Michelle Yeoh arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California. (PHOTO / AP)
Michelle Yeoh, an iconic actress in Chinese cinema, has made history by becoming the first Asian actor to win the Best Actress award at the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Trumping strong competitors such as Cate Blanchett and Michelle Williams, Yeoh emerged as the winner of the prestigious prize for her exceptional performance in the surreal comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once. The film swept a total of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, making it the biggest winner of the night.
For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.
Michelle Yeoh, Chinese-Malaysian actress, says in her acceptance speech
"For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," the 60-year-old Malaysian-born actress said in her acceptance speech. She also expressed gratitude to her 84-year-old mother and all mothers in the world.
"And ladies, don't let anyone ever tell you (that) you are past your prime."
Yeoh highlighted her connection with Hong Kong, where she started her acting career with a series of Hong Kong action movies in the 1980s.
Born into a Chinese-Malaysian family, Yeoh gained international recognition for her role as a swordswoman in Ang Lee's iconic film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won three Academy Awards in 2001. Then, through appearances from James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies to Crazy Rich Asians, Yeoh gained more overseas popularity and has become one of the most influential ethnically Chinese stars globally, said Sha Dan, a veteran film critic.
Depicting Yeoh as "a female Jackie Chan", Sha said she is a unique figure in the film industry. Yeoh not only perfectly executed stunts in action blockbusters, but has also delivered multifaceted performances in works such as Memoirs of a Geisha and The Children of Huang Shi.
Noting that Everything Everywhere All at Once seems to be a story crafted specifically for Yeoh, Sha said the movie itself represents a retrospective of Yeoh's decadeslong efforts to elevate the cultural impact of Asian-themed films worldwide.
Stir among Chinese fans
Yeoh's groundbreaking Oscar win has also caused a stir among her Chinese fans, with the hashtag of the news garnering over 430 million views on the social media platform Sina Weibo in just three hours. Many netizens expressed their admiration of Yeoh "fighting" to rise to the top ranks of the global film industry, viewing her as a role model for female fans as she has demonstrated that a woman's career ambitions should not be limited by her age.
Jonathan Shen, producer of the TV show World Film Report, reminisced the first time he and his team of reporters interviewed Yeoh, when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon picked up three Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001.
"Yeoh is a charming star who enjoys great reputation in the Chinese movie industry. Her fame is not only attributed to her acting skills, but also her humble and friendly personality," Shen said.
Shen had the opportunity to meet Yeoh again when her film The Touch won the award for best coproduced film at the 8th Huabiao Awards in 2002, a government honor launched by the Chinese authorities in Beijing.
"Yeoh said her father taught her from a young age: 'You have Chinese descent. China is your ancestral homeland'. So, she felt quite proud of being able to receive an award in China and being recognized by the country," Shen said. "Despite her Mandarin not being very good, you can see Yeoh has tried to speak Chinese on a lot of occasions."
