Xavier Roger
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The Oscars may still have a ways to go before it becomes a truly inclusive celebration of film, but the show took a bold step in that direction Sunday when Michelle Yeoh stepped up to collect her trophy.
In winning the best actress Academy Award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the 60-year-old Malaysian star was the first Asian-identifying actress to do so.
“Thank you, this is for all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight,” Yeoh said through tears. “This is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof, that if you dream big, dreams do come true. And ladies don’t let anybody tell you you are past your prime. Never give up.”
Yeoh continued: “I have to dedicate this to my mom, and all the moms in the world, because they are the superheroes, without them none of us would be here tonight. (My mom) is 84 and I’m taking this home to her, watching in Malaysia. I’m bringing this home to you, and my extended family in Hong Kong where I started in my career. Thank you to the Academy, this is history in the making.”
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Yeoh is the second woman of color to win the category, after Halle Berry in 2002 for “Monster’s Ball.” In 2021, Yuh-jung Youn won best supporting actress in 2021 for her role in “Minari.”
The closest anyone has come to Yeoh’s achievement was back in 1936, when India-born actress Merle Oberon was nominated for her leading role in “The Dark Angel.” Given the tenor of the times, Oberon hid her mixed-race heritage. She lost that year to Bette Davis, who won for her role in “Dangerous.”
Yeoh’s Oscar win caps a season of accolades for her work in the action-packed sci-fi comedy (cue those hot dog fingers). She received best actress awards for her dynamic role from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, the Independent Spirit Awards and others.
Yeoh’s Oscar win is part of the broader triumph of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which garnered a field-leading 11 nominations. They included director Daniel Kwan (half of the directing duo known as the Daniels, which includes Daniel Scheinert) and her Asian co-stars Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan, the latter best known as a child actor opposite Harrison Ford in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
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Earlier in the evening the Daniels won for best directors, while Ke Huy Quan won the Oscar for best support actor. Other winners included included best supporting actress (Jamie Lee Curtis) and best original screenplay (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), and best editing (Paul Rogers).
Yeoh’s Oscar win crowns an action-packed career that dates back to the 1980s. After studying dance in England and winning the 1983 Miss Malaysia World contest, she quickly embarked on a Hong Kong-based film career that leveraged her athleticism.
Launching into movies shortly after her wins as a beauty queen, Yeoh became know for doing her own stunts and martial arts fight scenes in movies such as “Supercop” (1992) and “Tai Chi Master” (1993).
In 1997, her appearance in the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies,” opposite 007 Pierce Brosnan, brought her global attention, leading to a host of high-profile parts.
That star turn was followed by her roles in director Ang Lee’s martial arts film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) and opposite Brendan Fraser and Jet Li in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (2008).
In her run-up to her Oscar, Yeoh made memorable appearances in two films that also marked the rise of Asian-themed movies into the mainstream.
She played a stern family matriarch in director Jon M. Chu’s hit film “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018), and the martial arts-expert aunt of the title character in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021).
Yeoh’s win opens a new chapter for Asian film artists and presents her male counterparts with a challenge to nab the best actor Oscar next.
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