PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh has made history by winning the Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Motion Picture award at the Golden Globes, the first Malaysian to win at the awards show.
The Ipoh-born star won for her stellar performance in the much-lauded film, Everything Everywhere All At Once, where she plays a frustrated laundromat owner saddled with tax problems.
“I’m just going to stand here and take this all in. Forty years ... I’m not letting go of this,” said Yeoh.
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“It’s been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today, but I think it’s been worth it,” she said, when accepting the award in Los Angeles.
Yeoh, who turned 60 last year, also talked about ageing in Hollywood and the shrinking opportunity for actresses of a certain age.
“I think all of you women understand this – as the days and the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well.
“It was probably at a time when I thought, ‘Come on, girl, you had a really good run. You worked with some of the best people – Steven Spielberg, Danny Boyle – so it’s good, it’s all good.’
“Then along came the best gift. Everything Everywhere All At Once,” the Time 2022 Icon of the Year said.
Beating out the competition: Yeoh in her winning role as a frustrated laundromat owner saddled with tax problems in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’.
The affable Yeoh also made the Hollywood glitterati gathered at The Beverly Hilton laugh when musicians began to play her off the stage, signifying her acceptance speech time was up.
“Shut up, please! I can beat you up, okay? And that’s serious,” she joked.
Yeoh beat out Lesley Manville (Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), Margot Robbie (Babylon), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu) and Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) for the acting award.
She’s also the second Asian actress to win in this category after her Crazy Rich Asians’ co-star Awkwafina won for her role in The Farewell in 2020.
Yeoh wasn’t the only one from Everything Everywhere All At Once who took home a prize.
Her co-star Ke Huy Quan bagged the Globes’ best supporting actor award. (For more on Quan, see StarLifestyle.)
On Sunday, Yeoh also made history when she picked up the Best Actress gong at the National Board of Review Awards in New York, becoming the first Asian to win in the category.
In her acceptance speech, Yeoh talked about the difficulties navigating her career in Hollywood at first.
“My real name is Yeoh Choo Kheng. I was told I needed to take a Western name.
“So Yeoh Choo Kheng became Michelle Yeoh. We were told it would make it easier to sell our films, tell our stories to the rest of the world.
“Then one day, Hollywood came calling, an absolute dream come true. We all wanted to go to Hollywood – until I got there.
“Suddenly, I was a minority. How did that happen? There are more of me than you,” said Yeoh who moved her career from Hong Kong to Hollywood in 1997 after starring in the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies.“I am so incredibly proud to be the first Asian actress in 45 years to receive this honour.
“I hope that Hollywood and the filmmaking community recognise what a watershed film this is and all the things I’ve stood for and tried to accomplish in my four-decade career,” she added.
Yeoh is tipped as a hot favourite to receive a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards. The Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan 24.
