Michelle Yeoh opened up about her time as a Bond girl and explained how the James Bond franchise began evolving in the 1990s. The actress appeared in the 1997 James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, opposite Pierce Brosnan. Her latest film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, premieres on March 25.

Tomorrow Never Dies was Pierce Brosnan's second outing as suave super-spy James Bond. Reinvigorating the franchise with Goldeneye in 1995, the first Brosnan film was a commentary on the end of the Cold War and the geopolitical state of the 1990s. From there, the franchise continued to evolve in Tomorrow Never Dies – which ditched the dreary post-Cold War aesthetic for a futuristic techno-thriller. The film followed Bond and Wai Lin (Yeoh) on a mission to stop media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Price) from instigating World War III to increase his ratings and spheres of influence.

Related: James Bond 26 Needs An Unknown Actor For 007 After Daniel Craig

In the over two decades that have passed since Tomorrow Never Dies hit theaters, Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin has become an icon as one of the toughest Bond girls to date. In a recent interview with EW to discuss her latest film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh opened up to explain how Tomorrow Never Dies marked an inflection point where the Bond franchise began evolving in a way that was more accepting of strong female roles rather than traditional "Bond girls." Yeoh explained:

The producers saw that Bond had to evolve. They thought Bond had to be very present in this time where the women are all stepping up, and the women are on equal terms in every way, and there were just no questions asked about that.

Michelle Yeoh Tomorrow Never Dies James Bond 007

Unlike Goldeneye's Natalya (Izabella Scorupco), Wai Lin was pitched as a Bond girl who was just as much of an action hero as Bond himself. A fierce martial artist, crack shot, and daring spy, she has frequent run-ins with Bond throughout the film until they eventually decide to team up to take down Carver. While Lin and Bond finally share a kiss by the end of the movie, their relationship is primarily based on mutual professional respect rather than romantic or sexual tension. Moreover, her status as a true equal to Bond is not explicitly called out in the movie; it just happens, and the film presents it as fact without question. Wai Lin was initially intended to return in Die Another Day, but Yeoh opted not to return, and her role was turned into Halle Berry's Jinx.

Tomorrow Never Dies was not the first James Bond movie to introduce a strong female character on par with Bond. Every era of the character had at least one strong female character who helped pave the way for Wai Lin. However, the introduction of Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies, and the clear mandate to characterize her in the way she appeared in the film, was a step forward. This helped set a template for characters like No Time to Die's Nomi (Lashana Lynch), who many fans want to see spin-off into her own line of films.

Next: Michelle Yeoh's Planned Return For Die Another Day Explained (& Why She Left)

Source: EW