Angela Yeoh stars in She Said, a film about the investigation that took down Harvey Weinstein (Picture: Universal)

Angela Yeoh had no idea what she was auditioning for when she was approached for the film She Said, based on the New York Times article that exposed sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

But when she found out exactly what the film was, she did everything in her power to do it justice.

The actress plays Rowena Chiu, Weinstein’s former assistant, who came forward with allegations as part of the groundbreaking article that took down the disgraced producer and convicted rapist in 2019.

Weinstein was convicted in February 2020 of third-degree rape and two charges of committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York.

He is facing 11 further charges of abuse, including allegations of assault and rape.

During her preparation for the role, which she was picked for based on an audition tape out of about 200 actors, Yeoh spoke extensively to Chiu, with the pair becoming close friends. Yeoh also worked closely with director Maria Schrader about how to get the sensitive scene, which covers Chiu’s allegations, exactly right.

‘[It was] really confidential,’ she told Metro.co.uk of her audition.

‘There are eight main characters and seven of them are being played by much more famous actors than me! I know that Rowena, the survivor that I play, she was really insistent that she wanted the casting to be authentic and that she wanted it to be an Asian actor but also quite important to her was for it to be a British actor. She just felt like the cultural understanding was quite important to portraying her experience.

Rowena Chiu (L) and Angela Yeoh spoke extensively before filming (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

‘I auditioned without them even telling me who the director was, or what the genre or title of the film was. [The audition was based on] a conversation where someone was sharing a very difficult story with a stranger. Fortunately, they liked my tape and invited me to meet with the director Maria.

‘As soon as I found out what it was – because I used to work as a journalist before I became an actor and I’ve also experienced abuse as a lot of other women have – I felt like if there’s something I can do in serving this project that will shine a light on abuse and help people understand the work of journalism, then I absolutely want to do it.’

It’s been five years since the beginning of the #MeToo movement as we know it today, after Alyssa Milano urged victims of sexual harassment and assault to share their stories on social media in 2017.

Angela was determined to do the story justice (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for BFI)

Speaking about the space that has been opened up for people to talk about their experiences, Yeoh pointed out: ‘There’s a lot of shame in the isolation and feeling like you’re the only one who’s gone through this but actually, getting to share it, as difficult as it is to speak up – and not everyone should speak up, it’s a very personal decision whether to speak up or not – but there’s something in the sharing that can be empowering.’

The film is, rightfully, very focused on survivors and their stories. Screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz spent time with three of the main survivors at the heart of the story – Zelda Perkins and Laura Madden, as well as Chiu, who Yeoh plays.

‘It’s a tricky thing when you’re telling the story of a real-life living person and, on top of that, someone that’s gone through a traumatic experience. I can’t speak for everyone on the team but I feel like one reason I did want to be involved was I felt that Maria really cared and she was really thoughtful and I knew from her previous work how detailed she was,’ Yeoh went on.

Explaining that there are ‘creative and legal constraints’ with condensing a month-long investigation into a two-hour film, Yeoh added: ‘I knew I really needed to do my utmost to serve Rowena’s story and to serve the greater story that it was part of.’

When she got the role, Yeoh contacted Chiu to ask if she’d speak with her, and she happily obliged. The actress aimed to use her background as a journalist to do thorough research, and ask questions that Chiu wouldn’t have answered before – and to avoid making her relive anything she didn’t want to.

She told us: ‘Rowena and I are both really aware that we grew up not really seeing people like us on stage and on screen so this chance to represent one of the few global majority stories in the wider movement, it felt really important to make sure we did it right.’

Then, when it came to shooting, Yeoh was even able to help out with script changes, and work with the rest of the team to get the best out of the scene.

The film also stars Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor and Carey Mulligan as Megan Twohey (Picture: JoJo Whilden/Universal Pictures via AP)

‘Looking at the scripts, there were things where I was thinking, “Maybe we can find a better way because it’s such a short scene”,’ she recalled. ‘There was a conversation with Maria, who pre-empted me and said, “That bit is being re-written”.

‘And then on the day, there were also some things that we discussed and found a better way to say. We worked through any things that were potentially difficult within getting that bit right.’

Yeoh continued: ‘I think there was just a shared commitment to getting the best version we could into the film. There’s challenges within that… it’s not like we can put all of Rowena’s complexity into this one scene, and every survivor is more than just their traumatic experience but for the purpose of this film, that’s what needed to be shared.

It follows the investigation that took down Harvey Weinstein (Picture: JoJo Whilden/Universal Pictures)

‘I’m glad we were able to have that conversation and as strong women, strong artists in the room, to be able to discuss and listen and find our way through.’

There’s still clearly a lot of work to do. But after five years, the #MeToo movement has helped open up a space for people to talk honestly about sexual abuse.

‘This article definitely propelled the Me Too movement and I feel like there are a lot of conversations that people are willing to have now that they would have struggled to, or found a lot harder to before it really took off,’ Chiu explained.

Weinstein is currently serving 23 years in prison (Picture: Jefferson Siegel-Pool/Getty Images)

‘There were people still speaking out well before but often they were not listened to, or they were often more alone. I do feel like in terms of the language we have to discuss it, the willingness for people to speak up and not put up with bad behaviour – it gives more of a sense of strength in numbers.

‘And at the same time, there’s still a lot of change that needs to happen. There is still abuse and harassment that happens, that is still as difficult an experience as it was before Me Too really took off. I know from personal experience that abuse is still really misunderstood, that people might assume a lot of things which aren’t true.

‘I do feel like we’ve moved in the right direction and how do we make it more concrete in terms of laws and in terms of support? There are so many places we can go and speak about this and be heard more than we could before. Of course, with any big change there’s pushback and there are people who, because it is changing the status quo, or because they feel threatened or attacked, there is a defensiveness.

‘I’ve spoken with a lot of men who have seen this film who do feel outraged, who are wondering, “How can I use my privilege in a way that’s empowering and create space as opposed to stepping in and being a saviour or stepping in and being patronising?”

‘I’m really hopeful that the conversations are now better, there are more spaces, and I trust that we can find our way to ensure that those changes are enshrined in law, or that they become more of a reflex in the way that we bring up kids so that they respect each other.’

Yeoh pointed out: ‘If we come to each other with respect and see each other’s shared humanity, that foundation would solve a lot of things… I am hopeful in that it’s in the right direction – but we still have a lot to do.’

She Said is in cinemas now.

MORE : She Said review: How two journalists brought down Harvey Weinstein

Angela Yeoh plays Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant and survivor Rowena Chiu.