KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian actress, Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh emerged as the first Malaysian to win an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Michelle Yeoh, 61, earned the trophy for her acclaimed performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and subsequently has recorded a history for becoming the first Malaysian born performer to be honoured with the Best Actress Oscar.
She won the prize as Best Actress for her role as Evelyn Wang in last year’s blockbuster by beating out Cate Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Andrea Riseborough and Michelle Williams.
Yeoh is the fifth person of Asian descent to win an Oscar in an acting category and the first to win in a lead acting category.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof to dream big and dreams do come true,” Yeoh said while accepting her Oscar.
“Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re past your prime,” she added.
Yeoh dedicated her Oscar to her mother, and “all the moms in the world, because they really are the superheroes and without them none of us would be here tonight.”
In “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Yeoh portrayed Evelyn Wang, a beleaguered Asian American immigrant who runs a laundromat and is confronted with the staggering prospect of infinite possible lives as part of the multiverse. As she navigates this bizarre new terrain and gains exceptional new powers, she must come to terms with rifts within her family that ultimately pose a grave existential threat – all while also facing a tax audit.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” also stars Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis, who both won in their respective supporting acting categories on Sunday night.
In total, the film won seven Academy Awards out of 11 nominations, including best picture. Among its other wins, “Everything Everywhere” clinched best original screenplay and best director for duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
