Bentley Hands Michelle Yeoh the Wheel on Its Electric Future
The first Oscar-winning Asian actress to front a 100-plus-year-old British marque, right as it rolls out its first all-electric model.
On October 13, 2026, Bentley named Michelle Yeoh a global brand ambassador, weeks after unveiling Torcal, the marque's first fully electric model and, per Bentley, a major step for the brand. Yeoh joins an ambassador roster that already includes Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mai Ikuzawa, and photographer Greg Williams, who also shot Yeoh's new Bentley portrait. Marketing Director Ben Whattam framed the pick bluntly: "An action star, Bond icon and global legend, Yeoh embodies Bentley's high-performance spirit." Yeoh's own line was tighter and more on-brand than most ambassador quotes manage: "Torcal represents Bentley's next chapter, and I'm honoured to be part of telling that story."
What makes this one harder to wave off as a celebrity rental is the paper trail. Yeoh's husband, Jean Todt, already owns three Bentleys spanning six decades, including a 1965 Continental S3 and a 2025 Flying Spur Speed 1st Edition, and Yeoh herself studied drama about 15 miles from Bentley's Crewe headquarters as a teenager. That backstory likely did more to land this deal than any media buy could, and it hands Bentley a believable answer to the question its EV pivot invites: why trust a 107-year-old combustion-engine brand to make the switch convincingly. An ambassador who can point to a garage full of receipts beats a press release full of adjectives.
Source: Bentley Motors
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
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