Yeo Yann Yann
Yeo Yann Yann is a Malaysian actress. She has worked in theatre, television, and film. Her credits include Singapore Dreaming, Thunderstorm, 881, Ilo Ilo and Wet Season.
She is a pioneer-graduate of Intercultural Theatre Institute. Besides acting, Yeo also hosts bilingual events and performs for corporate skits and projects.
Early life and education
Yeo was born to a fisherman in Kukup, Pontian district, Johor, Malaysia. Yeo left Malaysia when she was 19 to study at Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore.Career
Yeo cites her acting mentor, the late theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun, as a significant influence in her career.In 1997, Yeo made her theatre debut with Comedy of Mistakes by Toy Factory Production.
Yeo started her acting career, portraying Chen Mei Li in The Right Frequency, a 1998 Mediacorp drama.
After appearing as Mei in the 2006 film Singapore Dreaming, Yeo was noticed and became famous. The film won the Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, and was the first Singaporean film to receive an IFFPA-recognised international feature film award.
Yeo has also been featured in the Singapore Speak Chinese campaign, in-character from her role in the Royston Tan's 2007 film 881.
Yeo had also starred in various television productions, including Food Goin' Bananas and The A-Go-Go Princess. In 2009 also, she played the leading role in The Iron Lady, produced by ntv7.
In 2013, Yeo played as the mother of the protagonist in Anthony Chen's first feature film, Ilo Ilo. The film debuted at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it received a 15-minute long "standing ovation" and earned Chen the Camera d'Or. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted Chen's achievement, and congratulated him and the film's cast on Facebook. The film continued to win success at various film festivals with Yeo picking up awards such as Best Supporting Actress at the 50th Golden Horse Awards, Best Actress at the Vladivostok Film Festival, Best Supporting Actress at the 8th Asian Film Awards among others.
In spring 2018, Yeo reunites with Chen for his second feature film, Wet Season. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to be nominated for six Golden Horse Awards, with Yeo winning her second Golden Horse, for Best Leading Actress.
In 2020, Yeo was cast as Lian in HBO Asia’s Invisible Stories.
In 2021, Yeo acted as a triad boss in a supporting role in action thriller film Havoc, starring Tom Hardy, written and directed by Gareth Evans. The film was released on Netflix in 2025.
In 2022, Yeo acted as the mother of the main character in American Born Chinese, a television series adaption of a 2006 graphic novel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, an American fantasy action comedy television sitcom created by Kelvin Yu for Disney+. The series consists of eight episodes and premiered on Disney+ on 24 May 2023.