Michelle Yeoh’sStar Trekappearances are already legendary, and here are the Academy Award winner’s standout performances. Before Yeoh won the Best Actress Oscar forEverything Everywhere All At Once,the Malaysian-born international star shockedStar Trekfans when she was cast inStar Trek: Discovery.Along with Jason Isaacs,Star Trek: Discoverycasting Yeoh was a coupthat elevated the firstStar TrekTV series in 17 years.
Michelle Yeoh originally portrayed Captain Philippa Georgiou, and her character was unexpectedly killed off inStar Trek: Discovery’s 2-part series premiere. Yeoh’s comeback was an even bigger surprise as she returned as Captain Georgiou’s Mirror Universe counterpart,Emperor Philippa Georgiou, midway throughStar Trek: Discoveryseason 1.The evil Emperor Georgiou would emerge as Michelle Yeoh’s primaryStar Trekcharacterand a foil forStar Trek: Discovery’s lead, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
Thus far,Michelle Yeoh has made 26Star TrekappearancesacrossStar Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, andStar Trek: Section 31, the firstmade-for-streaming on Paramount+Star Trekmovieheadlined by Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou. Michelle Yeoh’s future inStar Trekis unclear, but here are a half-dozen of the Oscar winner’s top performances in the final frontier.
6"The Brightest Star"
Star Trek: Short Treks Season 1, Episode 3
One of Michelle Yeoh’s most impactfulStar Trekappearances was her brief cameo inStar Trek: Short Treks'“The Brightest Star.” The story about how the courageous Saru (Doug Jones) escaped his homeworld of Kaminar to become the first Kelpien in Starfleet, “The Brightest Star” includesYeoh as Lieutenant Philippa Georgiou, who makes First Contact with Saru on Kaminar.
An intriguing prequel toStar Trek: Discovery,“The Brightest Star” positions Michelle Yeoh’s Lt. Georgiou as the symbol of Starfleetand a galaxy of new possibilities for Saru. The Kelpien would go on to serve as Science Officer on the USS Shenzhou under Captain Georgiou’s command. In her brief cameo, the compassion of Philippa Georgiou years before her tragic death was clear.
5Star Trek: Section 31
Michelle Yeoh Headlines Star Trek’s First Streaming Movie
Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeohis the undisputed lead ofStar Trek: Section 31,and her global star power helped sell Paramount+’s firstStar Trek streaming movie.Section 31is Yeoh’s comeback vehicle as Emperor Philippa Georgiouafter she departedStar Trek: Discoveryin season 3. As Emperor Georgiou, Yeoh leads a new cast of motleyStar Trekspies as they save the galaxy from the sins of Georgiou’s past and an invasion by the Mirror Universe.
Star Trek: Section 31was maligned by criticsand audiences, butMichelle Yeoh revels in playing Emperor Georgiou once again. Yeoh delivers an electric lead performance as Georgiou, who inches ever-so-closely toward redemption while never losing her wicked ways. As Emperor Georgiou, Yeoh is a bright spot ofStar Trek: Section 31, although, unfortunately, the film’s grim reception may also mark Michelle’s finalStar Trekappearance (at least for now).
4“What’s Past Is Prologue”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 13
Star Trek: Discoveryseason 1jumped to the Mirror Universe for a multi-episode arc, where the evil alternate reality version of Philippa Georgiou was not only alive but was the fascist ruler of the Terran Empire. In a stark contrast to her kindly portrayal of Captain Georgiou,Michelle Yeoh sinks her teeth into playing the ruthless Mirror Universe Emperor with gusto. Sadistic, twisted, and even cannibalistic, Emperor Georgiou proved to be unlike any other character inStar Trek.
The final chapter ofStar Trek: Discovery’s Mirror Universe arc, “What’s Past Is Prologue,” saw the collapse of Emperor Georgiou’s rule over the Terrans following an attempted coup by Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).“What’s Past Is Prologue” also defined Georgiou’s relationship with Michael Burnham, who pulled the Emperor intoStar Trek’s Prime Timelinewhen the USS Discovery made its escape from the Mirror Universe. Emperor Georgiou let loose in the United Federation of Planets would have major consequences for the galaxy.
3"The Vulcan Hello" & “Battle At The Binary Stars”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2
Star Trek: Discovery’s two-episode premiere, “The Vulcan Hello” and “Battle at the Binary Stars,” was, in actuality, a prologue forStar Trek: Discovery,which introduced the USS Discovery in episode 3. “The Vulcan Hello” and “Battle at the Binary Stars” introduced Captain Philippa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou, asGeorgiou faces a mutiny by Commander Michael Burnham, her First Officer. In Burnham’s defense, she acted unilaterally in a misguided attempt to prevent a war with the resurgent Klingon Empire.
Michelle Yeoh portrays the doomed Captain Georgiou as the epitome of Starfleet’s principles and peaceful intentions.
In contrast to her scenery-chewing as Emperor Georgiou, Michelle Yeoh portrays the doomed Captain Georgiou as the epitome ofStarfleet’s principles and peaceful intentions. Trying to maintain protocol and reason under impossible circumstances, Captain Georgiou’s trust in Michael Burnham is pushed beyond its limits, yet Philippa chooses to side with Michael to confront the Klingons despite Burnham’s betrayal.Captain Georgiou’s gruesome death at the hands of the Klingon messiah T’Kuvma (Chris Obi) is a startling heartbreaker.
2“Will You Take My Hand?"
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 5
Star Trek: Discovery’s season 1 finale, “Will You Take My Hand?”, concludes with Starfleet’s ultimate victory in the Klingon War and a riveting speech by Commander Michael Burnham as she (andStar Trek: Discovery) reclaims the highest virtues of the United Federation of Planets. But to get to that victory,Burnham had to stop Emperor Georgiou’s insidious plot to commit genocideby destroying Qo’noS, the Klingon homeworld.
Emperor Georgiou’s malicious swagger as she poses as her Prime Universe counterpart, Captain Georgiou, is worth the price of admission, though it soon becomes clear Georgiou is from the evil alternate timeline. In the sordid underground of Qo’noS,Emperor Georgiou is in her element as she attempts to make her genocidal plan a reality. Michael Burnham stopping Georgiou once again delineates the differences between them, but Philippa yielding to Michael also begins the Emperor’s slow march to quasi-redemption.
1“Terra Firma, Parts 1 & 2”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episodes 9 & 10
Michelle Yeoh’s final appearance as Emperor Georgiou inStar Trek: Discoveryis a tour de forcethat plunges Philippa back into the Mirror Universe. Dying from crossing realities and joining the USS Discovery’s time travel to the 32nd century, Emperor Georgiou meets a mysterious being named Carl (Paul Guilfoyle), who is secretly theGuardian of Forever. To test whether Georgiou is worthy of saving, Carl sends the Emperor back to the Terran Empire, where she learns she is no longer the cruel despot she once was.
Originally, Michelle Yeoh’s exit fromStar Trek: Discovery was to shift her to leadStar Trek: Section 31 as an ongoing series before the COVID-19 pandemic and Yeoh’s Oscar win changed those plans, turningSection 31into a streaming movie instead.
Back in the Mirror Universe, Emperor Georgiou is faced with the countless atrocities she is responsible for, including the one that hurts the worst, raising her adopted daughter, Captain Michael Burnham, to be as sadistic as Phillipa was. Yeoh reveals new facets of Emperor Georgiou as she rejects the evil she once embodied. In the end, Emperor Georgiou and Commander Burnham share an emotional farewell as the Guardian sends Philippa away forever. “Terra Firma Parts 1 & 2” are the apex of Michelle Yeoh’sStar Trekperformances.
