It's Michelle Yeoh's universe, we're just living in it.
The legendary film star won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 95th Academy Awards. The win follows her victories at this year's Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Yeoh is the first Asian actor to win the Best Actress Oscar, and only the second woman of color to receive the award since Halle Berry won for Monster's Ball in 2002. Her win comes as part of a historic year for Asian actors at the Academy Awards. Four Asian actors were nominated: Yeoh, Hong Chau, Stephanie Hsu, and Ke Huy Quan, who won an Oscar earlier in the awards show.
Yeoh has been vocal about the importance of her potential win in the days leading up to the Academy Awards, telling the BBC: "I'm very aware that it’s beyond me being recognized as an actress. It's a whole community of Asians coming forward and saying: 'You have to do this for us.'"
This may have been Yeoh's first-ever Academy Award nomination, but she has been a titan of film for decades. She got her start performing her own stunts in Hong Kong actions films such as Yes, Madam! and Holy Weapon. She also starred in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Ang Lee's wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the 2018 rom-com Crazy Rich Asians. Yeoh's multifaceted Everything Everywhere All at Once role, including its intense action sequences, functions not just as the film's leading character but also as a love letter to Yeoh's entire career.
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In a powerful speech, Yeoh spoke about what her win meant for the Asian community. "For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," Yeoh said. "This is proof to dream big and that dreams do come true. And ladies, don't let anybody ever tell you you are past your prime."
She continued: "I have to dedicate this to my mom — all the moms in the world, because they are really the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight. She's 84, and I'm taking this home to her."
