The Malaysian-born actress on Sunday became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress for her multifaceted performance in the multiversal "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
“I have to dedicate this to my mom and all the moms in the world because they really are the superheroes and without them, none of us would be here tonight,” she said. “To all the little boys and girls watching tonight that look like me, this is a beacon of hope and possibility. This is proof that dreams are dreamed big and dreams do come true. And ladies, don't let anyone tell you that you are past your prime."
Yeoh's win comes nearly 90 years after Luise Rainer, a white actress, won the same category for turning "yellowface" to play a Chinese villager in "The Good Earth."
As a nominee, Yeoh was the first in the category to identify as Asian. Merle Oberon, who was nominated in 1935 for "The Dark Angel" but did not win, concealed his South Asian heritage, according to his birth records.
The category also got a heads up about who wasn't nominated: In a year of strong performances by black women like Viola Davis (“The Woman King”) and Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”), they were left out. Meanwhile, some criticized the A-listers' grassroots campaign on social media for Riseborough.
Yeoh came off like a lock after winning seemingly every award everywhere, including the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, for her nuanced portrayal of Evelyn, a Chinese immigrant wife, mother, and laundry operator who finds herself Preparing for a tax audit.
Yeoh started out in the world of kung fu movies, but rose to stardom in 1992 as Jackie Chan's co-star in "Super Cop." American audiences got to know her even better over the next decade with hits like "Tomorrow Never Dies" and Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."
When he first read the script for "Everything Everywhere," Yeoh thought it was "an indie film on steroids." In the end, he sold her on the opportunity to give voice to immigrant mothers and grandmothers who go unnoticed. The multiverse movie was also a showcase for a variety of genres: drama, comedy, science fiction, and fantasy.
At 60, Yeoh has been in high demand ever since her breakout role as a controlling matriarch on “Crazy Rich Asians.” From there, she's done everything from a "Star Trek" spin-off to Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."
