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 27, 2023.

Still friends: Looking back, Yeoh admitted the divorce was the “smart thing to do” and that she was able to “step away and not pretend that it will work out.” Yeoh said she is still good friends with Poon.

Yeoh, who most recently starred in Netflix’s “The Brothers Sun,” has begun filming her Paramount Plus movie “Star Trek: Section 31.”