See Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis duke it out in Everything Everywhere All at Once photos

A smashing good time

In the science-fiction-action-comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once (out Mar. 25), Michelle Yeoh's laundromat-owner Evelyn Wang dukes it out with Jamie Lee Curtis' IRS auditor. "She loves doing everything on her own, you know?" Yeoh tells EW of Curtis. "I said, 'Please don't jump down the stairs on the wire.' She's like, 'Why not?' That sounds like me. People will say, don't do that! I'm like, 'Why not?'"

Too hot (dog) to handle

In Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's film, Evelyn travels to an alternate universe where she and Curtis' character are lovers and have hot dogs for fingers. "She was the entire reason I said 'Yes' to this movie," Curtis says of Yeoh. "She was the first three, four boxes checked. You get to fight with Michelle Yeoh. Check. You get to fall in love with Michelle Yeoh. Check. You get to do a mating dance with hot dog fingers. Check!"

My beautiful laundromat

Director Daniel Kwan mined his own experience of growing up in an immigrant family as he and co-director Daniel Scheinert created the character of Evelyn. "My mom's side came from Taiwan, and my father's side came out of Hong Kong, came to New York City, and they started a laundromat," says Kwan. "Growing up, I would go visit my grandfather in the laundromat all the time. So, yes, it very much became an autobiographical movie, even though it's about the multiverse."

Fight club

"The shocking thing with the fights was, she didn't really want to rehearse," says Scheinert of Yeoh, seen here with Jing Li. "She was like, 'The way we do it in Hong Kong was I would show up in the morning, and they'd tell me what I have to do, and I would learn it and do it.' We were a little scared, but we were like, 'Okay.' And that's kind of what she did. She'd practice it two or three times and then be ready. It was mind-blowing."

Elvis has entered the building

Stephanie Hsu plays Michelle Yeoh's daughter in the film and got to wear an array of amazing costumes. "I said recently that my favorite costume was the Elvis costume, but there's also what I call 'Tarantula Lady costume' that happens later in the film," she says. "So I would say the Tarantula Lady costume was also one of my favorites."

Bonding with Michelle

Actor Ke Huy Quan plays three different versions of Evelyn's husband, Waymond. "My God, this guy is courageous and bold," notes Yeoh. "[He played] that unassuming gentle husband that you get so frustrated about because there you are, tearing your hair out about trying to get things to work, and he's like, 'La-da-da-da-da-da-da!' singing and waltzing around. Then suddenly he turns into this James Bond-like character, full of charm and grace, or like Bruce Lee with his action."

For more on Everything All at Once and Michelle Yeoh, check out EW's latest cover story.