Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AFP
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AFP
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AFP
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AFP

Michelle Yeoh makes history as first Asian Best Actress winner at Oscars 2023


Sophie Prideaux
  • English
  • Arabic

Michelle Yeoh made history on Sunday night, becoming the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress Oscar in the awards’ 95-year history.

Malaysia-born Yeoh took the award for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the absurdist comedy-drama, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. She plays Evelyn Wang, an ageing Chinese immigrant, who is swept up in a bizarre and magical adventure that has her exploring and connecting with parallel universe versions of herself.

Accepting the award, the actress said: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.

“This is proof that dreams, dream big. And dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anyone ever tell you you are past your prime. Never give up.”

While there have been other winners in the Best Oscars category who have been of Western Asian descent, such as Vivien Leigh, Yeoh is the first winner to identify as Asian.

Yeoh rose to fame as a star of Hong Kong cinema, before landing roles in global films such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha.

In January, Yeoh also won the Golden Globe for Best Actress, during which she jokingly told Golden Globe producers to "shut up" after music began playing midway through her acceptance speech.

"I can beat you up," she said, amid laughter from the crowd. "And that's serious."

“I’m just going to stand here and take this all in,” she said, grasping the golden statuette. “Forty years … I’m not letting go of this.”

Everything Everywhere All at Once came to the Oscars as the most-nominated film with 11 nods, and has ended the night with the most wins, a total of seven, including the night’s biggest award, Best Picture.

Yeoh’s co-star, Ke Huy Quan, took the award for Best Supporting Actor, fighting through tears in an emotional acceptance speech.

Taking to the stage, he shouted out his mother, 84, who was watching at home. “Mum, I just won an Oscar!” he said.

“My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This — this is the American dream!”

Find all the action from the Oscars as they happened here.

Oscar winners 2023 - in pictures

Qosty Byogaani

Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

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In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food. 

In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra. 

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AS IT STANDS IN POOL A

1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14

2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11

3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5

Remaining fixtures

Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am

Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm

Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm

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  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
  • In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
  • The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
  • Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
  • She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
  • Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
'Munich: The Edge of War'

Director: Christian Schwochow

Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons

Rating: 3/5

Updated: March 13, 2023, 7:29 AM`